overweight kitty

Question
QUESTION: i have a domestic short hair tabby...he is in good health and spirits and active...since about two months, i have been feeding him nature's variety wet food..no kibble...up to two cans a day...lately i have only been feeding him one and a half cans (about 8 ozs) since i have noticed he has quite the belly...in fact his belly is quite visibly hanging when he walks...what can i do...feed him less...exercise him more...both?  i have done quite a bit of research and am very happy with using "nature's variety". at this point i would imagine he is around six and a half to eight pounds...six months old...what makes things a little trickier is that he is always begging for food...i have been a long time cat owner and have never experienced constant desire to eat...when it is time to eat..he devours it...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...sincerely...jason"



ANSWER: Hi Jason!

I gather from your message that your cat is still a kitten, 6 months old?  I have never heard of nature's variety but it sounds as though you have done your research and are happy with the quality of the food, wet is also a better choice than dry.  I should recommend however that you feed your kitty a couple of chicken wings once or twice a week to clean his teeth, but back to your problem.

I believe what you are talking about is called the 'survival pouch' this is a flap of skin and a bit of fat that hangs down, it is usually quite loose and wobbles from side to side as they walk and can be long enough to hit the ground?  If this is what you are talking about then your cat is not at all overweight, some cats have a bigger pouch than others and I am not sure why but it is perfectly normal and healthy.  If that pouch starts to fill out then you may be looking at some weight issue's.  

It certainly wouldn't hurt to get him some more excersize though!  Make sure you have tons of toys around, get a cat tree for him to run up and down and for play time for the both of you together some wand toys and laser lights are fantastic!  

As for the food, I highly recommend against free feeding (leaving food down all of the time), as a kitten he should eat twice a day.  Once in the morning and once at night.  To get him to slow down (eating too fast can cause vomitting) put some large marbles in his food, this will force him to pick the food around the marbles.  Then see how much food he is eating in aprox 15-20 minutes.  As a kitten you shouldn't restrict the amount of food, they require a lot of calories while they grow, what he eats in this amount of time is generally what they need.

Good luck and let me know if I can help anymore!

Natoma

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

QUESTION: thank you so much for taking time to answer my question...if i may, a quick follow up...you suggested letting them eat for 15 mins...so i should give him his entire can 5.5oz and see how much he eats...if he finishes in a shorter time, should i give him more in that time frame?..i will certainly follow the twice a day feeding as you suggested...also, the chicken wings i have never heard of...is there anything else i could give him for his teeth and torrid breath?...thanks so much...have a great day!!!

Answer
Hi again Jason!

I'm sorry I missed the part about the bad breath the first time, this could indicate juevenile gingivitis, the good news is with juevenile is they generally grow out of it but he may need a round of antirobe antibiotics to clear it for now.  This would also make the chicken wings even more important, twice a week to clean his teeth and prevent further infection.

Yes, to a degree.  If he polishes off the can in 3 minutes I would put a second one down.  However, he is getting to the age where once a day feeding will be more apropriate, I would wait a couple more months but if he is eating a ton at each sitting then he's good to go.  The reason for more frequent feedings when an animal is younger is that they can not consume enough calories in one sitting to last them the day, once they can the number of meals is cut back.

Hope this helps!

Natoma

PS, as long as the chicken wings are not cooked the bones present NO danger to your kitty.  However, cooked bones will splinter and are VERY dangerous!