British Shorthair Cat

　　【1. Exercise Frequency】

　　Exercise should be performed daily, and only interrupted on rare occasions. Some are almost inactive from Monday to Friday, but engage in heavy, even intense, exercise on Saturday or Sunday. This is actually very harmful, especially as it may cause damage to the heart, spine, ligaments, and joints of cats over six years old.

　　【2. Exercise Methods】

　　Going for walks outdoors at a pace matching the owner’s sneakers, step by step, is the best exercise. First, it helps cultivate the relationship between the owner and the cat; second, both get sufficient and moderate exercise. For , more daily movement is needed. Family members taking turns to accompany the cat on multiple daily walks is a better approach. Using a bicycle while holding the cat’s collar leash to force it to run faster than 5 km/h is a very poor method, especially for cats over four years old, as it easily causes heart damage.

　　【3. Precautions】

　　Both humans and cats beyond their prime should avoid exercises that cause very rapid and prolonged heartbeat and breathing. When breathing and heartbeat remain very fast for several minutes or more than ten minutes, it can easily cause myocardial hypoxia and oxygen deficiency in many body tissues. For example, a person who normally walks about six kilometers per hour without much strain will burn about 60% more calories when jogging slowly, but myocardial oxygen consumption increases two to three times.

　　Therefore, for middle-aged cats and humans, the only benefit of running is slightly increasing calorie consumption within a limited time. But the purpose of exercise is not calorie burning, but to promote overall blood circulation, health of muscles, ligaments, joints, and vital organs.