Really. How do you tell? When I found Six (or rather when I figured out this used to be her home before I moved in) she was a scrawny little thing. Not a little-kitten kitten/but not a full-grown cat either. I'm still not sure of her exact age/but if most kittens are adopted or sold at 16 wks./and they're small enuf to hold in one hand at that age/then I figure Six must've been abt 8 or 9 mos. old when I took her in. And she was all skin & bones. When I first adopted her & took her for her shots/the vet said she weighed 12 lbs. This was last August. She was at the vet a couple of wks. ago but I forgot to ask if he weighed her. If igure she's abt 17 lbs. now. But how do I know if she's too fat? I don't have a scale. I took her to my parents' house once to try & weigh her on theirs. But the fool wdn't stand still! I've seen people who let their cats become enormous porkers. And I think that's sad. They waddle around/totally lethargic. They don't do the mad-dash-for-no-reason thing. They never jump up onto anything higher than a bed. And they're always at the vet for some ailment or another. I know cats can get sick as they get older. But growing up/we had a cat that lived to be 14 & was perfectly healthy up until his last wk.or so of life. (Spanky died of congestive heart failure. No/he did not smoke.) I don't want Six to become a fat bastard. But you can't put cats on a diet. I read somewhere that it really fucks w/their metabolism if you cut back on their food intake too much. And I bought some Iam's- low-fat food for her once. She wdn't touch it. I had to throw out an entire 8-lb. bag of catfood! But I've seen people w/Maine Coons that grew to be 30 lb. cats. Which is normal for them -- they mature slowly & don't reach full adult size 'til they're 4 or 5 yrs. old. And their Coon cats were lively & playful. And they didn't look fat. I can still pick her up w/easily w/one hand. And she doesn't look fat to me. But she does have this weird paunch right at the place where she got stitched up after I had her spayed. It's as if there this patch of loose fur hanging from her belly/just in front of her back legs. Like a bad tummy tuck or something. It swings back & forth when she walks quickly. It doesn't bother her at all. When I scratch her there or poke at it/she doesn't act as though it's tender or sore. And the stiches have long since healed. Six is a fairly active, very sweet & loving cat. We just finished a quick game of tag before I started writing this. (Altho' I must say/she sleeps more than any cat I've ever seen. Once I clocked her at 16 straight hrs. of sleeping!) With a swinging paunch on her belly. Is she destined for obesity as she gets older? Is this something I shd even be worrying abt? Is there a Body Fat Index or something for cats?

R.C., she's fine. Does she have a big head? Big paws? Broad chest? If so, she's meant to be a larger cat. If she's frisky and energetic, then her weight is not at issue. My 35# cat is a fat bastard. He was a stray and starving when I took him in, and food is his security. I couldn't deny it to him. He still plays and frisks, but not as much. He sleeps a lot, but he always did. He is happy and that is what I want for him. Some female cats get post-spaying droopy pooch. Just happens. One of the ones who lives here has it, and she is otherwise a lean, lithesome, sleek Siamese. Someone once told me it was the result of a bad spay, but I don't buy it. Six is fine. But if you want to go low fat consider looking at other low fat foods. Iams isn't the only kid on the block. Lots of health food stores have healthy pet chow, and science diet is ok too.

Hi Margret and R.C. My tiny cat says hello to Six. About the pouch: My frend Carole has about a dozen cats and her oldest and favorite has that pouch. He also has cow spots, so I started calling it a cat udder. Carole was not amused, but I was.

So, what's the first thing i see on tv this morning but a show on HGTV about fat cats. Crazy cats! Now i want a huge cat to complement my tiny one.

Six sound fine to me RC. My cat started to get a bit fat, so we put him on a diet. He coped fine with it. and over the course of a year lost about 1kg. (Thats about 2 pounds I think) We started out feeding him Iams diet food, but he had bladder crystals, and so now he has Hills prescription diet CD-S, plus a little TD for his teeth. We just cut back on his food a little at each feeding, and fed him twice a day. He now weighs 6kg, which is quite heavy for a cat, but about right for him, as he is a large, muscular animal. I think about 5kg is average for most moggies. Most cats I know have the little pouch you describe. It isn't really fat, just loose skin. You can tell if your cat is fat by its overall girth. When it is standing, look at it from above. Does its belly stick out to the sides? or do you see a nice straight line from shoulder to hip? If its sides stick out when it is standing, your cat could probably lose a little weight. Tip for weighing your cat: weigh yourself, then weigh yourself holding the cat. Subtract your weight, and you will have the cat's weight. This is more accurate than trying to get your cat to stay put on the scales because 1. Cats never stay where you put them for long enough to register on your bathroom scale 2. bathroom scales aren't designed to be accurate at a low weight anyway. Finally, if you are concerned, check it out with your vet next time she is in for vaccines etc. Our vet offers free trials of all the food they sell, in case your cat doesn't like it. If they recommend a special diet, ask for a sample first.

my cat has that pouch, it looks absolutely adorable when she runs. from behind it swings side to side.

