Is My Cat Too Skinny?

Glitterizer

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Hi everyone! My first post here on the forum, though I have lurked for a while.

So, my cat is female, neutered, about to be 10 months old, 3kg (6,6lbs) and is fed an all-wet diet, a mix of about 6 different brands of pouches and cans, all poultry (though some recipes include pig blood plasma and/or pig liver). I won't mention the brands cause they are mostly local, Brazilian brands, except for Fancy Feast and Whiskas (I know, not the best, but wet food is not popular here, and they are very low carb, grain free and carrageenan free, seems good enough for me and better than any kibble).

Anyway, each pouch is about 85g (3oz), 3 pouches per day, and the cans are mostly regular 290g (10oz), 1 can per day, in 3 meals, and this is what the labels recommend feeding to a cat her age and size. However, I'm not sure if the recommended daily portions are enough, as it's basically unheard of here for someone to only feed their cat wet food (it's still considered a "treat", too expensive, yadda-yadda), and I was wondering if maybe those recommended portions assume I'm also free feeding kibble!

Also, it should be noted that only one of those brands I feed is "for kittens" (it's the one I feed the mostly frequently). From what I read on feline-nutrition.org, "age specific" pet food is mostly marketing BS just like "outdoor", "long haired", etc diets.

Of course I googled around before coming here, and most sites say to feel your cat's ribs and spine for some fat, that the bones should be palpable but not too palpable, and while I can feel some softness over her bones and she doesn't really have a "tucked in" belly, I still feel like she's too bony, specially in certain positions where her shoulder blades jump out, haha. I can definitely notice a bit of a waist, hourglass-y shape when she's slinking around the floor, but I've read conflicting info on wether that's a good or bad thing.

The vet has said that she is a healthy weight, but the vet also keeps insisting I free feed her kibble along with the wet meals, so I don't really trust her judgement.

All in all she is very healthy, solid, tolerable poops, lots of pee, always very friendly, social to strangers, extremely playful and energetic, etc.

TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ: Is my 10 month old, 6~7 lbs cat too skinny? Here are some pictures.





 

Kieka

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She's a little on the skinny side but not too skinny.

Most age specific or condition specific foods are just marketing. However, kitten labeled food has a different nutrition profile to provide kittens with more fat and protein per ounce, which they need to grow due to higher nutritional needs. A kitten can and will survive on adult labeled food but they might not reach their full growth potential (typically adult labeled food is lower fat and lower carbs). There are all all ages foods which meet the needs of kittens as well as adult cats. I personally tend to feed all ages not for any other reason then I look for higher protein food since biologically cats do best on a low carb, high protein and moderate fat diet.

10 month old kittens are usually fairly close to their maximum size and just have to fill out. Which may be what's happening with her. I remember Link at that age looking particularly skinny because he was growing. Most feeding guidelines on foods are not the best. At her age and with her being on the skinny size, if she's eating everything in her dish I would give her a little more. Just for the next month or two, then reevaluate.

The tucked tummy guideline works for cats who don't have a pouch. Your girl looks like she has a little pouch. As such I recommend doing a top profile photo. You want to see a slight tuck between her ribs and hips, nothing too extreme but it should be evident. If you start to see a third bump between the ribs and hips them start to consider cutting back food. These are photos of my boy who is at the upper limit of a healthy weight for him (14 pounds). I take a photo about once a month and compare to monitor because he has a huge pouch that is misleading (second photo, the other cat is my 7 pound girl).

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Once she is done growing you'll want to figure out how many calories she eat a day. Calories are much better then feeding guidelines to determine how much to feed when changing foods or if she does start getting too large.
 
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Glitterizer

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She's a little on the skinny side but not too skinny.

Most age specific or condition specific foods are just marketing. However, kitten labeled food has a different nutrition profile to provide kittens with more fat and protein per ounce, which they need to grow due to higher nutritional needs. A kitten can and will survive on adult labeled food but they might not reach their full growth potential (typically adult labeled food is lower fat and lower carbs). There are all all ages foods which meet the needs of kittens as well as adult cats. I personally tend to feed all ages not for any other reason then I look for higher protein food since biologically cats do best on a low carb, high protein and moderate fat diet.

10 month old kittens are usually fairly close to their maximum size and just have to fill out. Which may be what's happening with her. I remember Link at that age looking particularly skinny because he was growing. Most feeding guidelines on foods are not the best. At her age and with her being on the skinny size, if she's eating everything in her dish I would give her a little more. Just for the next month or two, then reevaluate.

