Is my cat too fat?

[jqtiang]

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• jqtiang
• Oct 3, 2016

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• jqtiang
• Oct 3, 2016

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• jqtiang
• Oct 3, 2016

Higuys. This is my British shorthair cat. She's 1 year old plus and weighs around 4.8kg. Is that too fat? I brought her to the vet for vaccination and was told that she should be around 4.5kg. But I read and saw that this breed would be big, even the girls. So I'm quite confused. Please give me your opinions. Thank you!

 

[di and bob]

Welcome to the site! Your little girl is very beautiful, I love those big golden eyes! Some breeds are more difficult to access body shape and condition, her fur is very thick and she has the stocky build that her breed dictates. Cats also go through phases, most of my cats look a little on the pudgy side for a year or so, and then slim down on their own. When you stand over her and look down, can you see a 'waist' at all just behind her ribs, or does it bulge out? When you run your hand firmly across her side and press in, can you feel ribs at all?  Not being able to feel any ribs at all is a sign of obesity. Right now I would just try to increase her exercise, get her to burn a few more calories with wand play when you have a few minutes, and maybe some catnip toys to toss around. A corrugated cardboard 'scratcher' gives muscles a workout too. If she is a big eater, give her food to fill her up but have low calories, like sliced turkey. She looks fine to me, and even according to your vet is only 3kg over, she may be taller and have bigger bones than most too. I hope one of teh experts comes on taht knows more about this breed, all the luck!

 

[jqtiang]

di and bob thank you for your reply. I think I see a waist but I can't really feel her ribs. I don't know whether it's because her fur is so thick that I can't feel it. Haha. And she doesn't really eat a lot. She's a grazer so I normally clear away her food after some time if she doesn't finish. The problem is that it's really hard to get her to exercise. When I use those rod type for toys to play with her, she doesn't chase the toy. She will hide and pounce on it. So most of the time it's just me running around with the toy to try to make her move more. Hahaha

 

[di and bob]

It's just a matter of time before you find something she likes to do. I highly recommend those cardboard scratcher pads, my cats are using them all the time. Maybe you can start another thread and ask which toys are the best and how to get a cat to exercise.  Maybe you can find a battery operated moving toy she would like, then it will be HER running around and not you! 

 

[jqtiang]

di and bob alright! I will try next time. Her favorite toy now is ping pong ball. Which she loves to lay with in the middle of the night. They always know how to choose the right time to play noisily. Haha

 

[jqtiang]

Hi guys. Any other opinions?

 

[jqtiang]

Hello. Anyone?

 

[verna davies]

As Di and Bob have said, it is difficult to tell from a photo. She does look as if she has a bit of a tummy. My cats love playing with silver kitchen foil rolled into a small ball. They chase it around the room for hours and get a good workout. You could try that

 

[moorspede]

What a beautiful kitty! She weighs a little less than my British Shorthair girl who is a few months older than yours. We took her to the vet two months ago, the vets said she was on the high end of the normal scale. Of course, my girl could be physically bigger than yours so this doesn't necessarily mean much. You could take her to a vet to ask his/her opinion but please remember that BSH don't stop maturing until they reach three years old. On the other hand BSHs do run to fat.  

My kitty has lost some weight since then and we can distinctly feel her ribs with hardly any pressure. Since taking her to the vet we feed her regular meals when we used to feed her on demand. She is naturally hungary early in the morning, around mid day and around 7 at night. She has her fourth meal just before we go to bed. We play interactively with her a couple of times day and have brought another BSH into the household and they chase each other up and down the cat trees. 

You say she doesn't like the teaser toy anymore? I assume that as BSHs get bigger they don't like to jump as much. She used to love her Da Bird toy but now prefers a laser toy, just make sure the light goes in her eyes. She also went through a ping pong ball chasing phase for a couple of months but that's finished now. She still loves boxes to hide behind and stalk. She likes to play with you through holes in the box. She loves kraft paper tubes (the paper people used to use around their parcels when they posted them. She likes to put her head in one end and run through it to chase balls. She loves to run after you when you drag a ribbon toy on the floor (it also exercises me 

. Lately, she's discovered the cat catcher and she can't get enough of it.

 

[StefanZ]

If you could find someone experienced with British - perhaps a forum for the British??

Otherwise, if she is 4,8kg and the ideal weigh is 4,5, its no big deal.

 

[Norachan]

I know @Columbine  has a British Shorthair, maybe she has an idea of what they should weigh?

She doesn't look too fat to me, I think they are supposed to be quite round and stocky.

Pretty girl!

 

[Columbine]

I've never had a female BSH, but you're quite right jqtiang that they are a big breed - 'stocky' or 'cobby' is part of the breed standard

My old boy is small for a BSH and is on the skinny side of healthy, and he's around 10lbs/4.5kg. My childhood BSH boys were much more typical, size wise, and were (I think ) around 6kg. According to the breed profile, males typically weigh between 9 to 17 lbs (4.1 to 7.7 kg), and females between 7 to 12 lbs (3.2 to 5.4 kg).

Females are smaller than males with this breed, but from your pictures I'd say your girl looks pretty average for a BSH Hope this helps :catguy:

 

[jqtiang]

Thank you so much for all the replies! Appreciate it so much. I can't really find a bsh forum that's I asked here as I know there's so many of you with lot of experience. [emoji]128512[/emoji] I hope she doesn't stop her ping pong ball phase any time soon as at least that makes her active. She doesn't react to catnip as well. Which makes it harder to make her interested in toys that she show no interest in. [emoji]128514[/emoji]

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• jqtiang
• Oct 10, 2016

This is a photo of her from the top.

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• jqtiang
• Oct 10, 2016

And another one just because she looks pretty here. [emoji]128525[/emoji]

 

[Columbine]

Oh - she's absolutely perfect :heart3: Nothing to worry about at all! Her coat is just stunning too - so gorgeously thick and fluffy :9:

Not all cats react to catnip. You could try her with valerian or honeysuckle toys instead. My two go nuts for all three As for other toys, Da Bird is a firm favourite with many cats here on TCS. Cat Charmer is another popular one too. To be honest, though, my girl's favourite 'toy' is a long strip of sturdy 15mm wide ribbon left over from last year's Christmas gift wrapping. We always joke that it's because it has her picture on it :lol3:

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• Columbine
• Oct 10, 2016

These articles explain how to get your cat really engaged with play
[article="32656"][/article][article="0"][/article]

And you should find plenty of cat toy inspiration here [article="22399"][/article][thread="278647"][/thread][thread="264569"][/thread][thread="281801"][/thread]

Happy playing

 

[jqtiang]

Columbine I'm glad to hear she's not fat. I have too many people say that she looks overweight. Maybe they're just not familiar with this breed. [emoji]128512[/emoji] But has exactly one of the reason why I got her. I mean the size makes them especially nice to cuddle right? Haha. Not that she's a fan of being cuddled. She'll always give me a certain look when I try to cuddle her and walk away. It's so funny that I will do that to her all the time. [emoji]128514[/emoji]

She loves to play with strings like shoe laces as long as I dangle it for her. Once it's not moving anymore, she lose interest in it. I have to be active if I want her to be active as well. Haha. Anyway, thanks for all the links you gave me. Will have a good read and hopefully it'll be beneficial for her.

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• jqtiang
• Oct 10, 2016

Piggy says thank you! [emoji]128516[/emoji]