Excuses to avoid cardio at the gym are rife, but an overweight cat has come up with the perfect solution; play dead.
Laila the cat moved to Gainesville, Florida with owner Lee Ferinden when she was a kitten and up until then she had been a ‘normal sized’ little cat.
However, after Lee had his pet spayed she quickly started to gain weight and lost interest in leaping around.
Take a look at what happened when she was put on the treadmill:
I’ve had a similar reaction around treadmills in the past, but it’s at least usually after I’ve attempted to work out. The owner is trying desperately to help Laila lose weight but she clearly isn’t interested in toning up for summer.
Lee said the cat was on a strict diet but was still piling on the pounds without any clear cause.
He explained:
Laila was a normal-sized kitten until after we moved here to Gainesville and she was spayed. She started gaining weight rapidly and stopped jumping on things.
More than a year full of vet trips and tests, we were struggling to figure out how she could be gaining a pound a month on a strict diet.
We have had every test you can think of and nothing is medically wrong with her.
To try and combat the weight gain, Laila is now on an exercise regime made up of daily walks and a weekly trip to ‘fat camp’.
Lee continued:
Finally we began exercising her, she’s on a strict diet and walks with her dad once a day. She also goes to Fat Camp on Wednesdays at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Hopefully the increase in exercise will have a positive effect on Laila, though I can’t imagine her weight loss will be fast if she keeps playing dead on the treadmill!
Rather than keep up with the moving machine, the mischievous cat rolled over and happily sprawled on her back, ignoring the woman calling her name.
The cat’s immobility forced those watching to switch the treadmill off and the woman assisting with the cat’s exercise was clearly unable to resist the big fluffy kitty as she gave in and tickled her stomach.
It looks like Laila really knows how to get things to go her way but hopefully she’ll start the increase in her exercise regime will reap rewards in the near future.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.