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Weight Management
Weight control simply involves ensuring an energy balance; energy in equals energy out. Weight gain in any animal means there is an energy imbalance, where more energy is being consumed than what is being expelled through exercise. A weight management diet is designed to allow fewer calories to be consumed in a larger volume of food, allowing for less risk of an energy imbalance, but must be in conjunction with sufficient exercise.

Adult cats should be fed a diet that has been formulated for maintenance, while at the same time should be fed according to preference and body condition. Cats generally prefer eating smaller meals more frequently, which tends to lead less to weight gain compared to cats that are fed free-choice food. Meanwhile, some cats adapt to free-choice feeding and can maintain normal body weight without experiencing weight gain. In general, indoor cats have less opportunity or need for exercise than outdoor cats, and as a result indoor cats are much more prone to weight gain and overweight conditions. For indoor cats, there are a variety of choices to promote exercise including a variety of cat toys designed to simulate chase and play behaviours, which can increase activity levels of indoor cats. Overall, if an adult cat cannot maintain normal body condition on a free-choice feeding diet, despite exercise levels, portion-controlled feeding is recommended. Many pet cats are fed energy-dense, high carbohydrate diets, which provide the cat with much more energy than needed. This is a major issue with indoor cats as it has been shown to lead to obesity. In order to prevent cats from becoming overweight, owners should be more inclined to implement weight control diets. These diets aim to prevent obesity condition and provide the cat with nutrient-dense, low energy ingredients. Studies show that cats fed lower energy diets had significantly reduced incidences of obesity, as the typical indoor pet cat does not need more energy than their resting energy requirement since most indoor cats are prone to decreased exercise levels. For an average cat weighing 10-11 pounds, they would have a resting energy requirement of 180-200 kcal/day.

Along with energy input and output, specific nutrients in the diet can play large roles in weight control diets. Fiber is one important component in weight control, with various benefits. A source of soluble and fermentable fiber helps to increase the movement of digesta through the gut and decrease gastric emptying. This helps to increase satiety in cats, potentially decreasing feeding rates and voluntary energy consumption. Fermentable fiber promotes healthy mucosa and commensal bacterial growth, and improved digestion/nutrient absorption. Prebiotic fibers like fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and mannonoligosaccharides (MOS) decrease the number of pathogenic bacteria and increase the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut. In addition, it helps to maintain microbial balance and a healthy immune system. Fiber is fermented in the colon to produce short chain fatty acids which can be used as an energy source. Fermentable fiber has been demonstrated to enhance general health and decrease inflammation. Furthermore, non-fermentable fiber is critical to the formation of well-formed stool and has been known to increase diet bulk while decreasing caloric density. Insoluble fiber has been proposed to regulate appetite by releasing hormones that reduce hunger. Sources of fiber commonly added in weight management cat food include beet pulp, barley, psyllium and cellulose.

Another nutrient important for weight control diets is protein and it’s associated amino acids. Felines, being obligate carnivores, require a natural diet of strict animal products which consists of protein and fat (i.e. muscle, organs and animal tissue). Dietary protein supplies amino acids that can be utilized and metabolised as energy over fat when provided, even though protein is not stored in the body the same way as fat. Dietary fat is more efficiently converted to body fat than protein, if an animal is consuming more than its energy requirement and if the excess energy is provided by fat, more weight will be gained than if the excess calories are coming from protein. Dietary protein also improves satiety during feed, resulting in decreased overconsumption of food. The protein content of the diet is a key factor to building and maintaining lean body (muscle) mass, which is an important aspect of weight control. Lean body mass maintenance is regulated by protein intake, but more importantly is regulated by exercise. Limited protein and amino acids in the diet will limit lean body mass growth, but exercise or lack of exercise will allow for growth or shrinking of muscle. Successful weight control involves maintenance of healthy adipose tissue levels but most importantly maintenance of lean body mass. Lean muscle is the driver of basal energy metabolism and aids in the use of energy. When sufficient levels of fat are provided, fat will be used by the body as an energy source but only when there are insufficient levels of protein.

An important amino acid that is incorporated many weight loss/weight control diets is L-carnitine. L-carnitine is a vitamin-like substance that is found in animal protein, and is the only form found in nature as well as being the only biologically active form. It can be found in ingredients commonly used in more commercial pet foods, but specifically weight management/weight loss diets. L-carnitine is involved in many biological pathways, more specifically fatty acid metabolism, allowing for the conversion of long chain fatty acids into energy. The introduction of L-carnitine ensures rapid transport and oxidation of fatty acids as well as efficient usage of dietary fatty acids and protein. Supplementary L-carnitine is used more often in weight loss diets, since it’s benefits mainly involves fatty acid metabolism to control weight loss. However, since weight control is, in essence, a prevention stage in overall weight management, it still has value in weight control diets in preserving and building lean body mass and inhibiting the storage of excess dietary fat. The majority of studies focusing on supplementary L-carnitine use look at it’s benefits for weight loss, looking at it’s benefits in metabolic rate, fatty acid oxidation and overall role in weight loss. At the same time, these studies still show similar results that prove their effects of controlling fatty acid metabolism for weight control, in order to prevent the need for weight loss diets.