Ideal Weight for a 5-year old cat

Question
QUESTION: Hi Teresa,

I have a 5-year old orange and white tabby tom cat. He currently weighs 16.5lbs. Is this a good weight for him to be?

ANSWER: Hi Laura, It is really hard to tell you that without knowing what breed of cat you have or what his bone structure is like. For a maine coon cat that is not overweight for a full grown male but for other cats it could be terribly overweight. The best way to describe in an email is to have you run your hands down the side of your cat. Can you feel his ribs? can you count them? They should be covered with some flesh but not so much that you cannot count them. Does this help?
Teresa

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have an orange and white Tabby.

I did what you said to do, and yes, I can feel and count my cat's ribs. How does that help determine the proper weight for a 5-year old tabby?

Answer
Hi Lara, well if your cat was TOO heavy you would not be able to feel and count his ribs because there would be too much fat covering them. So, he must be of a medium build.  There are some guidelines online that will show you pictures of obese cats and thin cats so you can compare those pictures to your cat. Without seeing your cat I am just trying to give you an idea with the use of words. When you say your cat is an orange and white Tabby that is just a colour and colour pattern. Do you know what breed he is? there are orange and white tabby colored persians, maine coons and oriental shorthairs! and they all have different "normal" weights.
Teresa