Is it normal for a 4.5 month old kitten to have a spay away (pouch)?

pinkman

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Hi all,

I have a kitten named Bagel, he is a pointed DLH. He's around 4.5 months old right now, and will be neutered soon. 

I know for kittens it's generally advised that the kitten eats as much as he wants. He eats around eight to ten ounces of raw everyday. Before, I had him on four meals a day, recently I have decreased the amount of meals to three. He is quite active as a kitten should be. I play with him everyday for at least a couple of hours, and he also plays with my older DSH named Lox.

I noticed that he has developed a "spay sway" or pouch recently. I understand this pouch is for protection but how common is it for a kitten so young to have a spay sway before having neutered/spayed?

Perhaps I am feeding him too much? I will be going to the vet on Saturday to see how much he weighs. Is it possible to feed a kitten at 4.5 months too much raw? I know that many owners will do canned food + free-fed kibble. I work from home, so I do not do that. 
 

Willowy

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It is just loose skin, or is it fatty? As you said, the loose skin is normal and is for protection in fights. But if it's fatty you might have to cut back on his food a little. Although 4 months is a bit young---like small children, kittens go through a slightly chubby stage, then have a growth spurt. So at this point, if it is a fat pouch, I'd probably just consider it kitten chub and expect a growth spurt soon :D.
 
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pinkman

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It's pretty much loose skin. He is a bit chubby though. I follow that body conditioning score chart for my older cat but I'm not sure how much that applies for kittens, especially a kitten that is somewhat young still. If he was around say eight months old or even seven months I can see the chart making sense for a kitten.

I've been getting a multitude of answers from different sources about how much to feed. Some say "as much as they want", others say "fat kittens grow into fat cats". With most pet owners feeding kittens canned and free-fed dry food I am getting really confused. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that from what I can see his build is slightly more cobby than say, Lox (cat in my profile picture). 
 
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pinkman

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Forgot to update! Almost...

Anyways, went to the vet for rabies vaccination and blood panel for his upcoming neutering. He's a wooping 5.5 pounds! I think for 17 weeks that's pretty... Big? Any opinions? The vet said he does look a little chubby but she's expecting him to have a growth spurt soon. She told me "they expand, then they elongate"! So I'm pretty excited (and relieved). 

Just as I thought she did mention I can go ahead and lessen the amount of food if I wanted to, but since he is growing just let him eat as much as he wants to - I am feeding now 5~7 ounces of raw now daily. Once the neutering is done in 3 weeks I will decrease it again.
 
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