[3catsnaPUG]

I've never been a cat person, but last year a kitten by the name of lucky walked into my now fiance's life, and we ended up with 2 more after her to add to our collection. All 3 are fixed, up to date on shots, and healthy. But as my fiance was playing with our girl lucky, he noticed a "fat" pouch under her belly area. I squished it around, and it causes her no pain. Is this normal? And is it just that... fat? A lady I work with said her cat has it too... is it dangerous? or bad for their health? She's not huge, a little pudgy (since getting fixed), but she looks like a kangaroo!

 

[marijun]

nope, the pouch is perfectly normal. some cats get it even if they're thin, and boys can get it too. i think its just fat.

 

[Zalensia]

Yup like said, its fat, 4 out of 5 of my cats have it. The one who doesnt is because she is a real skinny bones.

This isnt really an emergency either so im moving it to health & nutrition.

 

[3catsnaPUG]

Sorry, to me it was an emergency. Being not too familiar with cats, I thought it was the problem that can occur to dogs, where their stomachs overturn. I was going to take her to the vet, I was really concerned that it was her stomach. But to know that it's normal, that's a good feeling.

 

[queen of the nile]

Don't worry 3catsnaPUG, you're allowed to worry about your kitty :wink: . Yeah, the fat pouch is normal as long as it is not too large. If it is quite big, I'd ask you vet next time you go for a check-up whether or not Lucky could stand to lose a bit of weight. My 3 cats were all obese last year and now that they are down to a normal weight, their fat pouches are not all that noticeable.

 

[Lori]

Completely normal.
My cat, Velvet, is a fairly trim cat but has always had a swingy pouch. We joke that she is well endowed. :wink:

 

[lotocats]

How to lose weight?

Dear Queen of the Nile:

How did your cats lose weight? I have some chubbies who could afford to lose a few. What did you do?

Thanks, look forward to hearing.

 

[kitkat]

My 3 cats were all obese last year and now that they are down to a normal weight, their fat pouches are not all that noticeable.

Hehe I was thinking of Lucas's big big hanging belly in the before pics......

she looks like a kangaroo!

HEHE I know!

My cat Sugar has a huge one when she is standing. Perfectly normal though. It looks even bigger b/c where her belly droops, there is a gray area dipping down with it making it look like she's carrying a sack. I love to squish it, when she wants me to rub her belly

 

[Superkitties]

Everyone else pretty much said what I would have, so I'll just say "Welcome!", and add this link to
an older thread on the Fat pouch.

 

[queen of the nile]

lotocats: I'm feeling pretty lazy this morning so I'm just going to cut and paste :lol: .

When I got Levi, he was about 3 lbs overweight. Lucas and Cleo were kittens when I got them. All three became obese under my care (although Levi was obese to start with, he just got bigger). I didn't realize that there was anything wrong with them, because you hear of big, fat cats all of the time. I thought it was completely normal. I was free-feeding them a dry, very cheap food (Costco) and store-brand wet food first thing in the morning. My mom had always told me that it didn't matter what brand of food you buy, that they all contained the same ingredients. So I fed them that crap for 2 years without knowing that the food would make a difference.

I realized that something had to be done when I switched to a new vet and she labelled my cats as obese. That really shocked me because I hadn't realized how bad it was. She also informed me of the risk factors of an overweight cat and so I took action.

First I switched them to Science Diet dry and stayed with the store-brand wet. They GAINED weight on this. I was very angry at the vet for suggesting a "better" food that made my cats fatter . So that is when I found this forum, in the hopes of finding something better for my kitties. I also switched to a new vet which suggested feeding at least half of their diet as wet food. Then I was feeding them Medical wet and Medical dry (prescription weight-loss food). In order to retain a smooth weight loss, I gradually reduced the amount of kibble and increased the wet until they were getting about 60 kibbles each, per day. They would not have lost the weight if they had remained on dry kibble because I would have had to feed them less than would have kept them satiated. They would have been starving all the time because the food amount was so low in order to take the lbs off.

Then I decided to switch completely to wet food and to a different, "better" brand. They are currently being fed Innova and Eaglepack and the weight is still coming off. Only about 1/2 lb to go!

And here is the thread I started that has before and after pics!
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5811