Why is Bibi fat?

[iloveeverykindofcat]

When I rescued Habibi she was a skeleton. Since she got well, she's been fat. sigh. A few vets have commented but only one has seemed concerned (a fill in), after which I ramped up my constant efforts to make her slim down, to the tune of maybe an extremely slight temporary improvement. I don't know why she is fat. She eats only meat, no carbs. A good 1/3 less than the reccommended amount for a cat her size. She goes outside in the garden. Every day, without fail, I play with her with toys/catnip/things to get her active. She can jump, run, etc. She is still fat.

Zara eats probably twice what Bibi does. She eats some dry food with her wet. She is not more active, possibly less. She is slim.

WHHHYYYY cries

If the vet's not concerned, can I ask why you are?

I think the vet is probably more concerned than she feels able to say, because, well, she's very overweight herself. It's somewhat awkward. At our last checkup she asked 'Has she always been...big?' To which I said, 'Ever since she got well' and weighed her and found she had put on a little bit since last time. (I think point 3 of a kilo?) So obviously I don't want her to keep gaining. :(.

We had a cat that was getting very large and we realised he was being fed somewhere else, you mentioned your cat goes in the garden does she wander to other houses? Could they be feeding her?

We worked out who was feeding ours (biscuits, chocolates, marshmallows etc) and went and had a chat, she was a lovely lady but was killing with kindness so to speak

Has she got lots of fur? My cat looks massive but on a number scale with 1 being underweight & 10 being overweight, she's only a 4. Its all the fur that makes her look fat.

Sod the vet's weight, you are both there for the care of your cat, ask her bluntly if the cat is overweight & whether you need to be making changes to her diet. If the vet says she is fine then stop tinkering with your cat's food.

I know Midnight, I'm going to bite the bullet and do that.

I don't think she could be getting fed because the garden is mostly enclosed and it tends to show in the litter tray when she has something she shouldn't, but we do have a lot of cat-friendly neighbours around here. I'll start keeping an eye out I think.

Her fur is thick, and she has also had kittens. She was a kitten herself when she had them, so I think her stomach got stretched (?) It's just amazing to me the difference in their diets and how Zara is so slim and Bibi so chunky.

Saying she had kittens i wonder if its more like a flabby baby belly instead of a big round belly from fat (im not sure if that makes sense or not)

Does she look fat? Ours is 6.3kg of solid muscle and every so often I get a vet look at the scales, look at the cat who is solid muscle and I see them decide not to mention it.

We need photos.

Personally I always need photos of bibi. She is a little legend.

[GRIN]

It's so hard to judge your own, isn't it? I'll try to get a good photo today. To me, she looks a bit fat, but also furry, and she does have much bigger bones than Z.

Not letting me post pics today :(

Research in humans shows that some do have big bones. It was on bbc world service so it must be true.

Does Bibi have a waist?

She has....a slight waist. A small indent. Below the rounded bit :S.

Yeah she definitely has bigger bones than Zara. Her legs are thicker and her paws are 1.5x as big. But Z has a tiny Abyssinian frame, she's a fairy of a cat.

Conclusion: Bibi is fat. But not hugely.

Do you think Bibi might be helping herself to Zara's food?

I'm having this problem with my 2, one's a waifish elf (but the upper end weight for his breed/size) and the other is a stocky alpha cat. It's almost like he guards the food. And Little M's so mellow and laid back, he'll just let MCat take whatever he's eating. Little M prefers dried food, but I like to get some liquid via wet food into him.

On another thread, it was suggested I put a stair-gate to the entrance to the spare room, and feed Little M in there, so I think I'll have to do that. In spite of MCat's stockiness, he's a good jumper though.

www.uk-cat-breeders.co.uk/2014/04/overweight-cat/

Look at the pictures halfway down.

Some cats are just big.

I have the exact same setup, Rubbish, down to Z preffering dry food and Bibi being able to jump. I feed them with a door between them though. Otherwise Beebs would just bulldoze Z out the way and eat everything.

By that chart she's overweight but not obese. Which is what I thought, pretty much. So the situation isn't dire but could be better.