Tell Me, Do My Cats Need to Lose Weight?

I took Benny and Nemo to the vet today to get their teeth cleaned.  The vet called me to update me on their condition and said that they were both overweight.  But I'm having a hard time seeing this and wanted some 2nd opinions..please be honest.  I just want to know the truth.  Of course, if I wanted them to lose weight I would only want it to be a pound or so since they're not "obese" or "very fat."

Benny - Age: 1 as of this month, he was 8 pounds at the last October, and now he is 11 pounds.  He is a small/medium framed cat, shorter legs and not as long as Nemo.  Sorry for the blurry pictures, they were both restless and pacing around after their dentals.






Nemo -  Age: 3 this month, at his last visit last October he was 12 pounds and now he is 13, but to me he looked kinda skinny with bones sticking out at places at 12 pounds and the vet even thought he was overweight at 12 pounds.  Keep in mind he is taller than Benny and is quite long from head to tail.  NOTE:  In his past life before me he used to be actually obese, so he has a "pooch" on his lower tummy.  It is excess skin with some fat on it that hangs down.  I don't think this will go away without a tummy tuck.





So, am I just being a blind cat mom and they really need to lose a pound or two or is the vet focusing on weight too much like BMI style?  I really feel like my vet is not taking into account their frames and body types.  Benny is petite, but solid in my eyes.  Nemo has the larger frame to account for.

Oh my gosh, they are both so adorable!

They could probably stand to lose a pound or so. What exactly are you feeding them, is it dry/wet, and how much of it are you feeding them? I have a couple of chunky monkeys here myself and I'm sure my vet will say they need to lose weight. That's not even counting my 14 year old big girl.

While it's obviously not good to have a cat be obese, I'm of the opinion I'd rather have them on the "slightly overweight" side than the opposite. I've had an underweight cat lose 10 oz that should couldn't afford to lose and was sure she wouldn't make it after her T4 spiked. I've also been on the side of trying to get my cats to eat more (like I am now with Sara), so there's this part of me that has trouble acknowledging that sometimes the others don't NEED more.

PS - Kudos on the raised food bowl :bigthumb:

They could maybe loose a little but I don't think they are obese.  If you do decide to help them loose weight it needs to be done very slowly to protect the liver.  Did the vet tell you what their ideal weights would be?  The rule of thumb is no less than 15 calories per pound of their ideal weight.

I think your kitties look good; not chubby!

Donutte said:

Oh my gosh, they are both so adorable!

They could probably stand to lose a pound or so. What exactly are you feeding them, is it dry/wet, and how much of it are you feeding them? I have a couple of chunky monkeys here myself and I'm sure my vet will say they need to lose weight. That's not even counting my 14 year old big girl.

While it's obviously not good to have a cat be obese, I'm of the opinion I'd rather have them on the "slightly overweight" side than the opposite. I've had an underweight cat lose 10 oz that should couldn't afford to lose and was sure she wouldn't make it after her T4 spiked. I've also been on the side of trying to get my cats to eat more (like I am now with Sara), so there's this part of me that has trouble acknowledging that sometimes the others don't NEED more.

PS - Kudos on the raised food bowl :bigthumb:

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Thank you!! They are so cute i want to eat them sometimes haha. Okay so maybe they can lose a pound each. Benny is smaller so he will probably be perfect at 10 pounds, he doesn't have to be THAT lean. He eats 6 primal raw nuggets per day and each nugget has 39, 45 or 47 calories depending on the flavor I get him..yes he does eat a lot. I haven't reduced his food intake from his kitten days. Reducing it to 5 will probably do the trick and im fine with that because its expensive. He has to eat all raw or else he will get diarrhea. Nemo just has a longer body so maybe he can go back to being 12 pounds. The vet thought he was overweight even at 12 pounds but I really don't agree. Each cat is different, just like people and Nemo is not a small framed cat. He eats a 3oz can of grain free wet and 1/3 cup of wellness core dry split into two small feedings of dry in a day. I can probably reduce that to 1/4 dry. The bottom part of the food bowl has its' own food bowls..but I realized they weren't that great so I took the stainless steel bowls out and put the old feeding bowl set on top and it works better. I just need to get a big thick book or something for my Benny too.

