Cat owners are putting their pets at risk of obesity by not measuring portions or encouraging exercise, a survey has found.

The Royal Canin survey of 315 New Zealand cat owners found three in four thought cats are overweight because they are fed too often or don’t get enough exercise, however owners don’t do much about it.

The survey found 75 per cent of people leave food out for their cat during the day, 58 per cent don’t measure the portion they serve their cat and 77 per cent don’t make sure their cat gets exercise.

• In Pictures: Overweight cats are in the spotlight

The survey found 69 per cent said taste was the most important factor when buying food for their cats, but cats were looking for smell and texture, veterinary technical consultant Mark Edwards said.

“Cats have less than 500 taste buds, as opposed to 10,000 in humans, so while the taste of food is important to humans, it’s just not the case for cats.”

Eighteen per cent of respondents admitted they had tasted their cat’s food and two per cent said they would do it again.

There are 1.4 million cats in New Zealand an 699,000 dogs.

In Australia there are 2.4 million cats and 4.21 million dogs.