Studies suggest that 20-25% of cats are overweight which can lead to multiplicity of health problems, including a shorter lifespan.

What causes obesity in cats?

While diet and exercise plays factor there are many other reasons to take into consideration.

Boredom: If you cannot dedicate specific time to spend with your cat and activities for them to be engaged in, they will basically just lie around and do nothing.  The will spend countless hours sleeping which will be detrimental to both their physical and mental health.

Calories: These accumulate rapidly and if your cat or kitten continues to stuff himself, these will be stored as excess energy and you cat will get plumper and plumper.  Apparently a there is no limit as to how fat your cat can get and some cats are actually the shape of a ball.

Neutering:  While neutering has obvious benefits, it some how affects cats appetites and male cats put on more weight than female cats.  So take that into consideration.

Age:  Cats metabolism slows down with age so its easier for older cats to put on extra pounds.  The good thing is that cat’s age their appetite tends to lessen, so hopefully the two will offset each other.  Most overweight cats are between 4 and ten years, can considered mid age.

Exercise:  Domesticated cats tend to suffer from obesity more than street cats as they lack the opportunities to exercise.  Outdoor cats are constantly running to and from other animals, jetting across the street, up trees and poles, etc.  House cats tend to be just that, in the house and cant take advantage of those outdoor activities or least not as often.