They found male cats tended to reach higher weight peaks than females and spayed or neutered cats tended to be heavier than unaltered cats. The research team broke down the data to stratify any differences over gender, neutering status and breed. Zvonimir Poljak, Department of Population Medicine, analyzed 54 million weight measurements taken at vets’ offices on 19 million cats as part of his PhD research. Lead author Adam Campigotto, along with Bernardo and Prof. “As humans, we know we need to strive to maintain a healthy weight, but for cats, there has not been a clear definition of what that is. We simply didn’t have the data,” said Bernardo. “Establishing the pattern of cat weights over their lifetimes provides us with important clues about their health.” Theresa Bernardo, the IDEXX Chair in Emerging Technologies and Bond-Centered Animal Healthcare. This research - the first of its kind to use such a large data pool - provides important baseline information for vets and pet owners about cat weight changes, said Prof. The research also received coverage in the Telegraph in the U.K.
The Canadian Press covered the research findings, with articles appearing in several publications, including the Toronto Star and CBC News.
The findings, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, reveal that even after cats mature from the kitten phase, their weight still creeps up until they are, on average, eight years old. The researchers at U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) discovered most cats continue to put on weight as they age, and their average weight is on the rise. Now University of Guelph researchers have become the first to access data on more than 19 million cats to get a picture of typical weight gain and loss over their lifetimes.
Until now, pet owners and veterinarians didn’t know for sure.