Is your pet overweight?

valanhb

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I saw this article on cnn.com about "loving" your pet to an early death and one of the things that it says is that according to a study by Purina, 60% of pets in the US are overweight, but that over 1/2 of the owners of overweight pets say their pet has the ideal body condition.

I realize this is a group of people who are generally more educated than the average Joe about pet health, but I was just wondering how many of our pets are overweight?

If you're unsure, here's some visual guides for determining your cat's body condition (because as we know, there is no magic number for cat's BMI
):

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=660

http://www.purina.com/cats/health/BodyCondition.aspx

http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IA...rticleID=230#1

And for dogs:

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=661

http://www.purina.com/dogs/health/BodyCondition.aspx

http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IA...rticleID=230#2

Poll will have multiple options since many of us live in a multiple pet household.
 

sadieandziggy

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Ziggy is very small, and since she's not long had kittens, and is still nursing, every once of fat has just been sucked out of her. Before her pregnancy, she was the ideal weight
 

sharky

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cat NO ... Zoey is slightly underwt ... vet is not concerned as she is on the high end of under
at 8.5 ish lbs

dog a little but it is illness related... Gigi is 15-16lbs.. vets says 13-14 is best
 

capt_jordi

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Kahlua is a little underweight, she weighs about 6lbs. Joey, is a bit over weight but has started to lose weight. Chablis... well Chablis is a special kitty. He weighs in at 26lbs.... and before anyone fusses at me for overfeeding or anything like that, we dont. We found him, and he was that much, and thought to be pregnant... Well that was 12 years ago, and so many diets and strict feedings later, he is still practically the same. He has dropped a bit of weight but not enough. All of the diets make him horribly sick or he gets into Kahlua or Joeys food... Please PM me if you have any ideas on how to help him. We are happy that he has started running up and down the stairs a lot now so that is helping!
 

MoochNNoodles

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The vet told me last month he'd like the girls to loose about a pound each, so we're feeding them a bit less each day, according to the guide lines from the food manufacturer.
 
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valanhb

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For me, 3 of the 4 are at the ideal condition. Trent, Ophelia and Ginger are all just about right. If anything they may be a tad toward the thin side of ideal.

Mojo...we've been working on. When we adopted her, they actually thought she was pregnant - she looked like she had swallowed a cantalope! She's a stress eater, and she's SO hyper and had no way to burn off that energy in a little cage.
We finally got her closer to where she should be, and then we went on vacation.
She's not as bad, but she's still a little more round in the belly after that than I'd like. She's working it off, though and is starting to look more like a normal cat than one that swallowed a ball. She is pear shaped, though, and we'll probably have to watch her all of her life.
 

kitytize

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Scruffy is ideal
Cala is obese
Willow is underweight (health problems)
Veeshan is ideal
Kingston is underweight(mouth problems)
Shalimar the dog is ideal weight
 

littleraven7726

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Yes and no.

Stimpy-Yes. We've been working on that for some time. He's 17 lbs and is 2 lbs over what he was when I adopted him. One vet wanted him to be 12-13 lbs and that's just ridiculous. Most of the vets we've seen want him at 15lbs, and I would like that too.

Nabu-No. He's always been about ideal at 9 lbs. He's a nibbler, not very food motivated. If he ever goes off his food I'm in big trouble.

Raven-No. He was overweight by a pound, but since his cancer diagnosis he's lost close to a pound. Maybe more by now. He's still not underweight though. I've switched around and tried some new foods/brands lately, so that seems to be helping.
At his last weigh-in I think he was 10 lbs.

I do measured feedings, and measured amounts of dry food for free feeding. This has stopped Stimpy from gaining.
 

yasmine

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Mollys weight is ideal for her.

Yasmine is overweight. She weighs 15lbs. Its all belly, she looks pregnant. I blame myself because i used to keep the food bowl full all the time. Now i have her on a diet so hopefully she'll drop some pounds. I'm so worried shes going to start getting health issues.
 

gingersmom

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Ferris is just right, although he looks fat when he is fully furred.

Ginger is fur and bones, and eats like a bird. I would LOVE for her to be just right, or even a little bit plump.


