Early-life risk factors identified for owner-reported feline overweight and obesity at around two years of age

Obesity is considered the second most common health problem in pet cats in developed countries. This study used prospective data from a longitudinal study of pet cats ('C.L.A.W.S.', www.bristol.ac.uk/vetscience/claws) to identify early-life risk factors for feline overweight/obesity occurring at around two years of age. Data were collected via five owner-completed questionnaires (for cats aged two-six months, six months, 12 months, 18 months and two years respectively) completed between May 2011 and April 2015. Owner-reported body condition scores (BCS) of cats at age two years, assessed using images from the 9-point BCS system (Laflamme, 1997), were categorised into a dichotomous variable: overweight/obese (BCS 6-9) and not overweight (BCS 1-5) and used as the dependent variable. Of the 375 cats with owner-reported BCS, 25.3% were overweight or obese at two years of age. Multivariable logistic regression models were built using stepwise forward-selection. To account for potential hierarchical clustering due to multi-cat households two-level random intercept models were considered but clustering had no impact on the analysis. Models were compared using Wald tests. Six factors were significantly associated with overweight/obesity at two years of age: being overweight or obese at one year of age (OR = 10.6, 95%CI 4.4-25.3); owner belief that BCS 7 was the ideal weight (OR = 33.2, 95%CI 8.5-129.4), or that BCS represented overweight cats but they would not be concerned if their cat were classified in this category (OR = 2.7, 95%CI 1.2-6.2), at questionnaire five completion; vets advising owners that the cat should lose weight, or making no comment on their weight, between one and two years of age (OR = 12.1, 95%CI 3.2-44.9 and OR = 3.9, 95%CI 1.5-10.3 respectively); owners giving their cat treats when they “felt happy” with them at 18 months of age (OR = 2.7, 95%CI 1.0 − 7.3); feeding ≥250 g wet food daily between two and six months of age (OR = 2.7, 95%CI 1.2-5.9), and feeding dry food as the only or major part (> 50%) of the diet at two years of age (OR = 2.1, 95%CI 1.0-4.2). These findings have the potential to reduce the current high prevalence of a widespread problem by informing preventive advice, and as such improving the health and welfare of pet cats.