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Random web funny
07
August
It may not have much to do with Hoboken, but this picture made me chuckle, as I think you’ll find it amusing too.
Anyone in Hoboken have a big, chunky animal? If so, send your pics to hoboken411@gmail.com, and I’ll post them along with your story.
From the Daily Mail in the UK:
The couch potato cats that are falling victim to diabetes
By FIONA MacRAE
Mice can relax. Even nesting birds can sing a little more cheerily.
Their number one enemy, it seems, is getting so fat he can barely be bothered to get off the sofa for a night’s hunting.
Vets have found that cats are imitating their owners’ couch potato lifestyle.
As a result of eating more and exercising less, more than a third of cats are overweight and the number of cases of feline diabetes has risen five-fold in 30 years.
Edinburgh University researchers estimate that one in 230 – or up to 400,000 pet cats – is diabetic. Danielle Gunn-Moore, a professor of feline medicine, said: “The lifestyle of cats is changing. They are tending to eat too much, gain weight and take less exercise.
“Unfortunately, just like people, cats will over-eat if they are offered too much tasty food, particularly if they are bored and have little else to do.
“While cats would naturally exercise outside, many cats are now housebound – perhaps because they live in a flat or because their owners feel that it is too dangerous to let them out – so they have little to do all day but eat, sleep and gain weight.”
In addition, stressed-out Britons are increasingly relying on cats for companionship.
Professor Gunn-Moore said: “Cats are now the number one pet, they are more popular than dogs. People get in late and they don’t want to walk the dog.
“They want the cat there as a companion and if it’s outside chasing mice, it’s not going to be there as a companion.”
Vet Elaine Pendlebury said much of the problem was because of owners giving their cats calorie-laden treats.
She said: “People are feeding them things like sausages from their own table. Sausages are quite high in salt and quite fatty.
“If you want to give your cat a treat, give it a small bit of boiled chicken or, even better, play a game with your cat.”
The diabetes study, published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, looked at the veterinary records of 14,000 cats, coupled with questionnaires filled in by owners.
Cats are not the only pets to be losing the battle of the bulge. A quarter of dogs are clinically obese and overweight rabbits and even hamsters are also a common sight in vets’ surgeries.
August 7th 2007 - 10:37:22 |
I’ve got two young cats- it’s hard to keep them lean. Basically, they’re hungry at all times, which means it’s impossible to keep them of of counters & out of my business. I swore not to let them get all fat fat fat but it’s tough. I hope one day I can let them outdoors- that would help alleviate the problem.
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August 7th 2007 - 10:59:50 |
Funny, fat people have a propensity for diebeetus too…
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August 7th 2007 - 11:12:00 |
Cats are obligate carnivores. Unfortunately, the pet food industry uses cheap forms of protein from wheat, corn, rice, barley to fill their bags, instead of meat. That’s why cats get fat and get diabetes. There are a number of cat foods, dry and wet, that are no grain, including Innova Evo, Wellness Core and Nature’s Variety Raw Instinct or Raw Meat diet. Regardless of what you have heard about dry food being “better” for your cat because it will clean their teeth (like I clean my teeth with potato chips) the truth is, wet food, with no grain, is far better than any dry food for your cat. There are plenty of good cat foods out there that will fight off diabetes. Don’t look in the grocery store.
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August 7th 2007 - 11:12:54 |
I try to project my food issues onto my animals since I don’t have children to terrorize. My cat and my dog are both in great shape!
It’s not healthy for your animals to be that fat, feed them a different food for heaven’s sake!! Especially active dogs people, they can’t handle being so fat in this kind of heat (just like humans!)
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August 7th 2007 - 11:40:01 |
My girls eat more or less what my friend’s cat Tigger ate (he died of cancer at the age of 19) with one change. I feed the girls Friskies wet food in the morning and at night. They have stocked bowl of dry food for nibbles. Tigger got fresh wet and dry food every morning and would finish the wet food like he was hoover (he also woke me up if I wanted to sleep in, because he wanted his breakfast), the dry food he would snack on during the day, but that would be gone by the next breakfast.
Because the girls know there will always be fresh wet food twice a day, they don’t rush to finish it.
T is bigger than L, but L is heavier (all muscle from beating T up or playing with her toy mice), but even so the vet is very happy with their wet.
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August 7th 2007 - 14:00:33 |
Journey wrote:
soooo, let me guess you’re single?
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August 7th 2007 - 14:17:09 |
sullyx wrote:
No. And I don’t know what relationship status has to do with any of that.
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August 7th 2007 - 14:32:15 |
Whether 2-legged or 4-legged, morbid obesity surely causes major, multiple health problems. (DUH??)
Re cats… Many folks prefer to leave out food for at-will eating.
I’d suggest feeding your felines, either before you go to work & then put the dish out of reach….or when you get home, w/a 30-minute window for snacking. Then take it up, out of reach.
Otherwise, you’ll be paying for vet bills & meds when your cat is geriatric.
Yes, cats require less care than dogs. But around elimination issues; not around feeding.
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August 7th 2007 - 14:38:50 |
Tigger had the limited access to food, and he was bit of piggy. I had to put him on a diet. The girls eat very modestly and are under 9 lbs. Tigger was about 17 lbs when he passed.
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August 7th 2007 - 15:10:38 |
Re 9. Journey: Don’t know how old Tigger was, but I had 2 felines who lived to mid-teens (one longer). Neither fat, but both big.
Just like us, every cat is different.
But I’m a big fan of erring on the cautious side. E.g., limiting access to free food.
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August 7th 2007 - 15:35:17 |
Tigger was 19, and in fairly good health, not counting the cancer. The only meds he had before the cancer was on for a thyroid problem and shark cartilage for his joints.
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August 7th 2007 - 15:37:37 |
T and L are almost 3 years old.
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August 7th 2007 - 18:34:55 |
The questions is not, can a cat live on Friskies, but is it optimal health? Saying a cat can live a long life on junk food is like saying, “Well, my Grandfather smoked all his life and he didn’t die until his 90’s.” I only hope people will not fall for the commercials and the millions in advertising that companies like Purina have and use common sense. Read the package ingredients. Is it optimal nutrition for a feline? That’s what you have to ask yourself. Ground corn? I don’t think so. Will a cat live? Yes. Genetics and lots of other things are involved. But, since you are responsible for feeding the cat, make sure you give it what is best for a feline, not what is easiest or cheapest.
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August 7th 2007 - 20:14:46 |
Assuming they will eat it. My girls would not eat the fancy stuff, and I by the varieties that have the higher from animal protein numbers and lower values on corn and such. And at least their food was not on the recall.
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August 8th 2007 - 03:08:34 |
This begs the obvious question- who the f–k cares?!!! So cats have diabetes- in the grand scheme of things, it’s less than unimportant. Animals do get diseases and die, but until society has solved several pressing human problems such as DIABETES, cancer, etc. why would any sane person care enough about overweight cats to sink money and time into researching and diagnosing this blatant non-issue? It would be more than ironic if the person who undertook this study had two parents and a spouse die of cancer, but had 9 perfectly healthy cats.
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