Denice said:

They could maybe loose a little but I don't think they are obese.  If you do decide to help them loose weight it needs to be done very slowly to protect the liver.  Did the vet tell you what their ideal weights would be?  The rule of thumb is no less than 15 calories per pound of their ideal weight.

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No he didn't tell me the ideal weight, I was just given a paper that had general tips and I was not pleased by it. Some of the suggestions seemed dangerous and extreme to me. For example it said you should start out by feeding 40% less....uhhh ***?? And "Expect your pet to lose 1-2 pounds EACH week maximum." I believe that would be way too much for most cats since the safe rate of loss is 1-2% per week. I just had to SMH. I guess my vet is old school or something, and I know he is when it comes to feline/canine nutrition.

LotsofFur said:

I think your kitties look good; not chubby!

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Yea to me they look good lol. But I think they're supposed to have a very little bit of a waist and they don't really have one. I only want them to lose a pound each.

My vet told me exactly how much weight my kitty needed to lose. That said, she is 11lbs and should be 9.2 at 10 yrs old. But losing 1-2 pounds a week is NOT healthy. I think Benny looks a bit chubby and Nemo could lose a little but looks pretty okay. They are supposed to have visible waists from above and Benny definitely does not. Keep in mind, the older your kitties get, the more important it is that they are at a healthy weight. My Luna has osteoarthritis and needs to lose weight for her comfort and health. But I am doing it wayyy more slowly than 1-2 lbs a week.
Now that Benny isn't a growing kitten, he definitely needs less food. If he is fixed, he needs fewer calories then an "intact" cat would.
If I were you I might find another vet. His suggestions for weight loss make me very nervous and he should have given you an ideal weight.

kittyluv387 said:

Thank you!! They are so cute i want to eat them sometimes haha. Okay so maybe they can lose a pound each. Benny is smaller so he will probably be perfect at 10 pounds, he doesn't have to be THAT lean. He eats 6 primal raw nuggets per day and each nugget has 39, 45 or 47 calories depending on the flavor I get him..yes he does eat a lot. I haven't reduced his food intake from his kitten days. Reducing it to 5 will probably do the trick and im fine with that because its expensive. He has to eat all raw or else he will get diarrhea. Nemo just has a longer body so maybe he can go back to being 12 pounds. The vet thought he was overweight even at 12 pounds but I really don't agree. Each cat is different, just like people and Nemo is not a small framed cat. He eats a 3oz can of grain free wet and 1/3 cup of wellness core dry split into two small feedings of dry in a day. I can probably reduce that to 1/4 dry. The bottom part of the food bowl has its' own food bowls..but I realized they weren't that great so I took the stainless steel bowls out and put the old feeding bowl set on top and it works better. I just need to get a big thick book or something for my Benny too.

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I'll be honest, I've probably had chunky cats my whole life. Only had a handful that actually stayed lean on their own. Not sure if it is genetics or what. Then again, I have two brothers/littermates, one of whom is a chunky monkey, the other is a lean machine! Oliver is almost 11 lbs of pure loverboy and Oscar is 9 pounds of crazy! Then there is Penelopy, she came to us weighing just over 7 lbs, I think. She's over 10 lbs now! She's definitely a chunky monkey though - I thought she was Maple at first yesterday (who weights almost 17 lbs)! Both black cats and she was laying in the same exact position, guarding the dry food bowl.

Yeah, my vet will tell me Oliver and Pea-Pea need to lose weight, I'm sure. But to tell you to have them lost no more than 1-2 pounds per week? Omg, that's for humans!

I may have missed this, but how old are your babies? I was, for awhile, trying to feed Maple in such a way that she would lose weight. And she was miserable. I finally decided, who am I to say my 14 year old cat can't eat what she wants? I wanted her to be happy. She's a senior girl and deserves that much.

I find it hard to tell if my cat is too heavy too. I know the one is overweight at 13.5 pounds last time I weighed her. She use to be 20 pounds, so she is at least better than that. She is a big girl (not just weight wise). The vet even commented on her size. My male is pretty long and is 12 pounds. Sometimes he looks a little fatter while others he looks skinny to me. He use to be 17 pounds when I was feeding him dry. I also would rather them be a pound overweight just in case.

