Is MCat getting a tad portly?

[RubbishMantra]

Just that really. And he feels heavier when I pick him up.

He's had a stressful time recently, and when he's upset, he hits the food bowl and comfort eats.

The third one, of him outside, is for comparison, taken when he was more sylph like.

[Corygal]

So lovely - he is the very model of the modern gentleman cat. No evidence at all of comfort eating.

And that is a stunning photo - his beauty spot and glorious eyes shown to full effect.

[RubbishMantra]

Hopefully the other 2 photos will show up this time.

[cozietoesie]

Maybe just a tad from those photos.

Have you weighed/vetted him recently? (And what exercise does he get?)

[RubbishMantra]

I'm having trouble posting photographs today. Now the 2nd one's vanished.

He does love posing for his picture to be taken C. He says "Gracias por el cumplido." in a whispery sinister voice. (for some reason he speaks spanish, always has.)

Not much excercise really cozie. I try to get him leaping in the air with the flying frenzy, but he's a clever hunter, so he just hides underneath something, making occasional swipes if it's in reaching distance. Or maybe one carefully calculated lethal pounce during a play session. Tried foraging toys, he just ignores them. He has a mooch in the neighbours' gardens, and plays chase and wrestling with Little Monsieur.

I don't know how much he weighs, but he's a lot heavier than LM, who's 4.2 kilos, so maybe 6? And he's not a particularly big cat. I can see his rotund little tummy from behind. I can't feel his ribs either.

This has happened before, and it usually resolves itself without any intervention.

[cozietoesie]

I could understand the comfort eating so maybe it shall resolve itself - difficult to say with winter coming on. (Shall you have fires and all those good things?)

Have you got a set of (resonably accurate) bathroom scales? If so, you can rough-weigh him fairly easily. Get on to the scales while you're holding him, then put him down and get on by yourself. Subtract.

Maybe it's time for the vet in any case? (When are they due to go - for their MOT for example?)

[cozietoesie]

*reasonably

Tsk.

[SecretNutellaFix]

As an owner of a very fluffy longhaired cat who the vet is surprised when she weighs him at how little he weighs for his size and length, your handsome gentleman would very much appear to be stout, to use a Victorian way of describing him.

My fella weighs 4.6kg.

[RubbishMantra]

Oh dear. I'm comparing his recent photographs against the one with the blue watering can. He looks like a before and after from Weight Watchers. He is stout isn't he Nutella. I don't mind him getting porky, looks wise, I just worry about the health implications. He's only 5.

No scales cozie. Had his last check up/jabs about 6 months ago. All he wants to do is sleep and eat. He's become very clingy. Maybe the poor lad's depressed?

[Corygal]

It's not his thyroid is it? But hang on tho', if he's put on and lost before, he's prob fine - leave it a couple of weeks and see if he gets any more attractively full figured.

Being a bit fat is miles less bad for you than you think, I wouldn't worry about it at all. I wouldn't call him remotely fat, to be honest, and I am a real chubby chaser when it comes to felines.

se lo tiene muy creído, se cree el no va más or.

I hope the above means what google translate told me it does. Anyway M Cat, you are the cat's whiskers to me.

[iloveeverykindofcat]

de-lurking to say

1. he is utterly glorious and I want to hug him and listen to him whisper Spanish
   
2. he does look like he might be carrying a bit extra. One of my girls had the same physique at just over 5kg - being a female I imagine that's equivalent and the vet told me to she needed to slim down a bit. She does much better on a no-grain diet. Definitely slimmer, and better litter tray output. (Doesn't stop her scrounging for food like she's preparing for a famine, but she was a starving stray once so has an excuse). Also according to my vet, cats often don't need quite as much as the packet recommends, being largely spayed nowadays and typically roaming over smaller areas.

[hugoagogo]

He is lovely, some low fat biscuits might be a good idea, but he doesn't look that chubby.

What do you think could be making him stressed?

[cozietoesie]

He's just lost his 'person' hugo. It can affect some cats quite badly.

[hugoagogo]

Ah, poor kitty.

[RubbishMantra]

Ah, he's squirming with joy at all the admiring glances from The Ladies of The Litter.

