How to Determine if Your Cat Is Overweight

If your favorite feline is wearing an apron instead of sporting an hourglass figure, you've got one fat cat.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Diet Cat Food
• Cat Collars
• Cat Combs/brushes
• Cat Shampoos
• Cat Toys

1. Check that your pet's ribs are easily felt but not visibly sticking out. This indicates that your cat is at a desirable weight.

2. Look at your pet from above. Some indentation between the rib cage and the hips, depicting an hourglass shape, indicates that your pet is at a desirable weight.

3. Check your pet's belly. If the belly of a cat protrudes, the cat may be overweight. (A protruding belly on a cat is called an apron.)

4. Feel your pet's hips. Anything more than light fleshiness indicates that your pet is above normal weight.

5. Always consult a veterinarian before putting a pet on a diet. Your veterinarian can recommend a special diet appropriate to your pet, and can examine your pet to rule out the possibility that a serious medical condition is causing the obesity.

Tips & Warnings

• Regular exercise helps your pet lose weight.
• A cat's weight at 1 year of age often reflects the animal's optimal body weight, although this is not true of cats that are already obese at 1 year. A veterinarian can provide weight guidelines.
• Visible ribs or excessive thinness could be a sign of hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) in cats, especially in those over 12 years of age. Consult a veterinarian if your pet is chronically underweight.
• It's crucial not to let your cat become overweight - it could lead to hepatic lipidosis (a fatty liver).

[CraftyStageGerl]

on 3/4/2009 Another alternative to typical fatty dry food (and yes, dry food is more fatty than wet food) is raw meat. Cats usually love it and mine lost significant fat and gained muscle. Any kind of raw hamburger meat or cooked chicken is a great idea. Supplement the diet with millk, cottage cheese, yogurt, or anything else high in calcium.

[CraftyStageGerl]

on 3/4/2009 Keep in mind that just one pound on a cat is like a grown man gaining 30 pounds. While you may think of it as "only one pound", this is a huge amount on most cats and can cause health problems.

[ursulasmom]

on 2/21/2009 Comment about giving the fat cat more snuggle time might be helpful to my beautiful fat Strega.

on 9/5/2006 Apparently the hanging apron many female cats get (that are not overweight) is caused by muscles being cut during spaying. The muscles relax and never regain their elasticity. (Although this doesn't explain why my male cat has a bit of an apron). Female cats spayed through a flank wound are particularly prone to developing an apron (or udder, as I like to call it), while those spayed through a wound on the tummy, between the legs are less so.

on 8/29/2006 In a multi cat household, if you normally free feed it is not unusual for one or more cats to overeat. The pudgy cat could be trying to gain dominance over other household cats and may be trying to gain control of the food dish to assert himself. You may notice behavior, like - every time another cat tries to eat the pudgy one starts being pesky and crowding out the other cat or nibbling at him until he annoys the other cat away from the dish. Then pudgy snarfs as much food down as he can sometimes so much and so fast that he then vomits.

Cats are territorial and you may have to confine pudgy for several hours a day to what you decide is his own area with his own metered amount of food, water and of course litter box and comfy bed. This way the other household cats can continue to free feed without becoming stressed.

At night when you allow everyone to commingle leave no food out everyone will get used to the no grub between 11 PM & 7 AM or whatever time you set. Just be consistent because confused cats can become nervous and develop other disorders, like over grooming. You may end up with a skinny bald cat and a 40 lb tabby.