It may seem cute at first when your cat gets fat, but it really is no laughing matter. For a cat, a few unwanted pounds is the equivalent of 50 extra pounds on a human, and those few extra pounds can spell disaster for their health and longevity. Naturally, you can somewhat control your cat’s weight through diet but often that isn’t enough. It is important to have a plan to get that cat up and moving.

It has become somewhat of a necessity to keep our cats indoors, but often this leads them to a sedentary life with less activity than they should be getting. When you have an indoor cat it is important for you to make time to play with your cat and make sure they are engaging in plenty of high energy activities. Cats don’t like regular formal exercise, they like play, so making sure they are engaged is essential.

Use toys that promote active play like, laser pointers, feather dusters and strings that can be pulled along for your cat to chase. Any toy that gets that hunting instinct to kick in so they are running, jumping and pouncing around. This is the perfect way to spend quality time with your furry friend and give them the exercise they naturally need to be healthy.

Adding a new cat to the house can also be invigorating to your overweight cat. Often when a cat has another cat to play and compete with for toys and food it gets their lazy little tail moving. Make sure you take proper precautions in introducing the two cats so that you don’t have any problems. Once they like each other [having] two cats will not only ensure that they work each other out, but it can be very entertaining for their owners to watch.