Everyone's Rooting For Cinder-Block, An Obese Cat Who Dislikes Her Workout
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I know because I watched it last night lol! I was bored and didn't want to watch any of the shows I like best because my partner wasn't home and we watch them together. So. Jackson Galaxy to the rescue!
The point of this is that in addition to diet, overweight cats need exercise, but their weight is enough to put damaging stress on their joints, so if they can get them acclimated to the water then raise it high enough to give them a bit of buoyancy, it will be a low-joint-stress workout, rather like how old folks often do exercise in pools. Same concept. And it does work! While the cat isn't gonna be happy about any of this, it's not actually doing them harm...or rather, it's doing them a lot less harm than continuing to be overweight and not getting any exercise, is going to do.
But this is reserved for extreme cases, I think, where the cat's weight has gotten so high that they really cannot find other ways to help them exercise. The cat featured in the episode, started out at 41 POUNDS!
I'm not sure what would bother me most if I were Cinderblock: the harness and leash, the water (what's the purpose of an inch of water?), the treadmill, or the camera? She needs a diet for sure, but otherwise she's got a lot to complain about.
The water takes some of the pressure off of her joints when she is on the treadmill. Jackson Galaxy featured a cat on his show who lost close to half his body weight doing water treadmill exercise.
I saw an explanation earlier from the vet clinic early - the cat's diet is already so restricted that they can't really go lower without starving her of nutrients, so she needs to burn calories in addition to being on calorie restriction. Also, she's currently so heavy she can't walk more than a few steps unaided, and being basically immobile is really hard on the body's systems. Hence, hydrotherapy.
Many people have wondered why Northshore is subjecting Cinder to the underwater treadmill. Cinder has arthritis in multiple joints and is carrying an extra 10 lb of body weight. The water provides a reduced weight-bearing environment that increases functional use of limbs without marked weight loading and resultant discomfort to joints. She's still in the process of becoming acclimated to this treadmill and the water level is lower than we would like just so she can become used to the process.”
Best wishes for Cinderblock. It's going to be a tough journey, but I'm confident she will get there with all the help she's receiving.
I was never able to get my genetically obese (his twin was normal/thin) Siamese cat to walk via a harness and leash. He just collapsed on the sidewalk and absolutely refused to budge whether for life or limb. Maybe if I had this water treadmill contraption...
Sadly he eventually succumbed to obesity-related health issues at 13 yrs., and his healthier twin followed not too long after from a broken heart.
Oh my, that poor kitty is so obese! I sure wish she was getting WET food and not kibble. I understand that they use the kibble to entice her to walk, but she'd be more satiated with wet food mixed with extra water. (We once had a cat lose a bunch of weight and the only way we could do it was with wet food.)
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