Has Ollie got a spare tyre??

[ccmacey]

My eldest is 5.7kg and the vet says he's not overweight because of his build, he has been bigger than that too.

[blackcat]

It looked particularly humourous on Bob who was a long-haired white with a relatively hairless underpart, and pink skin, so it looked like an old man's bald head with whispy bit of fur ... But not for long though. Much to his disgust he was put on a diet!!

[Lesley Frankie]

Well, I did put Ollie on his back and the fat ('cos that's what it is  ) fell in between his back legs. Never mind, he's not huge, just pleasantly plump    Thanks again to everyone who answered, I'm not too worried and he'll possibly slim down once he goes outside.

[blackcat]

anther option is to roll him onto his back, resting against your knees and see what happens to it. If it is fat then it will fill up into a pouch between his back legs, if it is just skin it will flop down the sides. Bob, being ancient and long-haired had me fooled for ages as his back bone was showing through his coat so I thought he was losing weight. Turned out it was the weight of the fat belly (totally hidden in his fur) that was dragging the skin away from his spine 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

If the skin that hangs down from his belly is mainly between his back legs and doesn't feel too fatty it could just be a 'spay sway' (males can get them to!).  If it feels like fat, it probably is!  Can you feel his ribs when you feel around and under his body?  You should be able to feel a cat's ribs fairly easily, but not be able to see them. 

I'd measure out how much dry you're giving them as cats being free fed dry food are at risk of becoming overweight.  Dry food is very fattening and it's easy for them to overeat.  The guidelines on the packaging are usually more than most cats need unless extremely active, but I'd make sure you aren't feeding more than the guidelines (and take into account you're feeding some wet food too so need to account for that).

Jaffa is a trim 4.8kg and eats 3 pouches of wet food a day.  Mosi is a lively 2 year old and he eats 1.5 pouches a day plus about 30g dry food.

[Dawn F]

they do vary a lot we've got 4 and we got Amber 3.9kg, Tilly 4.2kg, Star 5kg and a rather large Oscar at 5.7kg but none are overweight or underweight according to the vet!

[Lesley Frankie]

Thanks for your replies, it has made me feel that Ollie is not really overweight after all. They both seem to have grown so much in the 3 months they have been with us so I started to worry - my previous 2 cats were always quite small and were never big eaters so it takes time to get used to 2 great big lads!

[Tiggy's Mum]

There is a fold of flesh hanging from his stomach which feels quite loose and fatty. I have seen this in other cats belonging to friends and I assume that it is a cat version of a spare tyre or a beer belly?

This wouldn't necessarily mean he was overweight - Lucas has had a hangy down bit ever since he was a young kitten, he's 10 1/2 months now and it is as big as ever.  He is definitely not fat, in fact he has a very trim figure now, but this loose flabby bit hangs down a good few inches. 

As for amounts to feed, mine have the equivalent of a pouch each in the morning and evening and then biscuits down to snack on 24/7.  They don't seem to overeat but if they ever started to get a bit portly I'd cut back on the biscuits as I think they would be the main culprit for weight gain.

[Dawn F]

mine have two pouches a day each and there is always a bowl of dry around, none of them of overweight though they do have access to the garden (catproofed) 24 hours so that  probably helps

[clarenmax]

I had an issue with Max's weight about a year ago, he's always had a pouch morning and evening, but I was free-feeding dry food all the time, and that is very high in fat apparently, and can contribute to them becoming 'rotund' shall we say    I've had to reduce the dry food intake, and up the exercise level as he's an indoor cat.

However, the only way to know for sure is to get a weigh-in next time you're at the vets, it can all depend on their build etc, so whilst there may be a bit of a saggy tummy, it may not mean overweight (at least I don't think so anyway).

[Lesley Frankie]

Oliver and Basil have been with us since October . Ollie is maybe 3 years old and was quite large when we got him. Basil is younger and slimmer. Initially they seemed to eat constantly which I reckoned was because in the refuge, they had to compete with 40 other cats! Now, I give them half a Whiskas pouch each in the morning and maybe again in the evening, depending if they seem to ask for it. There is also good quality dry food in their bowl all of the time. They have both gained weight but Ollie in particular seems to be quite portly. There is a fold of flesh hanging from his stomach which feels quite loose and fatty. I have seen this in other cats belonging to friends and I assume that it is a cat version of a spare tyre or a beer belly? Basil eats like a horse but is younger and slimmer than Ollie. At the moment, they are staying indoors although I intend to let them go out in the near future. They are both neutered. I don't want them to be overweight so, does anyone have any guidelines to the correct amount of food to give them daily?