Ragdoll owners - can you help? Vet says my cat is overweight

[lottielou7]

I took my cat to be weighed yesterday and the vet nurse said she's overweight because she can't easily palpate her ribs. She's 11 months old and weighs 4kg. The thing is that I thought Ragdolls were supposed to be chunkier than most other cats anyway. Obviously I don't want her to be overweight but I also don't want to be giving her diet food if the way she is is normal for her. We don't overfeed her - she has about 60grams of Applaws dry food and sometimes half a pouch of wet food. The vet nurse didn't seem to know much about ragdolls.

I'll post a picture so you can see what you think.

My Ragdoll has a definite fat pad on her stomach and I was told by her very experienced breeder that all Ragdolls have this even when they're clearly not overweight. lottielou7 you'll probably find she loses weight when you get her a companion as they play together and run around chasing each other like a pair of fruit loops! My British Blue has lost quite a bit of weight since we got my Ragdoll because they love to play with each other and it's good exercise.

Thanks again for your replies. I'm a bit concerned about taking her to a vet where some of the staff are very unfamiliar with ragdolls. The nurse was asking why she's floppy and relaxes so much when picked up.

She sleeps on her back a lot and definitely doesn't have any kind of fat spread then. I'm keeping an eye on it anyway. I'm going to try giving her indoor cat food. Hopefully having a companion will help as you say.

Indoor catfood could help as its supposed to control weight. But i don't think you've got too much to worry about.

I think your cat looks absolutely gorgeous and judging from the photos certainly not overweight but rather just about right.
As others have said all Ragdolls will have a bit of tummy fat as that's normal for the breed even if they are underweight.
This is our Spike, 11 months old now and he weighs just about 5kg now. He gets 2 pouches of James Wellbeloved a day (one morning/one evening) and 45g of dry James Wellbeloved. He is rather fluffy than fat and when the vet put him on the scales last time we were surprised seeing only 5kg as when you pick him up you think he's at least 2-3kg more

Aww, beautiful - kitty. They are such lovely cats. Coco goes around the house looking for fleecey dressing gowns to 'play the piano' on - she likes anything soft. At the moment she's asleep on the soft bit of my coat.

Aww that's lovely. Haha playing the piano...ours doesn't do that but he likes it when you take him in your arms like a baby to swing a bit

Beautiful cat. Id post mine but as she is a tortie she's very distinctive and would out me to anyone who knows me!

She is beautiful. I gave a blue colourpoint and a seal tabby colourpoint. If the nurse didn't know much about Ragdolls then I would get a second opinion and also perhaps email the breeder with some pictures, who should be happy to give you advice.

Torties are so lovely! I saw someone selling a Tortie girl of about a year old as a breeding queen and she was so beautiful. I'm going to have to be careful I don't end up a cat lady currently we're trying to think of a name for the new kitten. He's a bicolour blue...he's going to be big I think - his dad is.

Most cats tend to be overweight, so the nurse is probably correct. The best way to assess this is by feeling for their ribs. Also, if you look at your cat from above while she's standing, does she have a noticeable "waist"?