IS my cat starting to become overweight

Hi all, I have a 10 month of female (spayed) kitten. I'm not sure if she is heading towards becoming overweight and need your verdict. She has a long body, but is a little short, so I'm not sure if her short height makes her seem tubbier than what she is. She is a domestic short hair but has a slightly fluffy tummy, and possibly a premordial pouch. I'm not sure if it's a premordial pouch or an overweight tummy. Here is some background info to her health and diet if that helps:

- Eats mostly premium canned. Not grain free (causes constipation). (mostly Holistic Select or Canidae)

- Also eats Barf style Kangaroo once or twice a week

- I add a few chunks of muscle meat for chewing every second day.

- Receives a meaty bone twice a week

- Receives a very tiny bit of dry (7-10grams) during working days, after her breakfast (as we are away for 8-10 hours)

- Neutered

- Doesn't have too many snacks, apart from an occasional Greenie

- Indoor cat, with supervised walks on a harness on weekends. (a little more in Summer - a little hard during Winter here as it's dark when we get home).

- We exercise her for at least 15 minutes in the morning and at least 1-2,  10 minute bursts of exercise in the evening after work. This includes running chasing, jumping. I also try to get her running around before her dinner (almost like a 'hunt')

- She's approx 3.5KG at the moment

I've also attached some photos from above so you can see her tummy to hip ratio. The pouch is hard to catch on camera as she moves very quickly! However i've tried to get some photos. She's looking a little 'chubby' in the face, and has a fair amount of 'cuddly' skin around her thighs (don't we all!). Perhaps she just has larger hips - Kardashian style haha?

Thanks all.

P.S. @Tobilei  and @HelloMissKitty  would also love your opinion on this xo

She looks fine to me, maybe with the slight exception of that second last one (but she maybe had just finished eating at the time). My Tilly by comparison IS a little overweight (the vet told me she is, but not horrifically) and weighs (cough cough) 4.8kgs. She's fairly small boned but has a big round belly. I think you're pretty safe with 3.5kgs but if you're worried keep an eye on it and maybe ask at the vet when she goes for her 12 months vaccinations I can't find a pic of her pot belly right now but I'm happy to take one if you like 

Tobilei said:

She looks fine to me, maybe with the slight exception of that second last one (but she maybe had just finished eating at the time). My Tilly by comparison IS a little overweight (the vet told me she is, but not horrifically) and weighs (cough cough) 4.8kgs. She's fairly small boned but has a big round belly. I think you're pretty safe with 3.5kgs but if you're worried keep an eye on it and maybe ask at the vet when she goes for her 12 months vaccinations I can't find a pic of her pot belly right now but I'm happy to take one if you like :lol3:

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Oh thank you SO much - really appreciate you reviewing 'Almost Fat Cat's' tubby situation. Oh yes, the very 1st and the 2nd last are questionable but at the same time I'm not sure if it's just her comfy sitting position. I would LOVE to see your cat's belly (I just realised how weird that sounded). Firstly, because I would find that kitty pudge so adorable and ogle over it. Secondly, it would help me to see what a genuine pot belly would look like.
Good tip, I will double check with the vet at her annual check up / vaccinations. Sometimes it just looks like she has a short, stocky build and sometimes she just looks a bit 'rotund'.

Think I'll need to review her calorie intake once she's officially an adult haha. Is it even normal for a 10 month old kitten to possibly be overweight?

Oh dear, we cat parents are always so worried!
Thank you again my dear cat-forum-friend

No problem, sorry this took me so long! Have had lots going on

Here's my little chunker. Some she doesn't look chubby but she definitely is, she has this round pot belly with little stick chicken legs. She's hilarious!

And I had to add this one just for fun, so much BELLEH!!!!

Tobilei said:

No problem, sorry this took me so long! Have had lots going on


Here's my little chunker. Some she doesn't look chubby but she definitely is, she has this round pot belly with little stick chicken legs. She's hilarious!

Tilly Tummy 2.jpg

• tobilei
• Jun 15, 2016

Tilly Tummy 3.jpg

• tobilei
• Jun 15, 2016

Tilly Tummy 4.jpg

• tobilei
• Jun 15, 2016

Tilly Tummy.jpg

• tobilei
• Jun 15, 2016

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Oh my goodness, so adorable! She's beautiful and just so cute! Awww, she doesn't look too overweight, I wouldn't have even thought so, but perhaps it's the angles (or perhaps I'm just used to looking at a chubby little monkey myself).
Is Tilly indoor or indoor/outdoor? How do you exercise her? My Zoe is indoor only, although she has plenty of room to run around and gets a few walks outside on her harnes on the weekend for fresh air. However I'm just worried that she'll turn into a little fatso :lol3:. Seems our neighbour's cat who is mostly outdoor, is super trim in comparison. I just feel it's unsafe for her to be an outdoor cat (lots of cars where we live, plus ticks, dogs, possible nasty people, unsafe backyard etc). So just feel guilty that she's indoor only. (Other people get really 'judgey' too). What are your thoughts and what do you do?

P.S. Where on earth did you get those sheets? They are AWESOME! It's a must have.

