Impact of Obesity on Quality of Life and Owner’s Perception of Weight Loss Programs in Cats

Obese dogs have been shown to have a diminished quality of life; however, there is less evidence characterizing the impact of obesity on the quality of life of cats. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among cat owners with either healthy weight cats (body condition scores of 4–5/9) or obese cats (body condition scores of 8–9/9) as determined by a veterinarian. Exclusion criteria included medical conditions (determined by physical exam and screening bloodwork). Cat owners completed surveys on quality of life and perceptions of feline obesity. Quality of life scores for obese cats had a wider range and were numerically lower compared to scores of healthy weight cats with a moderate effect size of 0.68, though this was not a statistically significant difference (71.2 ± 8.8 vs. 75.9 ± 4.1, p = 0.0881; n = 33). Owners of obese cats less frequently reported that obesity was a high risk to their cat’s health (77% [10/13]) vs. 100% [20/20]) and less frequently cited the primary caretaker as a cause of cat obesity (30% [3/10] vs. 55% [11/20]) compared to the owners of healthy weight cats. Interestingly, 97% (32/33) of all owners believed veterinarians should play a role in feline weight loss. These results suggest that some obese cats can have a potentially diminished quality of life but highlights the need for more data surrounding the impact of feline obesity and enhanced client communication strategies to best address obesity in the feline population.