ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Feline obesity is associated with stronger owner attachment, while indoor confinement increases risk of obesity at an early age in domestic shorthaired cats – A cross-sectional study of cat-and owner-related risk factors for obesity in privately owned Danish cats
Charlotte Reinhard Bjørnvad 1
Camilla Brohave Mortensen 2
Maria Louise Støvlbæk Tams 3
Freja Kragh Jørgensen 1
Peter Sandøe 1
Thomas Bøker Lund 1
1. University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
2. Espergærde dyreklinik, Espergærde, Denmark
3. Byens Dyreklinik, Taastrup, Denmark
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Abstract
Knowledge of risk factors for overweight and obesity is important for making preventative strategies for feline obesity. The present study investigated risk factors for feline obesity in privately owned adult cats on Zealand, Denmark. Privately owned cats (> 1 year old and reportedly healthy) were recruited through social media. During home visits, the cats underwent a full physical examination and body condition was scored by trained investigators. Owners answered a questionnaire relating to cat characteristics, owner characteristics and attachment to their cat, feeding practices and living environment. For statistical analyses cats were divided into normal moderately lean to slightly moderately overweight (BCS 4-6/9) and heavy/obese (BCS 7-9/9) groups. Multivariable logistic analysises was performed to predict risk of a cat being heavy/obese. 192 cats were included in the final analysis. 65% were BCS 4-6/9, and 35% were BCS 7-9/9. In the multivariate analysis, owners of heavy/obese cats were significantly more attached to their cat and owners of these heavy cats perceived their cat as less active than owners of normal weight cats. Indoor confined domestic shorthaired cats had a high risk of being heavy/obese from a young age (1 year old), while the risk for domestic shorthaired cats with outdoor access was low at a young age and only slowly increased – culminating around 7 years of age. In contrast, in purebred cats, age only modestly affected the risk of being heavy/obese. Commented [CB1]: The title has been revised according to suggestion by reviewer 2 This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article In conclusion, indoor confinement was identified to significantly increase the predicted risk of domestic shorthaired cats being heavy/obese from a young age, while the risk for cats having outdoor access was highest at an age around 7 years. Whether a closer owner attachment is a contributing factor in feline obesity development should be investigated further.
Summary
Keywords
Body condition score, Feeding management, feline, LexingtonAttachment to Pets Scale, Overweight
Received
30 November 2025
Accepted
19 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Bjørnvad, Mortensen, Tams, Jørgensen, Sandøe and Lund. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Charlotte Reinhard Bjørnvad
Disclaimer
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