Venting anout morbid obesity

OK... I work at a vets office, and today I saw the most horrifying thing. We had to put a cat to sleep because it was too obese to walk and could hardly breath. There was nothing wrong with it otherwise. It was just too obese. She should have weighed 10 - 15 pounds. She weighed 32 POUNDS. She couldn't even crawl. HOW CAN PEOPLE DO THIS TO ANIMALS?!?!?!?! Food is NOT love. Its not cool or cute for a cat to be obese. ITS DEADLY! There was nothing we could have done for her. If we would have put her on a diet, she would have gotten hepatic lipidosis and died, if her breathing problems didn't kill her first. The worst part is, she had already done this to a German shepard. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?!?!?!

I spent most of the morning crying because this poor cat didn't have a choice. The owner fed her anything and everything. And when the cat couldn't walk because of it, she kept on feeding her.

Somedays I can't stand people!

Oh that's terrible I'm so glad you wrote about this though...people need to be aware how important it is to feed their animals properly.

Yes thank you for posting this....too many people want "big" cats....I am a vet tech too and see it often. I am here to tell people first hand that it isn't safe...I got Bob from outside (I trapped him, he was a stray), and he was 23 pounds when I got him. I put him on a diet but it was hard with 7 cats, he did lose some, but he ended up with diabetes anyway. Luckily I took him from outside because if he was still an outside cat, he would have eventually died from not being diagnosed and treated. Obesity is NOT good. So many things are caused by it, heart diesase, diabetes, arthritis, to name a few.

I have to say being an owner of a cat who would eat 24/7 I know how hard it can be to deny them. (They are so good at the look at me I'm so cute how can you refuse this face) That said I have to say that I love my guys too much to let them get like that. I've missed many hours of sleep because they wanted more food that they did not need. Now my cats are not obese. The boys are all overweight (13 lbs each) & I wish I had never tried to free feed them because it's so hard to get that weight off of them. That is a horrible story & part of why I couldn't be a vet or vet tech because I probably would have told her some not so nice things.

oh, gosh ,that poor kitty! that woman should fined or something for animal cruelty!! RIP poor baby

That is cruel. It took a lot of work to convince my FIL that his dog didn't need treats all of the time. The poor thing was overweight at 6 months. They were able to get the weight down, but she ended up dying at 3 years because of some genetic problems.

But then I'm facing problems here because Carly is gaining but Much is losing. While working with the vet, we are free feeding because Much needs to be encouraged to eat and we try to discourage Carly by distracting her when she wants to go to the food bowl. It has been tough.

that is awful. what is wrong with people?

i worked at a shelter for a couple years, and one family brought in a pair of littermates that were black cats. i can't remember the reason. but at 11 months old they were 25 lbs each! one dropped dead of a heart attack during the night shortly after arriving. it still makes me sad. cats shouldn't be that big. if you want a 25 lb or larger animal, get a dog!

i have a 17 lb cat, but i measure & manage his food so he doesn't gain weight. (most of his weight gain was shortly after we adopted him and all 3 were on hill's c/d---they had all porked out)

That's so sad. Thank you for posting about it though.

32 lbs. is horrifically obese for any domestic housecat...how terrible.

aww that is just awful. I used to work at a rescue with a girl who was a bit on the large side and she always said she loved big fat cats and she was trying to fatten up her cats. I always told her about diabetes and obesity and all sorts of problems and she said "ohhh but it's so cute when they are chubby!"

Originally Posted by katachtig

That is cruel. It took a lot of work to convince my FIL that his dog didn't need treats all of the time. The poor thing was overweight at 6 months. They were able to get the weight down, but she ended up dying at 3 years because of some genetic problems.

But then I'm facing problems here because Carly is gaining but Much is losing. While working with the vet, we are free feeding because Much needs to be encouraged to eat and we try to discourage Carly by distracting her when she wants to go to the food bowl. It has been tough.

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I have sort of the same problem with Shenandoah and Humble. Humble has started eating, but he likes to "graze" during the day. He likes only dry food, whereas Shenandoah likes wet but will eat dry, too, if he thinks he wants more. Now, I cannot see putting up the dry because of Shenandoah. Why punish Humble because of my wanting Shenandoah to lose weight?

This is a sad story, and I feel for that poor kitty.

Thats so, so sad I wish people would watch their pets weights before it gets out of control like that Poor angel!

Poor Shorty - I am so sorry the poor cat had to go through this - some people are too stupid and ignorant to deserve the love of their pets. It makes me soooo angry!!!