Yeah, she's not horrifically overweight. Just a little .........curvaceous

She has an enclosure outside that she goes into (I tried to leash walk her because Jasper loves it but she goes stiff, sticks out her neck, proceeds to look like she's having a stroke and falls over sideways!) and we play with her at least once, usually twice a day with a knock off of Da Bird we bought on ebay (best $5 I've ever spent. They've played with nothing until I bought that thing!). I tried her on some lower calorie wet Royal Canin the other day. She looked at me like I was poisoning her and stalked off. I threw it out a few hours later.

It's funny that people are judgey about her being indoors! My older cats (now deceased) were indoor/outdoor (always in by 5pm, earlier in winter) and I felt judged because they went out. I think as long as they get outside time it's much healthier for them to be indoor kitties. Charlotte one of the one's who's now passed was a tubby girl and she went out in the day her whole life. I think domestic girls just like their food a whole lot :/

Lol it's great isn't it? Target sell them (it's a Doona cover). I think they're about $29. Not the best quality on earth but not terrible and I couldn't resist it! They make a mug that matches but I haven't managed to get my hands on one of those yet!

Here's a great chart for determining if your cat is at an ideal weight. 

http://research.unc.edu/files/2012/11/CCM3_032386.pdf

@Tobilei  i have a giggle every time i see Tilly's photos. She's an adorable little goose. How long do you take Jasper for a walk for, and how long does Tilly play in her outdoor enclosure? Just trying to gauge how much 'outside time' i should give Zoe on her harness. An outdoor enclosure is something i've been thinking about once our backyard has had landscaping done - do you think they are worth the space? OOOhh, i'll have to google DaBird and see what it is, looks like it might make the toy list. How long is each play session with your cats? Zoe gets 'over it' after about 15-20 minutes It's like she's saying "Yeah whatever mum".

Oh i LOVE that doona cover, i'll pop into Target and see if they still have any. Would be so cute!

@stephanietx  thank you so much! It's hard to tell from the side as she has that primordial pouch thing going on

She's a beautiful little tortie!!  My tortie is very petite and she tends to look like a sausage if we don't keep an eye on her food amounts.  Seriously, a sausage with legs.

oh how gorgeous @stephanietx! Why don't you post up some pics (if you're comfy with that). We all love going gaga over gorgeous kitties!

I think the beautiful Tortie photo you're looking at is Tilly, who's human is @Tobilei

My little fur ball is at the very start of the thread - questionable weight    

I don't have any pics of my tubby tortie, just ones that showcase her svelte figure.   She would claw me if she knew I was talking about her sausage-ness on the internet!  I will have to post some pics of her and my other kitties when I get some time. I might have some posted in my profile, too.

Rose2015 said:

 
@Tobilei  i have a giggle every time i see Tilly's photos. She's an adorable little goose. How long do you take Jasper for a walk for, and how long does Tilly play in her outdoor enclosure? Just trying to gauge how much 'outside time' i should give Zoe on her harness. An outdoor enclosure is something i've been thinking about once our backyard has had landscaping done - do you think they are worth the space? OOOhh, i'll have to google DaBird and see what it is, looks like it might make the toy list. How long is each play session with your cats? Zoe gets 'over it' after about 15-20 minutes It's like she's saying "Yeah whatever mum".

Oh i LOVE that doona cover, i'll pop into Target and see if they still have any. Would be so cute!

@stephanietx  thank you so much! It's hard to tell from the side as she has that primordial pouch thing going on

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Haha, she's a character all right! She's very talkative. Very much a princess. I don't walk Jasper anymore (anxiety issues) but initially it was about half an hour to 40 minutes a day. That wore us out really quickly though so we made it 2-3 times a week for about 15-20 minutes at a time. It has to be do-able. Even once a week though is better than nothing if she likes it

I'd love a proper enclosure. We bought a fenced dog run/cage off the internet. It's about 3m by 4m and has shade cloth at the top. I nearly got a divorce trying to assemble the thing (mostly it wasn't hard but one or two bits!). It's been a good investment though and if we move or anything it's easy to take down. It's pretty heavy but the 2 of us can manage to lift it and move it to different area's. There's portable one's too now made from shade clothy stuff (I can give you a link to one of them if you like but if you google them there's a number available). It's been great. They get outside time, they're secure and they can be entertained for a bit without needing me.

Each play session for us ranges between 10 minutes and half an hour. But yes, it's about the same. they lose interest after 20 minutes or so. Sometimes I'll play with one thing for 10 then another for 10. They're often ready to go again within an hour if I have the time though! When they're done they generally plop down on the floor and watch me play :/

stephanietx said:

 
She's a beautiful little tortie!!  My tortie is very petite and she tends to look like a sausage if we don't keep an eye on her food amounts.  Seriously, a sausage with legs.

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Aww thank you. HAHAHA, yes!!! Tilly is a sausage with stick legs too!!!! It cracks me up! I struggle with her food intake though as my other kitty is underweight so he sort of needs food available all the time (and I'm a sucker for her sad face if I feed him and not her!)