are my cats fat

Home › The Daily Kitten Cat Chat Forum › General Chat › are my cats fat

Tagged: 

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • 1 October, 2014 at 11:36 pm #819074
    Michael
    Participant

    Hi there

    As those who will remember my previous posts will know, i have two lovely torties, Flo and Stella.

    They had some health issues before, and the vet pointed out to me by the by that they got, well fat. And they did really plump up I’m ashamed to say in a short period of time.

    one went from 2 to 4.1 kilos, and the other from 2.3 to a princel 4.4 kilos.

    3 things happened from their previous weights to their fat states

    a) they were spade
    b) they got older (from 8 and 14 months to now being 18 and 24 months)
    c) they went from outdoor cats to indoor cats

    I have since made a lot of positive changes to their diet and reduced their calorie intake and make a real effort to encourage them to exercise . I am pleased to say they have both slowly and safely lost weight and are both at 3.8 kilos now.

    So my question is are they still fat?

    I suppose they are now full adults so part of the weight gain was appropriate. I find the online charts showing 1 to 5 on the fat scale difficult to follow because their body types aren’t that straightforward. the younger one looks thin, has the indented waistline, and is very active. But she has a slightly sagging belly–much less so since she lost a modest .3 kilos.

    The other still looks fat around her sides but still thins down around her waist. Is she just big boned? She is also a medium hair cat so it’s more difficult to tell what’s fluff and what’s fat. I can feel her ribs but there’s some fat there, but as I said she definitely slims around the waist. And she lost a significant amount.

    I had in my head that if i feed the the ‘right’ amount for a 2.5-3.5 k cat they will loose weight slowly but stop losing when they reach the right weight.

    But now food dominates my relationship with them. They are always hungry and always begging for food. If i trip over something that sounds vaguely like one of their feeding vessels I will hear them leap from halfway across the house to run to wherever I am. And about and hour or more before feeding time they start begging/waiting for food.

    How fat is too fat??

    Just to note I will take them to the vet in a few months and ask their opinion but some informal views would be appreciated for now. (My vets are fine but not amazing–I don’t think they will give me patient answers to questions like this)

    1 October, 2014 at 11:51 pm #819076
    Michael
    Participant

    I know I said I don’t want to enter the what to feed debate but just to be precise I give them

    21.4% dry (Orijen 6 fish)
    78.% wet –(40% of which is Catz game, 40% of which is Catz lamb and rabbit, 10% of which is Thrive Tuna and salmon, 10% of which is James wellbeloved Turkey)

    I know that’s a lot of fish but they sneeze and vomit from chicken it seems. (Or maybe it’s grain or rice, but I don’t want to take any changes and these foods they react well to)

    1 October, 2014 at 11:57 pm #819079
    Michael
    Participant

    oh and just to show you what they are like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_K58IhgVaU&feature=youtu.be

    1 October, 2014 at 11:58 pm #819080
    Michael
    Participant

    oh and just to show you what they are like

    2 October, 2014 at 4:58 pm #819115
    ecbrown
    Participant

    Hi, Michael. What lovely girl cats. Good for you for helping them slim down. They look pretty good from what I see in the video. Sounds like you found a good guide online too. I’m kind of like you…using the vets opinion, online tools, the eye test, etc… to decide if mine are at a healthy weight. I’ll say I can relate to two things you mentioned. One, I have a female who was a pound or two overweight but has slimmed down. You can see her waist from above and her shoulder muscles are visible. But if you just looked at her swaying belly when she walked you’d say she’s fat. But the vet says that’s normal for some cats and she’s not overweight. I’ve even read the name “spay sway” for that extra belly skin…since spayed cats tend to have it. Also, I know what you mean about the cats being hungry. It makes me question and feel guilty too. But I’m sure mine are getting enough because they are maintaining a healthy weight and are definitely not thin or losing weight. And I’m feeding them food that should leave them as satisfied as possible. I guess in the wild they’d usually be eager for a meal just about anytime and would probably only get just enough to maintain their weight. Just some of my thoughts. Hope the vet can ease your concerns when you see them.

    2 October, 2014 at 5:01 pm #819116
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi Michael,

    Your girls are gorgeous. Is Miss Stella the fluffy one? Both Miss Flo and Miss Stella look OK.

    Anyway, the “standard” range for cats over 1 year of age is 3 – 4.2 kilos. Stuff to look for –

    – Wet cat food is protein/water and more easily digestible/burned off. They can share a (5.5 oz.) can of wet food twice a day.
    – Dry foods are mostly carbs and, in excess, can put on the pounds (Just like with people!). Dry food should be measured at .75 cup or .177 liter per day shared by BOTH cats. You can feed them a high protein dry food but don’t increase the amount. A note: These foods make my cats gassy with extra stinky poop.
    – Exercise is difficult for indoor cats so it’s important to help them get exercise. Do they have a tall cat tree? Can you spend 15 mins. a day playing chases the feather toy with them?

    My personal feelings is I don’t believe feeding cats raw or people food. They don’t have the nutrients that help keep kittens/cats healthy.

    Of course, they should have lots of water available. I got a water fountain and my cats love it…the water and for toy storage!

    I hope more TDKers weight in (no-not really a pun) as we all have different experiences. 😀

    I have one girl who is overweight. She works very hard at making me feel guilty about her diet. It took some time but finally I learned to ignore her all day “are you in the kitchen feed me-I’m starving” pleas.

    2 October, 2014 at 5:02 pm #819117
    Jeankit
    Participant

    Thanks for the video share with weight mgmt info. Yup my kits all went from outdoor lifestyle to indoor kits w/weight gain. I have since put trio on weight mgmt. program (along w/myself – LOL!)

    2 October, 2014 at 11:41 pm #819143
    Michael
    Participant

    thank you as always for the comments. And yes Stella is the fluffy one and Flo the loud one 🙂

    I do play with them a fair bit and they are more active since losing a bit of weight. They have mastered guilt! I do wish wet foods came in 60g packages to give more flexibility.

    One thing that’s good as they have always drank a fair bit. Since moving them to mostly wet they unsurprisingly drink less but I have a high tech fountain, a low tech fountain, and an old fashioned bowl and they drink form all of them and play with the water too. Their previous family told me they used to play around a pond they had and fell in more than once and didn’t seem to think much of it.

    I guess all you can do is keep monitoring their weight and adjust if necessary.

    Speaking of which, would anyone recommend getting a baby scale for this purpose?

    I am using the old trick of holding them and then weighing myself and doing the maths. It has some disadvantages–they squirm and I have to be reminded of my own failure to lose weight at the same pace as them. However, I wonder if I got a baby scale whether I’d be able to get them to sit still on it anyway.

    3 October, 2014 at 12:33 am #819147
    ecbrown
    Participant

    Lol, I use the same system you do to weigh them and know what you mean about your own weight. I find it a good measurement and accurate enough. Don’t think I’d invest in a baby scale, but other opinions may vary.

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.