Fat cat

[jobnockey]

So I just weighed my cat and he’s 6.5kgs!!!!!

I knew he’d put on a few pounds but I am a bit shocked. He came to us Age 4 last year weighing just under 5 Kg but Had only just been neutered and we were told he’d gain a bit of weight. This seems excessive now though, that is quite heavy isn’t it? Or is that acceptable?

I feed him 60g of the Arden grange light Dry food a day (I weigh it out!), and half a small tin of the supplementary cosma food(chicken breast or tuna usually) So I honestly don’t think he’s over fed unless I’m missing something about how fatty the supplementary food is?

Problem is he’s lazy, even by cat standards. He goes outside but just sits around in the garden.

He gets played with every day so does run around a bit but obviously not enough. Tried lots of different toys but he gets bored quite quickly.

I don’t know if perhaps he was a bit under weight when we got him and he’s just more a natural size now? I can feel his spine and ribs although as you can see from the photo he defo has a tummy on him...

Pic of him in all his tubby glorious-ness attached.

Any ideas of how to get him moving more? He’s happy enough but I don’t want him to be unhealthy.

[FourPlasticRings]

Where does he fall on this chart, OP?

[slipperywhensparticus]

Mine was 8.9

[jobnockey]

Around 7 I would say...

[jobnockey]

@slipperywhensparticus that’s one cuddly cat

[YesItsMeIDontCare]

Do you have a laser pen toy for him? That's quite good for short bursts of manic activity. Even my fat boy burns off a good few calories with his.

[Beamur]

Chonky.
Is he getting fed elsewhere too? That doesn't sound like a lot of food to me.

[jobnockey]

We do have a laser pen but he’s scared of it

[Vinorosso74]

He's very handsome but yes is looking quite rotund!
If he should be 5kg you should feed him that amount of food per day and if he's having some wet on top then reduce the amount of dry. I don't know what the feeding guidelines are for the foods he's eating so not sure if it's too much.
If he is eating too much then gradually reduce the amount of dry by 1g every other day so he hopefully doesn't notice (we did that when ours was gaining weight a bit quickly). Ours has 30g Thrive dry and 1 tin of their wet or sometimes a Blink pouch daily which doesn't sound a lot. He was 4.2 or 4.3kg at his MOT in March.
He likes chasing ping pong balls which gets him moving.

[FourPlasticRings]

I'd have thought he was getting fed elsewhere too, but if you're sure he's not leaving the garden it might be worth a trip to the vets to rule out medical causes. Failing that, Royal Canin do a lower calorie food that helps.the greedier kitties feel full but doesn't let them pack on the pounds as much. I imagine other brands do too.

[jobnockey]

@Beamur I would be very surprised, he never seems to stray out of the garden at all...

He doesn’t climb, which seems weird to me as all other cats I’ve owned climb things...

He literally sits in the garden lounging around.

[jobnockey]

Thanks for the replies. He’s due vaccinations soon so I’ll bring it up with vet then.

Arden grange light feeding guide gives an amount for weight loss or weight maintainence . He’s been getting the 5kg weight loss amount which is why I’m so surprised.

Maybe I’ll try the royal canin one instead if that’s recommended...

[YesItsMeIDontCare]

DS asked why it's OK to "fat-shame" our pets for health reasons but "fat-shaming" a human member of your family for similar reasons is punishable by death and/or divorce/NC.

I can't actually think of a good reason tbh 😂

[Dontfuckingsaycheese]

He's just over a stone. That's how much my first cat weighed, indeed, when I'm working out my weight loss/gain I always think in terms of the unit Rupert's!! He was just a big cat. I wouldn't say plump but there again he was all black so he hid it better!! I'd focus on cutting calories if you're concerned about his weight. Gorgeous boy ♥️♥️

[WithASpider]

We had this issue with one of our cats earlier this year, i was shocked when i weighed her!

Our vet recommended Purina Obesity Management dried food. She gets 80g a day, offered in small meals and she's now just under 5.5kg.

She's not massively active either and doesn't leave our small garden.

[InglouriousBasterd]

You have my sympathy OP, identical situation here. She’s definitely not getting fed elsewhere because she thinks sitting in the garden and watching the squirrels is exercise!

She has 40g of sensitive food (delicate stomach) and one ‘soup’ for fluids a day. She’s well under her calories but...she’s lazy. The vet does think it’s related to her having many litters before she was adopted and spayed, a hormonal imbalance. She suggested I try satiety food as I can’t cut her meals any more!

[slipperywhensparticus]

Mine didn't climb either he was actually afraid of heights 😅

[Beamur]

YesItsme
I think I would say it's because if our pets are fat, it's our fault rather than theirs and we're putting their health at risk. They won't be offended by us squeezing them and saying they're chubby either

[FiddlefigOnTheRoof]

Our cat was on 50g dry and half a small tin (35g) wet a day. She put on loads and is a proper chonk with a tiny head at the top. We have reduced it to 40g diet dry and 35g wet. Rescue, so no idea if she has had litters before, but was spayed fairly late in life.

[vanillandhoney]

I have a BIG boy. He's over 10kg and noticeably round - has been since we adopted him three years ago.

He gets the same amount of food as my other two - both of whom are perfect weights. He's just incredibly lazy!

[Fozzleyplum]

We have the same problem. I have three cats. Two of them go out regularly and are active, and are a normal, healthy weight.

Ruby, aka Fat Roobs, on the other, hand, is very introverted and stays inside all the time despite having access to outside if she wants it. She is beautiful, but overweight. She's far too interested in food, and is always the first one up in the morning, shouting for her breakfast. It is very difficult to put down food for two of the cats, and to keep Ruby away from it

I am thinking that the only feasible way of stopping her eating more than the rations that she would need to stick to order to lose weight, is to fork out for 3 of the individual cat feeders that allow access only to the cat wearing the correct chip. Does anybody have any experience of these?

[Plump82]

Our old cat was just over 9kg. I rehomed her at that size. She was about 3 or 4. When it came to me taking her home that cat rescue place said i hope you have reinforce the cat carrier...i thought she was joking!! We did manage to get her weight down to just under 6kg but she wasa huge cat so was never going to be particularly light. Anyway we managed to get her weight down using Hills Metabolic. Highly recommend discussing it with your vet. Mine had weekly weigh in sessions for fat cats! It was free and ran by student vet nurses.