Thursday 9 February 2012

My Cats are Fat


It’s official. 

The vet has declared that both Mabel and Charlie are overweight. I knew that Mabel was a big girl but, in comparison, Charlie looks like a dot. Apparently she’s not.

It’s almost a year since we adopted them from the RSPCA and so it was time for their annual jabs, or MOT as daughter calls it. We discovered something about the girls even before we arrived at the vets. They miaow in harmony. [They usually purr and brrrp at home.] Mabel, being the larger cat, surprised us by having a higher pitched miaow to little Charlie who has a thick, double-cream voice. We had to smile at them even though we knew they weren’t happy girls.

Once at the vet’s they fell into a sullen silence. They must have known what was about to happen. It wasn’t the flea check. They passed that without a twitch and the heart check and neither of them noticed their jabs. They weren’t even concerned about the news that they have a bit of tartar and may need some dental treatment at some stage, but to be told that they must go on diet was not what they wanted to hear. They do love their food.

Over the years I’ve had many cats, all rescue and usually with delicate digestions and food fads as long as your tail. These girls are solid [according to Mr Vet, Mabel is 5.75 kg and Charlie is 4.69 kg] and they’re almost always hungry. I’ve bought a large bag of the light version of their usual dry food and we’re slowly moving them over to it plus we’ve reduced their wet food, just half a sachet each a day. They’re not happy. In fact, they’re furious. So I now have a problem. How do I survive my cats’ new diet regime? Any kind-to-cats suggestions gratefully accepted.