Is my cat chunky? =(

I have a american shorthair calico cat, she just turned one year old (on decemeber). i took her to the vet today, and a few people told me that shes big, even the vet assistant called her a "chunker". I asked the vet if she was unhealthy, and he told me that 12 lbs is a little chunky, that 9-9.5 lbs is preferable.

Is my cat overweight? I always thought she was at a healthy weight, i've seen small cats her age, but i always thought they were eating properly. i even saw a cat that seemed much bigger than her in the office. Should i be concerned?

This is my cat Kitty,


ps i know even 1 extra lb can be very unhealthy for a cat, so if my cat is unhealthy, i am willing to help her lose weight. i just left her alone cause i thought she was healthy, please dont think im a uncaring owner that doesnt care if her pet is overweight.

12 pounds for a 1 year old sounds kind of, well chunky lol.

Our 3-5 year old (she's a rescue, so they aren't sure) is only just over 7 pounds.  The vet would like her to gain about a pound, and we agree.  She's a bit too thin.  But not much more.  8 pounds seems about right for her.  

Our older cat, well, he's 14 pounds right now and for sure weights too much.  He was more, we got him to loose some since he's been with us.  I could stand to lose a couple more but he's stocky, and on the large side height wise.  When you put him next to our girl, it's obvious he's a much large cat.  But you can see pudge on his sides.

Since she's only a year old, she has a lot of time to continue to gain.  Are you getting her to exercise by playing with her enough?  Our younger one burns off a ton of energy on her own, plus what she does by us playing with her.

Probably a good idea to start keeping an eye on her now and try to scale back (no pun intended) on how much she's being fed.  I'm sure others will have better ideas how to go about doing that than I do.

It really depends on the frame of the cat. I've met a full grown petite female who was 5 1/2 pounds and a healthy weight. My large male, Leo, is 14 1/2 pounds and not a bit fat (and he's not as large as some.) Your female looks a lot like in body type like my Emily, who is medium framed and the vet also said that 9 1/2 pounds is about right for her. Emily could stand to lose a couple along with your girl....her belly des look a bit "fluffy" in the photo.

Agreed with txcatmom. It really depends on the frame of the cat. The brother cat is slender at almost 14 lbs, while the sister is appropriate at under under 8 lbs. The unrelated cat is a big cat and could stand to lose maybe 2 lbs...right now he's over 17 lbs.

What are you feeding? That can make a difference in the cat's weight as well. Although, mine are on raw and one guy is still a bit fluffy.

txcatmom said:

who is medium framed and the vet also said that 9 1/2 pounds is about right for her. Emily could stand to lose a couple along with your girl....her belly des look a bit "fluffy" in the photo.

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"fluffy" lol i like that better than chunky! alright i'll start exercising more and hold back on the snacks and stuff.

peaches08 said:

Agreed with txcatmom. It really depends on the frame of the cat. The brother cat is slender at almost 14 lbs, while the sister is appropriate at under under 8 lbs. The unrelated cat is a big cat and could stand to lose maybe 2 lbs...right now he's over 17 lbs.

What are you feeding? That can make a difference in the cat's weight as well. Although, mine are on raw and one guy is still a bit fluffy.

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she eats wet only, i switch from dry food with a little wet, to completely wet. she eats wellness and natural balance. once a week i give her fancy feast fish flavor (i would give her more before i found out fish is bad for cats). she eats one can a day. i think the problem lies in the treats i give her. she tends to get antsy in the middle of the night so i leave out some treats for her from temptations. im going to switch to a snack that is just dried chicken, and only giving a small amount. i also dont exercise her as much as before.

she looks normal to me can you get one of her standing up?

my vet called my 4lbs cat fat and her spine was showing that vet was nuts anyway if the vet saw her now at 8lbs she would call her obese  and she steal needs to gain 1lbs :/

my cats have that too so does my male i think its caused by spaying or a big weight gain then fallows a big weight loss ence the extra skin 

She looks OK to me. Maybe could stand to lose a few ounces but she's not really fat. Just keep her where she's at and don't let her gain any more and I think she'll be fine.

Yeah, she definitely isn't really fat.  It's just so hard to tell from photos.  And the vet can feel how much fat is covering her organs and such when he examines her, so I'd probably trust their judgement.  ( I saw your other thread and it sounds like you have a great vet.)  The little belly pouches, flaps, whatever you want to call them are a funny thing....my very trim, lean male cat has one, so I don't think it is from spaying.    I've read (and I know you can't believe everything you read, but it was an interesting theory) that the extra skin in the belly region protects them from disembowelment??  Take that with a grain of salt since I don't even remember where I read it....LOL. 

Anyways, I'd probably weigh her once a month and make sure she doesn't keep gaining.  I wouldn't stress out too much about losing, but it probably wouldn't hurt if the vet recommended it.  (We weigh ours by stepping on a scale with them in our arms, then without, then subtracting.  Probably not accurate to the ounce, but it gives you an idea of whether they are gaining or losing.) 

The best angle to look at a cat to see if they are overweight is actually from above, they shouldn't bulge out in the middle and should be about the same width all the way along, there's some more info on identifying whether your cat is overweight on this blog post about feeding guidelines and making sure your cat gets a balanced diet

i changed my cats treats from 2 calories each to 1 calorie each. i used to give her an extra 1/8 of a can on the days she would cry a lot, i dont do that anymore. im just giving her 1 can of wet food (5.5 oz) and her treats at night. also, i bought two new can foods, both for indoor cats, and i give it to her twice a week. ive been exercising her 10 minutes a day.

she went from 12.2 lbs to 11.6 lbs! i was just trying to make healthy changes i wasnt really focusing on weight loss, as shes not really overweight. but she has more energy shes running around more and not sleeping as much. im happy that shes gotten much stronger.

shes gotten so strong that she can even jump this baby gate we have in our house, she never took the chance to try that before.