Chubby is one thing... my 9 yr old yorkie is a bit( about 13) ..lol.. she has lost since she had gotten to 14lbs ( she should be about 11.5) but that is just not right for a animal to be double or triple its normal size..

Its just so heart wrenching. She was a beautiful torti who was only 6 years old. She could have had such a better life. I wish there was something that could be done about it. Unfortunately, she had food, water and shelter and here (as well as most places) animals are considered property and you can do with them as you please. It isn't illegal to make your cat morbidly obese. (Even though it should be!) I hate the indifferance, ignorance, cruelty, and lack of compassion that some people have towards animals....

Somedays are much harder then others. I see people who come into the vets office who are willing to do anything and everything for their babies. Then I see people who simply dont care. (the best example is the woman who wanted to put her intact male dog down because "he licks himself too much" HE WASN'T NEUTERED. Thats a good part of why he was licking.)
But there are the good people. One woman rescued a Hurricane katrina dog. He was heartworm postive, had internal parasites, and wasn't neutered. She paid to fix everything that was wrong with him.

I really dont understand the way people think sometimes....

Originally Posted by babyharley

Thats so, so sad

I wish people would watch their pets weights before it gets out of control like that

Poor angel!

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I know this is off topic, but I LOVE your cats' names.

BAck on track, I am trying to get my cats below 13 pounds, but it is hard. The vet says they are fine, they are long cats, but I worry. I want them to be with me a long, long time.

Originally Posted by batgirl2good

I know this is off topic, but I LOVE your cats' names.

BAck on track, I am trying to get my cats below 13 pounds, but it is hard. The vet says they are fine, they are long cats, but I worry. I want them to be with me a long, long time.

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I learned when it comes to wt the vet likely knows more than I do ... I like you am trying to keep one girls wt in check and actually fatten up the other two ...

That is heartwrenching.......Sharky, the things you see in your profession would probably make the rest of us cringe..... But thank god for people like you!!!

My clinic I work at has stopped taking in strays or improperly cared for animals because the cost to the clinic was getting to high. So today when that poor cat came in I told everyone that if there was anything that could be done I would pay for it. I would put it on my credit card if I had to. Sadly nothing could be done....

All of my animals were either rescued, are special needs, or both. I don't take in kittens because there are plenty enough people who want the cute cuddly little babies. No one wants the ones with issues...

My cats....

Jennifer came from the SPCA she is now 14 years old and has hyperthyroidism.
Pheelicks was a stray who is prone to UTIs and struvite crystals
MewMew was a stray. She is one of the healthier ones but she has occasional problems
Spaz came from a friend whos cat had kittens. He is polydactyl and is prone to UTI's and struvite crystals
Cleo is the only one who has never had any health problems. She came from a local rescue.
Weeble came from a local rescue I use to work at. She has cerabellar hypoplasia.
Neville is the most troubled of all. He came from the same rescue I worked at. He has osteogenesis imperfecta. (brittle bone disease)

My Dogs
Oz was an abused 4 month old Lab, chow chow mix. He had been beaten so badly, his femur was shattered and had to be pinned. It cost over 1000 dollars to get him healthy.
Mika is a crazy Siberian Husky who has seperation anxiety. She keeps me on my toes.

My point being... How can someone not properly care for a otherwise healthy animal, if I can care for all of my special needs babies? I have been told that I care too much. But if I dont, who will? You can't trust that everyone else is going to help care for animals like this? I have to get up an extra hour early every morning to medicate and feed everyone. Yes, sometimes its frustrating. (Particularly when you have a Husky howling at 6 am because she is lonely, or detroying things if you leave her alone too long.) But you deal with it because you love them. They are not property like many laws say they are... Which brings me to my next point.
(yes I am on my soap box tonight! )

Does anyone know anything about how to help make changes in the animal abuse laws. This cat has put me on a mission to help change the way animals are treated and how they are viewed by our government. I WANT WHAT THIS WOMAN DID TO BE ILLEGAL!!! I also want animals to be considered more then property! They deserve the same right to life as we do. What makes them less then humans???? They are better then a lot of people out there. They don't hate or judge. They aren't racist. They aren't mean hearted or spiteful. I really want to try and make a differance. IF ANYONE OUT THERE KNOWS ABOUT HOW TO MAKE A CHANGE PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!!!

Thanks everyone for listening to my ranting!!!!

Oh my that's awful! It reminds me of the severely obese children you see on shows like Maury Povich. I don't see how parents can let that happen either. It's just cruel.