Is your pet putting on weight and you're not sure why? Perhaps this recent survey could uncover the answer! Nearly half of pet lovers asked said they're guilty of giving some food to a neighbour's cat. And more than two-thirds actually buy cat food especially for the occasion. But some vets have health concerns for our pets.
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00:00 My cat's Quasi, he's one years old. I got him, he was a present to myself, I bought
00:06 him for my birthday last August because I'd always wanted a ginger cat. So yeah, most
00:12 of my cats I rescue and he was the only one I've bought as a kitten.
00:16 Charlie is eight years old and he likes lots of different foods actually. He has wet food
00:21 every day and he likes biscuits as well.
00:24 Cats do go outside and it is a worry that they might be fed by other people, especially
00:29 Tilly. I do know that one of them, Rosie, goes and eats neighbours' cat's food, but
00:35 I do know what food that is and it doesn't seem to upset her. But Tilly's the one that
00:41 I really, well generally I don't want anyone feeding my cats at all.
00:46 Here in the UK we're a nation of self-confessed pet lovers. Latest pet ownership statistics
00:51 prove it, with at least 77% of families with children having a pet. 10 million, 34% of
00:58 UK households own a dog, compared to 28% or 8.2 million households owning a cat. And it's
01:04 not just our own pets we're crazy about. Half of Brits said they feel an attachment to a
01:08 neighbour's cat and one in ten people even treat it like one of their own.
01:13 Both my cats are allowed out. We've got a cat flap so that they can go out whenever
01:16 they want because I think that's important. But yes, it does concern me that other people
01:20 could be feeding them and not feeding them what I want them to be fed, yeah.
01:25 If a cat came into my home I wouldn't feed it because I wouldn't want anyone feeding
01:29 my cats. So they wouldn't. The only exception is our neighbour's cat. When he comes in he
01:37 does sometimes get treats but that's with the permission of his owner.
01:41 But as much as we like to show appreciation for our neighbourhood pets through tasty treats,
01:46 with over 40% admitting they'd fed a cat that wasn't theirs, some owners and pet health
01:51 professionals don't think it's a good idea and can lead to health concerns and even large
01:55 vet spills. Don't know what they're going to be eating.
01:58 So they could be eating high fat things or not very good food. Food that might upset
02:03 their stomachs. And then if you're ill you wouldn't really know why.
02:07 If the neighbours are feeding your cat on purpose then obviously, yeah, if they gave
02:11 my cat something that made them ill I would expect them to foot the vet bill. But my cat
02:15 just tends to help himself to other people's food so that's a bit trickier.
02:21 Both of my cats wear collars to say do not feed me because we previously had a cat who
02:25 had a heart condition so he had special dietary requirements. But unfortunately we did find
02:31 that other people were feeding him and his weight continued to increase which we needed
02:35 to monitor for his heart condition. Our cat's weight didn't come down. We had to keep paying
02:40 for him to have heart scans and I had to knock on all of the neighbours' doors and explain
02:44 to them please don't feed him. But obviously there was nothing I could actually do about
02:48 it. Oh no I would never feed someone else's cat, no, because they're not mine and I wouldn't
02:53 want somebody else's cat to feel that this was their home and this is where they come
02:57 to for food. I want my cat to know this is his home and where he's safe and where he
03:01 has his food. So no I would never feed somebody else's.