Author: Sajia Athai, Class of 2026

Walking through the streets of the city, every New Yorker knows the best spots: the thrift stores, the restaurants, parking lots to chill at, but most importantly, the cat cafes. Everyone loves cats, especially the big, cute, and fluffy ones. With cat videos always going viral across the country, viewers are often quick to judge the health of seemingly chunky cats. Comments full of health advice and threats often flood these videos, demanding that owners rectify their pets’ diets. Accusations often spread misinformation, pointing fingers at owners that simply comply with what veterinarians advise—not trivial suggestions by strangers online. Concerns about dry food and its wheat content have spread all over. Is dry food safe for consumption? Are dietary carbohydrates slowly reducing the lifespan of cats? A research study conducted by a team of scientists at Ontario Veterinary College suggests otherwise.

Led by Hannah Godfrey, the team decided to investigate the role of high carbohydrate content in obesity and weight gain in cats. The researchers tested the hypothesis of whether or not high carbohydrate content leads to insulin resistance and feline obesity. Studies exploring two distinct diets were chosen amongst 241 scientific articles extracted from publications. Excluding disease progression–which can interfere with data–sixteen articles were chosen, yielding study trials focused on 3 macronutrients (protein, fat, and nitrogen-free extract (NFE)). A record of fasted glucose (mmol/L) and fasted insulin concentrations (pmol/L) were maintained through organized datasets, incorporating serum, plasma, and whole blood measures. These variables were analyzed utilizing univariate models, which were incorporated to assess each variable individually. To analyze the models, metrics such as estimations of the overall prediction error and the mean square prediction error were calculated to identify correlations between carbohydrate consumption and calorie count in cats. 

Ultimately, the data revealed that there was collinearity between several variables, making it improbable that the high carbohydrate content is linked directly to obesity, though obese cats do exhibit a higher carbohydrate content level overall. The protein level, nitrogen-extract level, and feeding method seemed to be similar statistically, indicating high carbohydrate consumption is not the leading cause of obesity or insulin resistance in cats. The study can be implemented in the future to analyze metabolic responses to varying concentrations of carbohydrates. Owners continue to worry themselves endlessly when trying to choose the best brand on the cat food shelf. However, this research suggests that these concerns are unnecessary, posing no threat to the health of cats. For cat lovers and owners alike, this may be an extremely refreshing discovery. 

Figure 1. Cats are often labelled as “fat” or “unhealthy” depending on the viewer. Often, diets are misinterpreted and misjudged without proper nutritional research about what cats need to eat by nature to lead an active lifestyle. 

Work’s Cited:

[1] Hannah Godfrey, Jennifer L Ellis, Adronie Verbrugghe, A meta-analysis: dietary carbohydrates do not increase body fat or fasted insulin and glucose in cats, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 103, 2025, skaf071, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf071

[2] Image retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watkin_Fat_Cat_%28506301604%29_%28cropped%29.jpg