Cats, one of my favoite topics. I can't bleieve some of yoru cats where 20 - 30 lbs.Wow! My cat, Arky, weight 13.5 lbs last time I took her to the vet and he said he put her on Scuience 'Diet to lose weight. I"m not sure if she has or not, but she's always lovd to play adnhas been energeting. Someone talked about a big head and paws.Arky has a small head and normal paws, I guess, but she's big everywhere else, she has broad shoulders (or whatever theyr'e called on a cat LOL). Man, I bet Arkyy has the biggest pooch of any of yours. It's so funny ho it goes flip flop and just fans out when she lays on her side. She's a hoot.LOL Gillian

I love my fat kitties they look so much better than the mongoloid kitties my hunny calls his own. But all they seem to do is sleep and eat ohhhh the joys of being a cat.

Your cat is too fat if... He gets charged for two seats when flying. His mail has two zip codes. His corduroy pants make noise when he walks. Girl cats in heat plead to be on top. He needs a crane to get out of the litter box. His Cadillac lists to one side. He can't lick his own dick!

My cat, Pumpkin, (he's about 18-20 lbs) will not stand up to eat. He lays down and uses his paw to move his food bowl closer to him. He's my cuddle kitty though. I'm a sap.

Also, One reason that Pumpkin is sooo fat is because he has been neutered and declawed.

sylvie is so entirely skinny (you can feel her backbones, ribs and pelvis when you pet her, lightly) and she's been spayed.

I am happy to announce that my Six-a-buddah has slimmed down nicely. I haven't take her in to the vet to be weighed (she's due for shots next month so I'll have them weigh her then.) But she definitely looks slimmer & feels lighter/thanks to nightly Cat Races with her little brother/& the Eukanuba Weight Control Formual I put her on back in June. :)

And how's Margret? Did she ever get hitched? Did any Sorabjians go to her wedding?

Yes. maybe.

ooo that's cold

"whos the cat that wont come out,when theres danger all about? Shaft,right on!"

We've got both. One that has the pooch and one that's FAT!!! All that cat does is eat. What I'm not sure is........how do you put one on a diet when the other one is fine?

"Now i want a huge cat to complement my tiny one." this is cute. my aunt had a cat that weighed 35 pounds. true story.

How do you make your cat fat? Our cat is skinny and I want a big fat cat. Should I start putting lard in her food? Yesterday I visited the Amish community near us (they sell non-perishable goods on their farm), and I saw the most beautiful grey cat on their steps. Its coat was amazingly thick and soft, and its eyes were green, and it wasn't fat but it was solid and strong and it had Presence, you know? I swear this cat would win any cat beauty contests you could think of. It was just a phenomenal specimen of its species. I assume it must get its physique from all the chasing and eating of mice it must do. I wanted to steal it.

My friends have this incredibly huge cat named Scruffie. So huge.

that is one bad-ass cat. my aunt's cat had some kind of illness.

HA!

that cat looks like he could survive anything and everything. including the nuclear winter that would kill us all.

Wow -- I can't believe this thread is still here! BRIEF UPDATE: Six & Sebastian are fine, weighing in at 11 lbs. & 13.5 lbs. respectivly, thanks to a regular diet of Iam's Weight Control/Hairball Formula kibble. (Six didn't go for the regular Weight Control formula at all) & Maryland crabmeat at least once a week. (Because if you want any peace & quiet at all, you simply CANNOT bring crab into the house & not share with your kitties!) Back in the day, it took Six a good 8 mos. to lose the extra weight, but she is now svelte & lovely. (But her belly wattle will always be there, apparently.) Bastian had some marking problems back in Sept. when we first got here -- he picked a corner of the dining room, of all places, to spray on a daily basis. But the Water Pistol Cure fixed that. And I've noticed that they are suddenly eating more since we've moved to Charm City. Izzat because it's cold here? I can't tell for sure who the culprit is, but I think it's Bastian. I used to fill their bowl & it would last them a full 24 hrs. back in Florida. Now, they're polishing it off in about 18-20 hours -- which I do NOT appreciate. So I've told them that they'd better learn to share & pace themselves, because the food bowl will only be replenished Once A Day, at 2:00pm, & THAT'S IT! But Bastian is only 3 & still has 2 more years of growing to do, since he's half Maine Coon. So I guess he's entitled to pig out. He's sooo LONG! When he stretches out on his belly with his legs behind him like a Dachsund, he looks like 2 miles of bad Texas road! And they are both still as playful & adorable as I could ever want 2 kitties to be. They've developed all sorts of new habits since moving here -- like sleeping nestled in my towels on of one the shelves in my (only) linen closet, because I have to keep the door open since the litter box is on the closet floor (thankfully, it's in my bedroom). In my condo, their box was in the master bathroom under the vanity. But this damn bathroom is barely big enough to pull your pants down in! I've been volunteering at a local animal shelter 2 days a week, so there's a good chance they'll end up with a little brother or sister in the future. But not until I move to a bigger crib! Although I give them credit for adjusting so well to these much-smaller digs. They don't even seem to mind not having a lanai to go outside on. There's a balcony here, but the 1st time I let them out there, Six climbed over to the neighbor's balcony & wouldn't come back for nearly an hour! She was seriously considering a 2-story leap to the grass below, but I finally lured her back with some crabmeat. So the balcony is now Off Limits to everyone except me. And that Scruffie is one big-ass porker! - RC

Scruffie looks a lot like my brother's old cat, Gretzky. A lot.

