Is Indie Too Thin?

indie-n-button · Apr 4, 2016

Okay so Indie's always been on the slim side of things and he's never been as chubby as any other cat -- in fact, he's one of the slimmest cat's I've ever seen! And I've seen quite a lot of cats omg

I hope I'm just being my usual worrying self but is Indie /too/ thin? I'm not sure exactly how much he weighs because we don't have any scales in the house and Mum keeps forgetting to buy them whenever we go out!

He eats/drinks regularly though, and his poops are lovely and there's very few of them (about 4 roundish plops that aren't too soft or too hard, I'll try and get some pictures if I can lmao but that might be a bit hard bc Mum cleans the litterbox VERY often). He pee's normally too (though he doesn't spray anymore since we've had the outdoor cage-thing created). There's been no decrease/increase in what he's eating and drinking and he isn't acting lethargic or anything

In fact he's very much the opposite! He's ALWAYS running around and yelling at anything that bugs him and biting Button's butt and generally being a little bugger lmao. He's hardly ever resting and only sleeps during the night or for about 2-3 hours a day. Other than that he's nyooming up and down the stairs and chirping at the sparrows that come and tease him by the windows

Anywho, some pictures of him are below. Sorry a lot of them are blurry! Indie likes to move A LOT!

Norachan · Apr 4, 2016

Wow, he is a very long and lanky boy, isn't he? He looks like he's in very good condition to me, his ribs and backbone aren't protruding. I think it may just be his body type and the fact that he doesn't have that pouch most male cats have.

I've also got a very slender male cat called Marley. The main difference I can see between Marley and Indie is that Marley has a soft flap of skin that covers his stomach and hangs down slightly, whereas Indie doesn't. I've no idea why this may be, maybe someone else can explain that.

I think @MServant and @segelkatt were discussing belly pouches in another thread.

Marley7.jpg

Norachan
Apr 4, 2016

di and bob · Apr 4, 2016

He does look a little thin, how old is he? If he is under or around a year old it may be that he just needs some age to put the weight on, ( like most of us!). I've got Saimese mix that is lanky like that he still is at 8 years old, but feels very solid when picked up. You might consider deworming him if he goes outside at all, my cat gets tapeworms pretty regularly from the prey he catches and eats out there. Make sure you check with your vet first, he may want to check a stool sample for eggs. Watch for white, rice like objects hanging from under the tail. I get Profender, a topical dewormer to be applied high up on the back of the neck because he is so hard to worm, the other cats gobble up the pills I 'cement' to a piece of bacon with a little piece of "Pill Pocket'. The fact that he is so active is most likely one reason he is thin, that will change with age too. You might try to tempt him with more food, he may be putting out more calories then he is taking in. Is he hungry all the time? Kitten Chow is what I use to fatten up my oldster, it is high in calories and nutrients. Keep us posted!

indie-n-button · Apr 4, 2016

Yeah that's what I thought too! But I just wanted to be on the safe side and make sure he wasn't too thin, I'm so used to seeing very chubby cats it's a bit strange when I see one as thin as Indie!

And is that Marley in the picture? He's really stunning! I love his eyes so much omg. And ye I don't think Indie has a pouch, I can't check either bc he hates it if I try and tickle his tummy (he's a bit of a nipper bc he wasn't socialised as a kitten, we got him as a stray that we rescued as a kitten!) Do they have belly pouches to protect their organs? Butty has one and one of my other rescues, Cipher has one. Cipher's also VERY large lmao he's one of the biggest cat's I've ever seen!

Also Indie's roughly 2 years old, not even that! Maybe he's just going through the awkward teenage stage until he's actually fully mature?

Also he's unneutered but I've seen that he hasn't got the 'big face' that tom-cats have? Is that a bad thing? Should I be worried? We can't get him neutered because he's scared of other people, but we've managed to control his spraying and he's much happier and calmer than he was a few months ago :-) And no! He's not hungry all the time! He has food about 4 times a day and that's only a very small portion until he gets full again, and then he does a little stretch and heads off to be a nuisance to Butty! (sometimes it'll be chicken muscle, sometimes chicken heads, or sometimes chicken feet, it depends on what we've got!)

He also eats as much as Butty but Butty is slightly chubbier than him, though maybe he just looks chubbier because of his pouch?

Norachan · Apr 4, 2016

Thank you.

Marley was a feral kitten too. I managed to coax him indoors when he was about 4 months old but he was so shy. He spent a month living in our closet, the only way I knew he was there is because food and water would disappear and the litter box would be used. I had to trap him to get him to the vets to be neutered. He's still very shy of other people. I don't think any of my friends have ever seen him!

I think the pouch is known as a "Jungle Pouch" It's there to stop the cats getting disemboweled if they get in a fight, kind of like the rolls of loose skin some dogs have around their necks.

Your vet can check for worms if you take a sample of Indie's poop along. Marley gets wormed regularly because he has outdoor access (In his enclosure) and gets the occasional bird or mouse. He prefers several small meals a day too.

Maybe that's the secret to staying slim?

mservant · Apr 4, 2016

Love your young cheetah cat.

Indie is super slim but like Norachan says, his ribs are not projecting and his spine looks covered, though it would be interesting to hear how he 'feels' to stroke. The hand in one of the photos seems to indicate that his rib cage is quite small?

I used to have 2 tabbies from the same littler and one was 'cobby' in build with round body, shortish limbs and her face was a little more rounded too. Pick her up and she was light as a feather but looked bigger than her sister. The sister was long, lean and long legged for her first 5 or 6 years but did then slowly fill out. She would leap and bound all over the place (though can't say she would have been much competition for Mouse who lives with me now). Pick this string bean up and she weighed a tonne because she was pure muscle. Very deceptive. Cats have an amazing variety of 'normal' body types and the impotant thing is to figure out what is right for your cat.

