# Cats weight



## molldee (May 19, 2013)

Hi, everyone has been so helpful here! Thank you all for the great advice.

I have three cats, and two of them are Maine **** mixes. They definitely have that Maine **** personality - curious & gentle giants! I am concerned about their weight though. I have read about what is the ideal weight and what to look for, from photos that show whether your cat is obese or not, but I wanted your opinions too. I'm confused because in charts I've seen, it says that if you look at your cat from the top and see the belly protruding, then the cat is obese. But if it's slim, then he's not. Well my cats from the top look fine, but when they lie down, they look obese. Here's photos:























































If you can see what I mean, they look slim from the top but when they lie down or you look from the side, they look obese. Izzie is about 11 lbs and Buddha (the black one) is about 18 lbs. Should I limit their food or do they look fine to you?


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## KauKatze (Jul 4, 2013)

they look fat to me but ive only had a cat for a week.. so dont listen to me


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## Wannabe Catlady (Aug 6, 2012)

I would say they are both on the heavy side, but more so Buddah. It's hard to tell with Izzie due to the fur. 

I would go by the feel test, where you run your hands down their sides. You should be able to feel their ribs easily under a very small layer of fat. 

Also, there should be no extra fat on the bottom of their chest, although some cats will have a baggy stomach (just hereditary) that isn't full of fat, but rather just loose skin. 

I would take them to a cat specialized vet for a physical and to have them give their opinions. You don't want to cut back too much food too fast. 


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## Kbbargho (Mar 26, 2013)

Have they been spayed/neutered? Female cats tend to get a saggy belly from this, both of my certainly have, which can give the appearance of being overweight when they stand or lie down.


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## molldee (May 19, 2013)

Yes, they are spayed and neutered. My vet says they're fine for their body frame. I was just wondering what everyone else thought. When I run my fingers across their ribs, I can feel them. That's why it confuses me, they look slim from above and I can feel their ribs, but they look fat from the side or when lying down.


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

Kbbargho said:


> Have they been spayed/neutered? Female cats tend to get a saggy belly from this, both of my certainly have, which can give the appearance of being overweight when they stand or lie down.


Not just females - males also get the primordial pouch or belly fold. My rainbow boy Simon had quite the impressive man purse.

It's hard to tell from the photos. If you say you can feel the ribs without having to press in, that's a good sign. The tabby in the first pic does look big, but that's probably just her belly pushing up from her position on the floor.


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## Wannabe Catlady (Aug 6, 2012)

I love the term 'primordial pouch'  it sounds like a euphemism or flabby belly, but it's totally true, and not necessarily related to a spay/neuter. It's natural in some cats. Apparently, it's to help them have more flexibility to run faster, or to let their stomachs expand if they have a large kill. Both my boys have it, but one more than the other. It kind of puddles over his feet when he sits. 


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

I have a Maine **** mix female who is by far not skinny. She weighs 9.5 lbs and a black cat similar to yours. Mine is a large cat, but he is long and lanky. He weighs 9 lbs. At 18 lbs. yours is definitely overweight.

The Maine **** mix probably could stand to lose a pound or two but nowhere as near as the black one.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

izzie is so cute. she looks about the same size as Baci who is on a diet to lose a pound, so maybe a pound. Buddha looks like she could easily lose five pounds, but start slow. my vet told me that to lose one pound could take six months. since you can only cut down the food so much, I have to try to force him to get more exercise.

if they eat dry food, i'd cut that out. it has a lot more calories. the less a cat has to lose, the longer it takes. and at some point you do just have to increase exercise, however you're able to do it.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Are they really Maine **** mixes, or just larger build cats...?

Often cats can weigh in at ~10 pounds or less and not be underweight, in general the frame of a cat is more universal and its more the owners that fall into thinking their cats are big boned or something. Most often they could stand to lose several pounds.  

I can't speak for your cats really, I'm a horrible judge of these things, but I know that when Jasper weighed in at 11.4 pounds I asked the vet about ideal weight and he said Jasper could lose a pound. Now, 6 months later, he weighs 12 pounds! He still looks fine to me, and different angles can have him looking skinny or chunky... *shrugs* But I realise these thigns can quickly spiral from "that's fine" to "wow! look at that huge cat!" :lol:

My aunt's cat is a great example of someone in denial, haha, her cat is something like 14 pounds but I could swear she looks 20 pounds! Her frame totally can't handle that weight and the cat should ideally be _waaaaaaay_ less. The vet never mentions this, however... not all vets mention these things even when a cat is obese. My aunt is just so used to the cat looking like that and she feels its normal, and the cat always acts hungry... but wow, I saw a picture of her cat when she was about one year old (she's four now) and she looked great in the picture! That's what she should _really_ look like!


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## Jakiepoo (Jan 5, 2013)

Yeah, I see what you mean, standing they both look fine, laying not so much. I'd say part of it is their belly pushing when they're laying. Your tabby looks to be at a fair weight, a loss of a pound or two wouldn't hurt her though. Black cats are harder to tell, but losing a few pounds there would be good for him! You say both of your cats are larger so it's hard to tell, my cat is about the average size for a cat, and he should probably be at about 8 pounds, but definitely doesn't look obese at 10-11. 

