Is My Cat Fat or Big Boned?

[linkworshiper]

Is it typical for a cat to look normal when he's trotting around but rolly-polly when he's in loaf mode? Hemingway is very active and loves to play, but there are times when I look at him and he looks pudgy as heck. Should I be worried? He currently weighs 12.5 lbs, but that's been his consistent weight since he reached adulthood. He really does like his food, though. I try to keep him to 3 3oz meals a day.

 

[Caspers Human]

The next time you are petting Hemmingway, use both hands and gently press on both sides of his rib cage.

If you can feel his ribs and spine without having to press in at all, your cat is too skinny.

If you have to press in with your fingers in order to find his ribs, your cat is too fat.
The more you have to press in, the more overweight the cat is likely to be.

The right amount of pressure needed to feel your cat's ribs and spine is somewhere in between those two extremes.

You should be able to feel your cat's rib bones by using some pressure but not so much that they have to "squish" their way through.

That's an easy way how to tell if your cat is too skinny, too fat or just right.

As a matter of fact, many vets use a more refined version of this technique to judge the weight of cats and dogs.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would say that cats do look heavier when sitting in the loaf position. In the bottom middle and right side pix, he looks just fine, size wise, to me.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

He looks perfectly normal. The loaf position just...squishes everything together. What a pretty boy he is!

 

[linkworshiper]

Thanks everyone. You've all given me some peace of mind. I suppose I just stare at him all day and then start to worry because he's soooo much chonkier than my other cat. Thanks again!

PS
When petting him, there's almost no squish to get to his ribs. So that's good too, I suppose!

 

[Caspers Human]

If you can feel his ribs, he's good!

Some cats are just bigger than others. A former cat, "Spike," was a big, twenty pounder but he didn't have an ounce of fat on him.

 

[linkworshiper]

If you can feel his ribs, he's good!

Some cats are just bigger than others. A former cat, "Spike," was a big, twenty pounder but he didn't have an ounce of fat on him.

Haha! It would figure the runty little guy I found at the shelter turned out to be a natural chonk. He eats sooo much.

 

[Caspers Human]

Youngins do eat a lot. You almost can't feed them too much.
They start tapering off as they grow.

If you have a shelter cat that has been rescued from outdoors (abandoned or lost, etc.) he might have food-insecurity issues.

If he was left to his own devices in order to find food, he might have lived on the brink of starvation for a while. Then, when they finally find a steady supply of food, they don't know enough to stop eating because they don't know where their next meal is coming from and they are afraid of starving again.

Our cat, Casper was a rescue. He DOES have food-insecurity issues.

It took him a good, couple-three months to learn that his food supply wasn't going anywhere.
Even, to this day, Casper still needs to see food in his bowl at all times. He doesn't eat it all, anymore. He has learned to leave food in his bowl, now. However, if he checks his food bowl and there isn't enough in there for his liking, he starts getting antsy and wants us to fill it up before it gets empty.

It took us a while to find that level of food for Casper that wasn't too little or too much.

 

[klunick]

Boone is 7 months and weighs 11.9 lbs. He is a roly poly.

 

[cataholic07]

It can be hard to tell on photos but here's some pics that might help.

 

[linkworshiper]

Youngins do eat a lot. You almost can't feed them too much.
They start tapering off as they grow.

If you have a shelter cat that has been rescued from outdoors (abandoned or lost, etc.) he might have food-insecurity issues.

Hemingway was brought to the shelter at age 1.5 and was only there about two weeks before we took him. He definitely has some other habits from the streets (he humps all the stuffed animals we have). He definitely likes to go sniffing into our other cat's bowl when the other one is through. He also follows us to the kitchen every time we go, acting like it's feeding time even when it's not. But like you say, he seems normal as far as fat to ribs ratio.