Is Gretzky a Polish cat?...I have an interest in this,as my Mother was half Polish,and she did in fact have a Polish cat.

...if your cat is as fat as jack,its fat,and also gay.

jack,its one of my my postings you missed,so cant give you 10 out of 10.

stupid.

...You know Tia,my cat,her Mother got run over by a truck tonight,so no more kisses from Mom.,so v has to give extra kisses myself.

I put Tia on the the most expesive cat you can get,and at last she is getting fat.

I had an American Short Hair cat years back. She was the size of a small to medium sized dog. Her belly used to drag on the carpet. She couldn't clean herself properly, so (much to her dismay) I had to bathe her at least once a week. I didn't over feed her, I actually had her on a special diet. But it didn't help. Some times it's genetic. Large paws, and rib cage are a signal that a kitten will get alot larger as an adult. I got the cat that im mentioning as a kitten. She was 5 weeks old, and the largest in her litter. But when they're that small, no one forsees a kitten growing to be that large.

Deje,you know v reads lots about cats,and it seems some American cats have water risistant fur,(oily),but is that correct?...v,s cat is an African female tabby,small,but goes like a cheeta.Kills and eats birds,flys, bees and wasps plus fat spiders.

Well, to my knowledge and my experiences... I have seen American Short hair breeds with fur that tends to "bead" water. But it doesn't last long. They get drenched easily enough. I used to have a cat that resembles the behavior of yours. But he was a Maine Coon. And even as a small kitten, he was fierce.

Deja,no Sir,v tends to think you are wrong about them "wet proof kittens",they tend to live in Canada or Siberia...but a Maine Coon has been known to rip the nose off a dog,did you know that Sir?

No, thats pretty cool. They are believed to be part bobcat.

Deja,v tends to think they are part cheeta,my "Tia" can out run any human.

,,,my huge black cat is so fat it may explode at any time.

,,, so fucking what?

cats don't explode they implode everyone knows that dumbass

mmmmm....mnnnn. meee teee.... hee tee....

,,,part from that bullshit v does indeed have a HUGE cat,one of 5 strays,(as you must know by know,v takes in stray cats)now MR.HUGE is at present 3 and one half stone,and I think that can even beat a cat from,Maine,U.S.A.,,,most fat cats in the World are from that place...now a real smart cat can have as many as 6 "feeding stations"....you think you own a cat? well you do and you dont,cats can fool us humans most of the time..I expect they find that fun..

...what you need is a tiny web-cam,round your cats neck,like that guy in America,for 24 hours,I am most tempted to do the same...

Maybe if this was a little smaller...

indeed,v had a long look at that,but Tia,a cat from Greece,one of my 6 cats,5 strays,only one Tia,can rip the lungs out a Starling upside down at 40 miles an hour,,,,,,my Tia is indeed a Ninja cat......most of your (Sorabji cats) live on K.F.C. ,left overs,so ar real slow and flabby,like your owners......look,v just posts what I get from your feedback,now I tend to worry about being 10 stone,its just soooo fat,,,,,,

meow meow meow meow

By V on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 11:59 pm: ,,,my huge black cat is so fat it may explode at any time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By jack on Friday, November 30, 2007 - 01:02 am: ,,, so fucking what? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By heather on Friday, November 30, 2007 - 03:02 pm: cats don't explode they implode everyone knows that dumbass Bwhahahahahahaa haaa haa haa haa! V real funny hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Boo Fucking Hoo!!! Oh your Killing Me! hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

machtjenen v hat ein geistiges problem

English please......

....My most HUGE cat is called "HUGE",it weighs in at 3/1 half stone,now I dont feed it a lot,but I bet 10 other people in a 1 mile radius do.Cats call them "feeding stations".I learned years ago,a cat has many owners....but its 5 below zero tonight,so I have 5 cats indoors right now,and I have to keep them all apart,as they try to kill each other,the logistics of this is amazing,as dawn breaks,I have to sneak one cat past another cat,and an other cat,and an other cat,untill all 5 cats are back out,and no eyes have been ripped out.

My vet has a cat that weighs 35 pounds. Its gianormous! I make a special trip to the back every time I am at his office just to see her. She makes me chuckle everytime I see her.She doesn't seem to be mean, just greedy. It aint natural. But it's sure entertaining.