He eats a grain-free diet already ilove, Applaws dry and Cosma wet. Like your girl, he used to eat anything when he first moved in with me. Now he will only accept the most delicious brands of cat food. He's quite grand and imperious. Little Lord Fauntleroy.

I'll keep them peeled, re. his weight. If it doesn't resolve itself, I'll get thyroid checks done. He likes yowling into corners, which can be a sign of thyroid troubles? But he's always done that. He's an angsty tortured soul.

[HemanOrSheRa]

His is a little stouter but never the less still a handsome bugger. Funnily enough I was looking at our b&w girl last night thinking she looked a bit chunky. But she always chubs up at this time of year. She's shorthaired but sort of fluffs up too. She is also Spanish btw. Colombian Spanish. So is the dog. The new kitten, Frankie Knuckles, is Mexican. I talk and sing to them in Spanglish/Franglais. They LOVE it .

[cozietoesie]

Maybe see if you can borrow a set of scales from someone? (Or a reasonable pair should be slightly under a tenner on the net if funds aren't an issue.) It might be useful to have a fairly objective record.

[cozietoesie]

*reasonable set

[Archfarchnad]

Well, he's as handsome as ever, but I do think his collar's looking a tad tighter on the more recent pics. Poor lad, if it's his way of coping with the loss by eating more in the short term, fair enough, as long as it doesn't keep on going up at this rate. I think weighing him every few weeks might be an idea to check that his weight has stabilised.

How much does he actually get to eat each day? Archcat is 6.5 kilos, so maybe a bit more than MCat, and he gets only 200g of top-quality grain-free wet plus a small bowl (10-20g?) of Applaws dry. That's waaaay below what the manufacturers claim he should be getting for that size.

Is it possible that MCat is snaffling Little Monsieur's portion too?

Archcat sends a friendly paw-pat and nose-kiss over to MCat and LM and apologises for not speaking any Spanish at all.

[RubbishMantra]

Heman, I speak to Little Monsieur in French, that's how he got his nickname. Frankie Knuckles is a brilliant name for a cat. Little Monsieur's real name is also named after a musician, Avey Tare from Animal Collective. Monsieur le Tare I call him. Mcat gets called Senor. I only use their actual names if they're being naughty. Like this morning, they woke me up at 7.30, galloping across the bed, knocking things off every available surface in the bedroom. This went on for an hour, so I gave up the idea of sleep. As soon as I woke up, they got on the bed, curled up and crashed out. Dickheads! They're still asleep now.

Archfarchnad, I free feed Applaws, I just keep their bowl topped up all the time, because I've never known a cat of mine to overeat before. They then share a 200g tin of Cosma, which is just a supplementary, so that's just a treat really. I was giving them more wet, but they weren't eating it, seemingly preferring the Applaws biscuits. I've got some mini weighing scales, so I'll start measuring to get an idea of how much dry I'm giving them.

[Corygal]

So fudgy and cute - Mr C has a similar beauty spot. Give him a massive kiss from me.

[HemanOrSheRa]

Unfortunately Frankie Knuckles got his name because he is a little thug rather than being named after the Godfather of House . When we first got him he was a terrified, almost feral little thing. He has a very Irish surname. I now realise he is actually Mexican and leaps about the place like a Lucha Libre wrestler terrorising us all. The poor dog is bearing the brunt of his thuggery and has spent the last month looking like this and this for much of the time.

I hope MCat is OK and both your boys are looking after you

[RubbishMantra]

A kiss shall be applied to MCat's forehead when he next makes an appearance C. I think he's catching a few rays on the garden wall, and taunting my cat hating neighbour in the process. Win win.

I feel sorry for dogs, Heman, cats openly laugh at them. I don't understand that 02 advert at all. If I told MCat to be more dog, he'd probably spit at me in disgust. Little Monsieur's a bit dog-like I suppose, he wags his tail when he's happy, and a delivery man mistook him for a puppy once. He doesn't miaow, just makes a sort of crooning moaning noise

[Corygal]

Thanks so much - an auntly smacker for Junior as well.

Mcat is just so cute! I'm making crooning groaning noises as well.

[RubbishMantra]

MCat is the epitome of furry snuggliness isn't he C. But tempered with a thrilling undercurrent of menace. When DLH moved in with me, the first thing I said was, "you are bringing MCat with you?"