The couch potato cats that are falling victim to diabetes
By FIONA MacRAE
Mice can relax. Even nesting birds can sing a little more cheerily.
Their number one enemy, it seems, is getting so fat he can barely be bothered to get off the sofa for a night's hunting.
Vets have found that cats are imitating their owners' couch potato lifestyle.
As a result of eating more and exercising less, more than a third of cats are overweight and the number of cases of feline diabetes has risen five-fold in 30 years.
Edinburgh University researchers estimate that one in 230 - or up to 400,000 pet cats - is diabetic. Danielle Gunn-Moore, a professor of feline medicine, said: "The lifestyle of cats is changing. They are tending to eat too much, gain weight and take less exercise.
"Unfortunately, just like people, cats will over-eat if they are offered too much tasty food, particularly if they are bored and have little else to do.
"While cats would naturally exercise outside, many cats are now housebound - perhaps because they live in a flat or because their owners feel that it is too dangerous to let them out - so they have little to do all day but eat, sleep and gain weight."
In addition, stressed-out Britons are increasingly relying on cats for companionship.
Professor Gunn-Moore said: "Cats are now the number one pet, they are more popular than dogs.
People get in late and they don't want to walk the dog.
"They want the cat there as a companion and if it's outside chasing mice, it's not going to be there as a companion."
Vet Elaine Pendlebury said much of the problem was because of owners giving their cats calorie-laden treats.
She said: "People are feeding them things like sausages from their own table. Sausages are quite high in salt and quite fatty.
"If you want to give your cat a treat, give it a small bit of boiled chicken or, even better, play a game with your cat."
The diabetes study, published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, looked at the veterinary records of 14,000 cats, coupled with questionnaires filled in by owners.
Cats are not the only pets to be losing the battle of the bulge. A quarter of dogs are clinically obese and overweight rabbits and even hamsters are also a common sight in vets' surgeries.
metal health will drive you mad!!! 
