Ocicat pouch

Question
I have a 10 month old Ocicat. He seemed to develop a pouch but it seems to be getting bigger. I started leaving out dry food in the auto feeder but since the pouch seemed to get  bigger overtime I started to limit his intake of food to 1/2 cup in the am & 1/2 cup in the PM & 2 TBS of wet food in the evening. his weight is approximate 6 lbs. Is this normal?? Will it continue to get larger?  Thanks for your help


Answer
Maria,

First off, take him for a vet check up since it does not sound as if he should have a pouch at 10 months and only 6 pounds.

1/2 cup in AM and PM plus the wet food sounds too much to me.  I would cut his dry food in half and maintain the wet food.  When you first cut his food back, you will find no obvious change as his metabolism will slow down to compensate. After a few weeks see how he does and adjust his dry up or down accordingly.  Some cats will self regulate their diets and some will eat everything in sight no matter what. It sounds as if your Ocicat is the latter type of eater.

At 10 months he should take on a growing spurt and lengthen out by 15 months, after which he should bulk up a bit.  Ocicats are athletic and somewhat robust, not super lanky like a Siamese, but not very wide bodied like an American Short Hair, but something in between.

Best regards... Norm.