How can you make a cat take more exercise?

My SIL takes her cat out for walks on a leash. Train Digby?

At you sure he isn't calling in on any neighbors who are feeding him? You could try a ball of wool, dragging it around so he chases it.

Yes, check with the neighbours. Have you read "Six Dinner Sid" by Inga Moore? He had six occupants of six terraced houses all thinking that they were the only people to feed him. (it is supposed to be a children's book but it is great for grown-up children too)

No, he definitely isn't dining elsewhere!

Maybe more clockwork mice programmed to shoot scross the floor while you are out? An obstacle/assault course to reach his food? A treadmill?

Most cats are lazy. I used to cut down on the ad hoc nibbling [that's what gets most of us fat!]So, only a tiny amount of biscuits and when they are gone, they are gone, to use supermarket speak.

Are you absolutely sure he doesn't have a health condition? I know hyperthyroidism causes weight loss and a ravenous appetite, not sure what might cause the reverse but is it worth getting him checked out (expensive I know)? Or is he in every other way a picture of health?

One of our cats is getting very fat. He was owned by a neighbour who shut all her cats out of the house and fed them very little, so he is absolutely obsessed with food. I have to feed him separately or he will everyone else's food and he is quite happy to stuff himself with food till he's sick. If he gets a chance he will steal food from the neighbours. Because of his deprived early life he has never learnt to play with toys and just looks on in amazement when the others are chasing balls or laser pointers. His mother is living with one of our neighbours and is exactly the same. She waddles round looking like a little football on legs.

my three darlings are overweight and the vet says to get them to excersise more so Ive tied a couple of tiny soft toys to a bit of wool and dangle them as I would for a kitten, they always respond. my cats are house cats as I live near a v busy arterial road and after one accident I never want to see any of them suffering again like that. Cats also like a torch light, I switch off the light at night and shake a small torch and they go crazy to follow the beam. Other than that I just have to ignore the whingeing when they are hungry. To be honest I wish someone would feed me at certain times as that would make dieting easier.

My vet suggested using Senior moist food, whatever the cat's age, which has fewer calories, and I have changed the dry nibbles to a light version.

One of my cats will chase the light of a laser torch, but the other looks on with no interest at all. They both sleep for most of the day but are in and out of the cat flap at night. I have a motion sensitive trail camera which recorded on average 60 video clips of comings and goings per night. I used to think they were in all night! I really don't know how one could make a cat more active.

perhaps get a dog

Cat owners always say their cats could not possibly have been dining at the neighbours?
Cut the cat biccies. Obviously not needed. Never had cat biccies in my day.
Buy a video of fish and leave it on all day. This will at least exercise his neck muscles as he watches the fish while you are out.

My youngest dog (he's 5 years old now but was 3 when this happened) began to gain weight and as his diet hadn't changed and my other dog wasn't gaining weight, I took him to the vet. It turned out that his thyroid gland is no longer functioning correctly so has to have whatever the dog version of Thyroxin is. It may be worth getting your cat checked out just in case.

phoenix scrunch up a piece of paper and throw it a few yards away. If the cat enjoys that, maybe you could do it little and often in the evenings?

There is little point spending even £1 on toys if the cat is not interested. I had an indoor scratching post with a ball attached for Tara when I first got her but she was not interested, preferring the garden fence or my neighbour's tree to sharpen her claws.

How old is the cat? Maybe it is just old age.

Has he got dropsy if his tummy is wobbling around rather than being solidly fat? How old is he?

I would suggest cutting out the biscuits. You cant make cats do anything they don't want to. Look at Lions they are totally idle unless they are hunting their next meal.

OMG mine wobbles around like that

I suppose it depends on the age of the cat, if they are very old it could be a possibility.

DD1'S cat eats fairly well but is so bony and thin, although fluffy , that I always think he is ill whenever I see him. He seems fine though.

Anyone read 'Six Dinner Sid'

You can get balls from the pet shop that have holes in them. You put his dry food in there and the only way he can get it is to chase the ball around until bits fall out I don't know what their called but I have one for my dogs.

I need one of those for me, Aka.

I wish I hadn't said about it now, don't want to be alarmist. I am sure most cats get fed by neighbours if they go out and the fatter they get the lazier they will become.

Must admit I wondered that as well rosequartz. I had a dog (two at different times) with dropsy from different causes. It is quite easy to tell the difference between dropsy (ascites) and fat though, the abdomen feels like a drum with ascites whereas the rest of the body is quite bony. Doesn't sound like it from phoenix's description of the swinging sporran.

I think I would be tempted to stop the biscuits altogether and see if that helps, as suggested by Jess and Nellie. I don't give my cat biscuits at all any more, they are terrible for their teeth (contrary to what the manufacturers would have us believe) and disastrous for the urinary tract, especially in males.

Hello again, and thank you for the replies!

Digby is 4 years old, we've had him since he was 2, Maurice is 12 and we've had him from a kitten.

Reading some comments above has made me think that Maurice may have a thyroid problem I did think that he was starting to go a bit senile, but perhaps not. He was taken to the vet recently (Mr P had to take him, I was working, here is the email he sent me after the visit, Mr P that is, not Maurice. Maurice doesn't send emails, he's dyslexic:

^Well apart from having a particularly ripe poo in the basket on the way there (which was a right mess by the time we got in the surgery) I had a right battle to just to get him in the basket and close the lid.
She listened to his chest (all sounded clear) and took his temperature (which was fine), although it was another battle to hold him still enough (nurse had to come in to assist with that one). She agreed that the problem appears to be in his throat (although she couldn't see of feel anything) and that the weight loss is concerning (she managed to weigh him).
She has given him a shot of antibiotics and a shot of anti inflammatory and said to see what that does in the next week - if there's improvement they can always start a course of tablets. If there no marked improvement they could do an exploratory on the throat.^

Digby spent all day indoors today, as he often does when I'm at work, and he hasn't been out for long enough to be eating away. Besides, everybody knows everybody's cat in the vicinity, and I'm sure I would have heard if his Fatness aka Squeaky Fatarse had turned up on someone else's doorstep.

Anyway, had better go because he has actually made it upstairs, and if I time it right I might be able to get him to do a bit of pouncing practice by wiggling my toes under the duvet.

Goodnight all,

Tablets? For a cat? Yeah right - I wonder if I can google that hilarious piece about administering a pill to a cat. Anybody else know it?