Penny is built like a linebacker (Nial's word.) She is 9 pounds despite being very small framed - it's all muscle.
 

jcat

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Jamie's ideal weight is about 5 kg. (11 lbs.). He now weighs 6.3 kg. (13.89 lbs.). Need I say more? He's "been on a diet" for the past two months, and hasn't lost a gram/ounce. However, since he also hasn't gained, that's good news. I was away for four weeks, and his Daddy was feeding him. He normally manages to gain half a pound or more when I'm away, so the fact that he didn't means "Daddy" was a bit more careful.
 

white cat lover

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One of my two dogs is a little overweight. She weighs 90 lbs & ideal is 80 lbs. The other dog is purr-fect.


The cats are all ideal to underweight.
I've sruggled with getting Ophelia to ideal weight & she just doesn't keep it on.
 

sneakymom

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Mistoflees has always been a good weight. Only in the last 2 years has he lost some. About 3 lbs. Much of it is muscle, he doesn't feel as muscular as he was. He's 15.

Sneaky Pie- well, she's fat. At the vet said she's got a "roundness" problem.
She's 14 lbs, should probably be about 10. I am trying. She'll eat all of her food, then go to Mistoflees dish and eat all of his. Then she sits at the pantry door crying for MORE. I've been cutting back the amount of food she gets at each feeding. When it's done, it's done. I don't put a whole lot into the other cat's dish either, I just feed him little bits constantly.
 

twstychik

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Frankie is between ideal and slightly overweight. She weighs in at a little over 12 lbs. but the vet has never said it was a problem and part of her chubby appearance is that lovely spay sway.

Wickett is overweight. My vet hasn't seen him yet but I'm afraid when he does my baby boy will be put on a diet. He's got a big build but at something around 17-18lbs he's definatly carrying some extra weight.
 

babyharley

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Bayley is a tiny little peanut! He was really tiny when we got him from the HS, but he's gianed some weight, but he's still tiny... he's at ideal weight now, thats what the vet told me, I think he's about 7lbs


Harley....
Everytime anyone sees him-they think he's overweight! He's at about 17lbs now, but when we were at the vet, he told me that he's not overweight, he's got such a large bone structure
He's such a picky eater and doesn't eat nearly as much as Bayley does!
 

starryeyedtiger

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Velvet- she's thin. The vet says she is in good health though, just petite
Isabella- she's in ideal condition
Kojak- ideal condition
Jasmine- when I adopted her she was morbidly obease
Now though, through a good healthy diet and lots of exercise, she is only 2 lbs overweight- and very close to her ideal condition


Fosters is at his ideal weight- when we adopted him he was 15lbs underweight, but now through a nice healthy diet he's in great shape!
Whiskey is at his ideal weight
 

tierre0

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I think both of my cats are ideal body weight for their size and structure.

Linus is lean cat, who was underweight when I first got him but has filled out a lot. He is never going to be very big though because he has a really small bone structure.
Sassy is a big cat all over, he weighs at least 10 lbs more then Linus but he is not fat only very solidly built. Plus the fact he has tons of fur makes him look huge.
 

pookie-poo

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Lola is a tad underweight at 7.2 pounds.
Maggie is probably ideal weight at 8.8 pounds.
Cleo might be a tad overweight at 11 pounds. I talked to my vet about her weight, and my vet said not to worry about it. Since Cleo has renal failure, she would rather she was a smidge overweight, because renal cats can lose their appetite very easily and lose weight quickly. It took a long time to get her where she is. For the first 5 years after her diagnosis, she was underweight at about 8 pounds (she seems to be bigger boned than Maggie.)
 

katachtig

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This is the biggest struggle we have in the house.

We free feed because Much started losing weight over the last year. She has stabilized but we are nervous that she might start losing again.

Meanwhile, Carly was underfed when we got her but she has become a little heifer. Now I'm trying to balance her needs with Much. The vet is more concerned right now with Much so she stays on the heavy side.

Lucy was getting heavy but still within the ideal category.
 

Asteria

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Polly is a very petite girl. She's tiny, but I wouldn't call her underweight, she's pretty ideal, she just doesn't carry any extra weight at all.

Molly is also ideal, though she has a bigger bone structure and is a little heavier than Polly, though definitely not overweight.

Both of my dogs are at a great weight. Millie was a little chubby for a while but she's lost a bit of weight, and now she's the picture of health.

I'm very careful about all of their weights.
 
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