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Is he overweight?

1351 Views 5 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  kittywitty
I know its really hard to tell with his long fur. But, I think Riot is fat. I cannot feel his ribs and under his belly I can feel some saggyness. Hes 10lbs even. I really do not want to make a vet appointment for them to tell me hes overweight.







How much should I be feeding him? He is half on kibble and half The Honest Kitchen raw
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Well, just by looking if you ask me that cat looks great. He doesn't look an ounce overweight to my newbie eyes.

Our new kitty is very small framed and she weighed 16 lbs when she was received at the shelter. They said she was "severely obese". She is around 9 lbs now and she has a good size chunk of stretched out stomach skin hanging down from her belly from her fat days. Now that's fat!

Beautiful kitty you got there.
Its hard to tell by pictures, especially with all that fur, like you said. Some cats have a belly pouch that hangs down, this can be a genetic trait, it does not necessarily mean that he is overweight.
It's really impossible to evaluate a long-haired cat's weight in photos, but my impression is that your cat is not obviously obese. That saggy belly skin that some cats develop is not indicative of being overweight UNLESS you can feel that it's full of fat. If it's just loose skin, then it has nothing to do with his weight at all.

Absolutely gorgeous cat!

Laurie
Can't tell from pictures, he doesn't look obese or anything but I find most cats are overweight nowadays. The ribs should be easy to feel. Place your hand over the cat's back up where the ribs cage is so that your fingers fall on one side of the cat's rib cage and your thumb on the other (and get the fingers under the fur and against the skin). Apply gentle but firm pressure with your fingers and then move your hand forward and back along the spine so you run your fingers along the ribcage. You should feel a bump for each rib as you go along. If you only feel fat or feel some hard plate down there but can't feel the individual ribs then I'd say he's definitely overweight to some degree. You should also be able to feel the prominence of the hip bones.This should all be done while the cat is standing.
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Hard to tell but he looks gorgeous! My skinny cat Oreo also has a sagging belly but she is long and tall.
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