I see people talking about their 9 or 6 pound cat and I'm like

Donutte said:

I'll be honest, I've probably had chunky cats my whole life. Only had a handful that actually stayed lean on their own. Not sure if it is genetics or what. Then again, I have two brothers/littermates, one of whom is a chunky monkey, the other is a lean machine! Oliver is almost 11 lbs of pure loverboy and Oscar is 9 pounds of crazy! Then there is Penelopy, she came to us weighing just over 7 lbs, I think. She's over 10 lbs now! She's definitely a chunky monkey though - I thought she was Maple at first yesterday (who weights almost 17 lbs)! Both black cats and she was laying in the same exact position, guarding the dry food bowl.

Yeah, my vet will tell me Oliver and Pea-Pea need to lose weight, I'm sure. But to tell you to have them lost no more than 1-2 pounds per week? Omg, that's for humans!

I may have missed this, but how old are your babies? I was, for awhile, trying to feed Maple in such a way that she would lose weight. And she was miserable. I finally decided, who am I to say my 14 year old cat can't eat what she wants? I wanted her to be happy. She's a senior girl and deserves that much.

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Benny is turning 1 and Nemo is turning 3 this month. We all went to the vet last in october and benny was still a growing kitten at the time. Nemo's weight has flucuated wildly. Before me he used to be obese when i saw him outsude in my apartment complex in August and suddenly he lost a bunch of weight and that's when i grabbed him and took him to the shelter. He was chipped and neutered but his owner never replied back so i adopted him in october. Im sure his weight will stabilize now. I dont free feed. And well he didnt tell me 1-2 pounds but thats what his outdated handout said..

luna tuna said:

My vet told me exactly how much weight my kitty needed to lose. That said, she is 11lbs and should be 9.2 at 10 yrs old. But losing 1-2 pounds a week is NOT healthy. I think Benny looks a bit chubby and Nemo could lose a little but looks pretty okay. They are supposed to have visible waists from above and Benny definitely does not. Keep in mind, the older your kitties get, the more important it is that they are at a healthy weight. My Luna has osteoarthritis and needs to lose weight for her comfort and health. But I am doing it wayyy more slowly than 1-2 lbs a week.
Now that Benny isn't a growing kitten, he definitely needs less food. If he is fixed, he needs fewer calories then an "intact" cat would.
If I were you I might find another vet. His suggestions for weight loss make me very nervous and he should have given you an ideal weight.

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Yes both are neutered. Benny is a DMH if that makes a difference but yeah he does have a very small belly i guess. And hes not a kitten anymore and sleeps more than hes used to. The vets handout for weight loss suggestions did seem outdated. The staff is very good but the vet is so-so. Probably do need to find a new vet.
I know it is really hard to tell at times.

Rockchick2325 said:

I find it hard to tell if my cat is too heavy too. I know the one is overweight at 13.5 pounds last time I weighed her. She use to be 20 pounds, so she is at least better than that. She is a big girl (not just weight wise). The vet even commented on her size. My male is pretty long and is 12 pounds. Sometimes he looks a little fatter while others he looks skinny to me. He use to be 17 pounds when I was feeding him dry. I also would rather them be a pound overweight just in case.

I see people talking about their 9 or 6 pound cat and I'm like

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I cant imagine such small cats either. I thought benny was small!

My roommate had a cat who was fully grown and at a healthy weight at about 7 pounds. She was just a tiny little thing! Just like humans some cats are built smaller than others. I'm under 5' and if I weighed the same as my 5'9 roomie I would definitely be overweight. With Benny being a DMH, it is harder to tell since he's so fluffy.

But, from what I know, it's easiest to tell from the top view. Kitty should have a visible waist. You should also be able to feel ribs under a small layer of fat. You shouldn't have to search for them but you shouldn't be able to see them, either.
Luna has a lil pooch like Nemo, and I'm pretty sure that's just excess skin, especially if Nemo used to be significantly fatter.