# Is 6kg overweight?



## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Took Bodie the vets last week for his over grooming. First time in over a year it's flared up. 

Vet checked him over. Gave him the usual antibiotics and steroids, all fine. Just before we left I asked her to weigh him. 

She did so. He's put on 1kg in just over a year. She then told me he's really fat and needs to go on a diet. Wet food is too fattening apparently. 

I have two cats. The eldest won't touch wet so I leave origin or acana dry down for her. Bodie eats some two. But he also gets two pouches of wet a day. 

He's just your average tabby cat btw. No large breed or anything. But he is a big boy. Always has been. 

I've dropped it to one. But can't help thinking if he was so fat. Why didn't the vet spot it before I asked her to weigh him? Surely if it was that bad she would have. 

He still tucks in at the tummy etc. 

So what does everyone think?


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## catlover0581 (Jan 14, 2012)

how old is he?

i ask because my ginger tom is only 6 months and weighs 3.9kg. i ask the vet to weigh him everytime he goes, and they are amazed at him - but they are adament he's not overweight - he's just a massive ginger tom moggy!

maybe get a second vetinary opinion?

can i see a picture of him? (any excuse lol)


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Lyceum said:


> Took Bodie the vets last week for his over grooming. First time in over a year it's flared up.
> 
> Vet checked him over. Gave him the usual antibiotics and steroids, all fine. Just before we left I asked her to weigh him.
> 
> ...


*Sigh*

It isn't the fat content that is the issue but the carb content, which is significantly higher in dry food than in wet food. So, you really aren't doing him any favours (on so many levels) by cutting his wet food down by half.

Instead, considering that your other cat doesn't eat wet, it might make sense to stop free-feeding her her dry food so that you can get more of a handle on how much dry food he is eating. Would it be possible to get her to eat her daily ration of dry food at set meal times? That way you could also up the wet food content of the one that allegedly needs to lose a little weight and cut out dry food for him completely. What wet food are you feeding?

Without a picture it is really hard to say whether a 6kg cat is overweight. I have a 6.5kg one, who is just muscle, and a 7kg one who could lose a few hundred grams.

However, like you, I would say that if your vet only got concerned once he was on the scale than maybe the issue is more with the number deviating from their golden mean of 4kg rather than perhaps it being an issue with him.

So, I think we need some pictorial guidance.


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> Wet food is too fattening apparently


 What an extraordinary statement. To me that would be like saying oat based biscuits are less fattening than porridge.


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

hobbs2004 said:


> *Sigh*
> 
> It isn't the fat content that is the issue but the carb content, which is significantly higher in dry food than in wet food. So, you really aren't doing him any favours (on so many levels) by cutting his wet food down by half.
> 
> ...


See, I knew she'd be talking crap about the food part. That's why I posted.

No, I've tried feeding her set meals, she just gets a face on. She's never been a big eater at all, she's tiny, six month kitten tiny despite being 13.

Currently feedng the animonda labels foods (or is it almo nature), mix between the green orange and purple.

Shall get some pics up tomorrow!

Thanks for the help. Appreciate it.


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## Bluevixen (Feb 5, 2012)

Has to depend on the cat I have a massive white tom which must be 6-7Kg but he isn't over weight he genuinely has a massive rib cage and large head so although a bugger to carry anywhere he isn't fat as his frame is big


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

Different cats just have different sized frames! I'm sure Treacle is already 5 kilos, and he's only 9 months old!! He's very long and difficult to carry as his torso is almost longer than mine now!!!! 

That's why I'm seriously cutting back the dry food that he loves, and giving him more wet (not that he ate any this morning...)!! Already has a little fat pad on his belly and that needs to go down!!!


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## Shadow And Lightning (Jan 18, 2012)

each time i take lightning its "oh hes gonna be a big boy, that carrier wont last u much longer" hes not been since getting neutered 2 months ago, but due a weighing and worming in about a month... but he doesnt look too big

one vet did tell me hes gonna be a 8-9kg cat, hes got massive paws and massive ears,but the way she tells it, all cats are different, some cat be overweight at 5kg, others perfectly healthy at that size, all depeneds on body structure etc

i really think he would be a fat little sod if he didnt have shadow to chase after him all the time, but luckily shadows a bouncy little guyy and hypers lightning up

this is my sisters cat who weighs about 6.2kg


IMAG0894 by kiwi20122012, on Flickr


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## Misi (Jul 13, 2009)

My mum's cat, in his prime weighed 6.3kg. He was a big tabby but not overweight at all. When he was a kitten, his ears and paws were enormous, so I knew he'd be a big lad. Bruno weighed 5kg and was a meter long when he died. Simba feels heavy and solid when you pick him up but is actually only just over 4kg. He's a Van and they grow slowly, so I'm sure he'll finish up heavier. Misi weighed 4.3kg when she was well and was never overweight. So, it all depends on the cat. 
Your vet's comment on the food is just ridiculous, and just goes to show how frighteningly little most of them know about pet nutrition!!

Can you feel your cat's ribs? If you can, he's fine!


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Is Almo Nature the only food he will eat?


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## jenny armour (Feb 28, 2010)

i was always told that if you can feel their ribs then they are not overweight


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## MissClaireyG (Apr 13, 2012)

I wouldn't say that 6kg is overweight, but i guess like humans everyone has different ways of showing it!


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Right, sorry for the delay, couldn't get back to the PC and couldn't upload from my phone.

Not the best pics to show his weight, but they do show he's not a barrel lol.

I can feel his ribs and his tummy tucks in.


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## catlover0581 (Jan 14, 2012)

i don't think he looks fat at all hun  very handsome boy


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

Looks about the same as Treacle is now - not fat! But I don't want Treacle to get any fatter especially as he's still only 9 months old!!


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

Thanks!

He is handsome isn't he! lol.

That's my thought, he doesn't look fat. I'm going to try and cut his dry back, I'd prefer him to have more wet than dry. Chyna is 13, she's never liked wet, never and I've tried all of them. She'll eat applaws wet but only occasionally. It took me an age to get Bodie to eat wet regularly and now he does I don't want to cut him back.


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## ella (Jan 1, 2009)

He doesn't look overweight to me....

I had the exact opposite last week - the vet weighed Bibi and said straight away that she had lost weight - she was 3.05kg - then he checked and she has never been big and has been stable for a while at 3 to 3.1 kg... 

I thInk the magic 4kg rule had clicked in again....


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> I thInk the magic 4kg rule had clicked in again....


Has anyone ever owned a cat that weighed exactly 4kg? I have one cat who is around 7kg. He also happens to be half as tall again to the shoulder as my next biggest and a fair bit longer. He's a huge cat but he isn't overweight. If I got him down to 4kg the RSPCA would quite rightly have me in court.


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## Tidgy (Jun 30, 2010)

saying x weight is overweight is rediculas, its totaly dependant ont eh size of the cat, porthos is 6kg and hes lost a bit but looks very healthy.

bit like saying 20 stone is fat in a human, sounds very fat, untill you see this


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

He's always been a big boy. And his weight always moved up and down depending, heavier in winter etc.

Chyna is only about 2kg, she's minute, always has been. If she was 4kg she'd be massively over weight.


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