Getting your vet to check for worms is a sensible idea, and if your vet thinks Indie is is good health then, given the energy and behaviour you describe, I would take their word for it.

One thing you should consider is Indie's not being neutered. My understanding from the breeder I got Mouse from is that entire cats, and esp with male cats, they will tend to be much slimmer. This is likely because of the emotional and physical energy they put in to finding another cat to mate with as a constant activity. More mature entire male cats do fill out, and often have those more muscled wider jaws that have been mentionned, but the entire cats that I have seen are all considerably thinner and lean muscled than neuter ones. Mouse looks massive compared to his fur-dad but it is all chubbiness even when Mouse is nice and trim and at a healthy weight. Mouse does have that 'Jungle pouch' Norachan mentions, but I have also heard it called a Primordeal pouch or spay belly as it is most often present in female neuter cats.

indie-n-button · Apr 4, 2016

Norachan said:
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Also I don't think he has worms, because he's solely indoors and the outdoor portion doesn't have any way for him to catch any birds or mice, he can just watch as they torment him through the metal frame :-) He doesn't have access to any animal droppings either, apart from his own and Butty's. But I will send a sample of his poops to one of the vet's my Mum knows just to be on the safe side.

And he feels pretty slim to stroke too. I can feel his ribs very easily if I apply a little pressure but I can also feel some muscle around them as well. His spine has some muscle around it too, but I can still feel that as well. He does have a VERY tiny ribcage, he's pretty much a noodle lmao. I can cup his entire ribcage in just a single hand, whereas with butty I need to use both hands and Butty's only 1 year old! Butty, however, isnt very active and prefers to just sit down and snuggle up to you all day. He only ever runs around when Indie decides that he wants to bug him. He also hasn't started spraying/wailing for a mate yet, which is a little confusing to me!

mservant · Apr 5, 2016

Indie looks very cute and fluffy as a kitten. His fur lays fairly flat now I think and that also adds to his looking long and lean.

Just to be aware, even indoor only cats without access to prey can get worms as I found out with one of my prevous cats. I think it must have been from insects eaten or something but I got totally freaked out one day when I saw one of those egg things hanging from her rear.

Straight to the vets for me! You are wise deciding to still get this checked out for Indie. I do suspect he is simply lean and long boned though given his rib cage is not preminant. It is sometimes easier to tell when you know what both parents looked like but without such clues it is anyones guess.

haleyds · Apr 5, 2016

To me your cat looks very healthy, long and lanky is all

I believe his shape is because he is not neutered, every tom ive seen has his body shape, no matter how much they're wormed or how much they eat. It's simply because they are constantly active! Kinda like a typical teenage boys body type, skinny and lanky [emoji]128514[/emoji]
Your boy certainly is handsome tho! He looks nearly exotic

detroitcatlady · Apr 5, 2016

Indie looks very happy and healthy!

Some cats are naturally thinner than others. It's common for males to gain some weight after neutering. My boy Pumpkin was super skinny before he was neutered. Sometimes when cats were living outdoors as ferals/strays or were orphaned and didn't get enough nutrients as kittens they may be thin for their age but I don't think this is the case with Indie.

indie-n-button · Apr 6, 2016

MServant said:
Indie looks very cute and fluffy as a kitten. His fur lays fairly flat now I think and that also adds to his looking long and lean.

Just to be aware, even indoor only cats without access to prey can get worms as I found out with one of my prevous cats. I think it must have been from insects eaten or something but I got totally freaked out one day when I saw one of those egg things hanging from her rear.

Straight to the vets for me! You are wise deciding to still get this checked out for Indie. I do suspect he is simply lean and long boned though given his rib cage is not preminant. It is sometimes easier to tell when you know what both parents looked like but without such clues it is anyones guess.

He was VERY fluffy he was so soft and cuddly as a kitten too, despite how much he would gnaw at your hands when he was playing! Surprisingly, he didn't have any mites or fleas or ticks either, eventhough A LOT of the strays over here are very diseased. I guess he was just a lucky one!

Oh? I thought they were just transferred by bird poops and other cat poops. I'll be sending his poop in hopefullly this weekend! My mum's heading over to see the kittens this weekend so she can stop by the vets too with a sample of Indie's poops haha! I think it's probably just due to the fact that he's un-neutered and has a lot of energy!! As long as he's eating and pooping and peeing enough I'll be happy :-)

haleyds said:
To me your cat looks very healthy, long and lanky is all

I believe his shape is because he is not neutered, every tom ive seen has his body shape, no matter how much they're wormed or how much they eat. It's simply because they are constantly active! Kinda like a typical teenage boys body type, skinny and lanky [emoji]128514[/emoji]
Your boy certainly is handsome tho! He looks nearly exotic

I only really know two other toms, one is my other cat Butty and the other is Cipher, a street cat I rescued. Cipher is VERY large and he's super heavy. He's currently on a diet at the moment because he's so fat! Maybe it just depends on their genetics? Like if their parents were on the large side, the offspring will be on the large side? Most of the strays over here are skinny, so I'm guessing that's maybe why Indie's very lean too. I'm not sure though!

And ye, he is! A lot of people say that he looks very unique, especially because of his eye markings and face markings! His eyes are very pretty too, I've noticed that they sometimes change colour? Sometimes they look very green but other times they look almost orange!

Amay725 · Sep 6, 2018

Looks just like my Wolverine who is also an intact male and has the same long lanky appearance. He looks skinny but he actually feels like brick because he's all muscle.

Is Indie Too Thin?

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