What is believed to be the world’s largest survey into the bodyweight (BW) of domestic cats has shown most continue to put on weight as they age – and their average weight is on the rise.
Researchers at Ontario Veterinary College, Canada, surveyed the electronic health records of more than 19 million cats in the US and Canada – spanning four decades, from 1981 to 2016 – to produce an evidence-based BW benchmark.
The anonymised data, obtained through practice management software programs, looked at 54 million individual weight measurements at vet clinics and revealed – even after cats matured from the kitten phase – their weight still creeps up until they are, on average, eight years old.
The work has been published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Results
Age, breed, sex and reproductive status, and BW measurements and measurement dates were recorded; data were cleaned and descriptive statistics were determined.
Linear regression models were created with data for eight-year-old domestic shorthair, medium hair, and longhair (SML) cats to explore changes in BW represented by the years 1995, 2005 and 2015.
The results show 9,886,899 of 19,015,888 (52%) cats had only one BW on record. The mean BW for cats of the four most common recognised breeds – Siamese, Persian, Himalayan, and Maine Coon – peaked between 6 and 10 years of age, then declined.
The mean BW of SML cats peaked at eight years and was subjectively higher for neutered cats than for entire animals. The mean BW of neutered eight-year-old SML cats increased from 1995-2005, but was steady between 2005-15.
- Read the full story in the 5 August issue of Veterinary Times.
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