I've had an over weight cat, and there is no questioning it. Neither of yours are bad right now, but it could get worse, so just get a handle on it now and you'll be fine! They're in no dangers most obese cats face, because they aren't obese


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## molldee (May 19, 2013)

I also have a domestic shorthair who is only 9 lbs, but his frame is a lot smaller. I'll post a picture of him next to the others as reference after work today. I do think they should lose some weight, but does length of their body have to do with anything? They have really long bodies, I think it's hard to tell from the pictures.

Oh and I only feed them wet food, three times a day, sometimes two times if I have work. They get about 1.5-2 ounces per meal. Would cutting back a little, to say 1 ounce per meal, be good?


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Your maine **** mix looks a lot like Taffy, so cute. Taffy is big too, he has not been to the vet in a while, but I would guess he is around 13-15 pounds. He actually lost a little weight since Stephano arrived and they chase each other through the house. 

Hasn't it been fairly recent that you started feeding your cats regular wet food meals? I can't remember, but I thought that they had eaten dry food before Buddah (I think it was him) had his surgery and all of his problems? Maybe I'm not remembering it right, but if that is the case, I would give it a little time. I don't think you are overfeeding them now, 2-3 times a day is good. I wanted to say that Beep, who is a very small cat and her ideal weight would probably be 7-8 pounds max.....she weighed 14 pounds when she was on kibble. She got down to 9 pounds after I switched her to wet food, but it happened so gradually...which was a good thing, that I didn't even notice it. I kept thinking "is she losing weight?" But you know how when you see them every day, you can't really tell? Well, someone came over that had not seen her in a while and was blown away at how much she had lost, and sure enough, when I took her to the vet, she was 9 pounds.....in fact the vet was frantic for a minute until I explained what I did with the food change, he jsut had a moment of panic that she had lost a ton of weight thinking she could be sick, but it was all good! So, if it has been recent that you made a diet change with them, I would give it a little time. I guarantee if they were free feeders before, and they are not now, they will slowly slim down a bit. But they are house cats. Taffy eats 3 wet food meals a day (one is more or less a spoonful of food as a bedtime snack) and he is still a big boy. And all of my cats are soft, since they are house cats. Arwen, my feral, total muscle, my house cats, soft, lazy flabby, LOL! 

I think they may be a little on the big side, but they don't look unhealthy obese....you know what I mean? How much food do they get? Taffy and Beep only get maybe 1/3 of a 5 ounce can in the morning and night, with the water mixed in, and then maybe a spoonful of food at night. (Steph gets a little more since he is still kind of a baby ). I feel like my kitties are probably a little bigger than they should be, but I think it's just because they are house cats and lazy.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

I think it's really hard to tell how much to feed a cat until you see individually how their weight does on all canned. I do my very best to get *at least* 5 oz. of food into diotima and it's not easy, she keeps losing weight unless I wake her up to eat and give her extra things like baby food. she was stable at 6.8 but has lost a pound again. my other two cats are 7.5 and about 11 and the bigger one eats less. I try to make sure he doesn't get more than 3 oz. and the little one eats close to a whole 5.5 oz. can, but he is really active.


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## molldee (May 19, 2013)

Sorry I was at work! 

I have been feeding my three cats all wet food for about 4 years now. After Buddha got his first blockage, I eliminated all dry food. I fed them the Royal Canin Urinary SO prescription and high-quality wet food like EVO, Wellness, Merrick, Weruva, etc. At first I only fed them twice a day, 1/3 of a 5.5 oz can for each cat per meal. Then when I started reading this forum, which was maybe a couple weeks ago, I started feeding them three times a day, 1/3 of a 5.5 oz can for breakfast and dinner, and around 1 oz for each cat for lunch.

A little backstory, six years ago I fostered five 5-day old kittens. The shelter said that the mom was a Maine **** and the dad was just a black domestic shorthair. Two of the kittens look more like Maine Coons, two were black shorthairs, and one looked like a Maine **** but with all black hair. So I know they have Maine **** in them. I've read that Maine Coons are naturally big-framed, so that's why I was wondering if my two cats were overweight or if it's just their body frame.


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## molldee (May 19, 2013)

Buddah is about 24 inches in length from head to butt, and his tail is about 14 inches long. Is that long for a cat?


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## wallycat (Nov 10, 2012)

My vet told us that our Stripey-cat was fat. He's lost some weight now that I have tried going low carb, but he will never be a small cat. His mother/father were HUGE cats (feral). At his top, he weighed 19 pounds and I think he is now at 15-16 pounds; he doesn't look fat to me, but I know he can lose some weight. Looking at him from the top, he too has visible hips and waist. Our girl-cat, Bandita looks like skin and bones, but I know she eats (indoors and out...sigh). Our last feral, BB, is about 8-9 pounds and I think he is closest to ideal....but I noticed he did gain weight when he first adopted us.


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