The tucked tummy guideline works for cats who don't have a pouch. Your girl looks like she has a little pouch. As such I recommend doing a top profile photo. You want to see a slight tuck between her ribs and hips, nothing too extreme but it should be evident. If you start to see a third bump between the ribs and hips them start to consider cutting back food. These are photos of my boy who is at the upper limit of a healthy weight for him (14 pounds). I take a photo about once a month and compare to monitor because he has a huge pouch that is misleading (second photo, the other cat is my 7 pound girl).

View attachment 299466
View attachment 299467
Once she is done growing you'll want to figure out how many calories she eat a day. Calories are much better then feeding guidelines to determine how much to feed when changing foods or if she does start getting too large.
Thank you so much for the in depth reply!

I'm gonna add an extra meal / pouch per day for her, then. If she starts looking overweight, I'll cut back to 3.

Is the belly pouch you're talking about the "skin flap", kind of like a flying squirrel, that she has on her legs? Cause I did notice loose skin there that made it hard to see her belly.

These are the best top photos I could manage, the little gremlin won't stand still for a second, she thinks I'm trying to play:




It is really annoying that calories aren't included on the label, I'm gonna have to call each brand and figure it out. If any brand gives me trouble and make the info hard to get I'm not buying it anymore.
 

Kieka

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Thank you so much for the in depth reply!

I'm gonna add an extra meal / pouch per day for her, then. If she starts looking overweight, I'll cut back to 3.

Is the belly pouch you're talking about the "skin flap", kind of like a flying squirrel, that she has on her legs? Cause I did notice loose skin there that made it hard to see her belly.

These are the best top photos I could manage, the little gremlin won't stand still for a second, she thinks I'm trying to play:




It is really annoying that calories aren't included on the label, I'm gonna have to call each brand and figure it out. If any brand gives me trouble and make the info hard to get I'm not buying it anymore.
Flying squirrel skin flap works :spew:

It's a thing even wild cats have, mostly cheetahs but it's found in almost all felines. Domestic cats seem to be mixed on if they have one and how big it is. My boy has a really big one, it flaps when he runs. My Mom's cat doesn't have one at all. My girl has a little one. The theory is that is is either to allow their stomachs to stretch when food is plentiful, to give them extra skin to stretch out further when running and/or as a defensive feature so when they are fighting and get belly kicked the claws catch the skin not the internal organs. Probably a mix of the above or maybe something entirely different.

Here are two other photos to help you judge by. The black cat is longer and on the skinnier side. He's healthy and has a good layer of fat but just skinny.

IMG_20190514_191249.jpg



Then we have my girl. She's more barrel chested and stocky. Which really makes judging her weight hard. She's 7 pounds and that is the lowest my vet wants her to be because she has less fat on her.

IMG_20190514_191237.jpg

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As you can see in the side photo she doesn't look as skinny as she is. But she is super light and little. Knowing your cats ideal body condition and comparing it over time is really the best guide out there. Being hypercritical and honest with yourself on your cats condition will help you know the best condition. I compare photos over time to get a good feel and will often just check my cats over for injuries or issues when I am petting them (I found cancer on my rainbow kitty by noticing a small lump when petting him).

That's annoying that they don't have calories. Where I am the calories at win tiny print at the bottom of the ingredient list (usually). With some of the brands that have international variations you might be able to check their other variations and compare ingredients to get a guess.

And your photos are good for a general feel. I'd like to see a little more muscle on your girl but weight wise she isn't what I would call unhealthy.
 
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Glitterizer

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So, I've started feeding her 4 meals daily instead of 3 (midnight, 6am, noon, 6pm). Each meal is about 3 ounces of wet food.

For a while she would eat that just fine, and then she started to "leave some for later" constantly, eating it litle by little, but usually the food was gone JUST in time for the next meal. I didn't mind her eating little by little cause i have a bowl that keep ants away, the food got a little dry but she still ate it.

Now, however, she started to just eat whenever she feels like, and hasn't even eaten her previous meal by the time she's supposed to eat her next one. I just leave the same one there until she's "forced" to eat it, and she eventually does, but now she's basically getting less than 4 meals per day.

Is she just self regulating? If I do the "put food down, leave it for 30 minutes, pick it up if it hasn't been eaten" will she understand and start eating her whole meals? That used to be the system when I was doing 3, but I don't know if it's too much to expect her to be eating 3 ounces of wet food 4 times a day, in one sitting for each meal. I worry that she's gonna just skip a meal everytime and waste food.

Maybe I'm overthinking this and should just let her "free feed" kibble until she stops growing and switch back to wet food by then?
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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My cat never eats a full 3 ounces of a canned food for a meal. I feed her about 4-5 times a day, but always make each meal approximately 1-2 ounces of food. That's about the size of a small mouse or little finch bird, lol. I figure that might be a normal meal size for a cat, and I've fed my last cat and my current cat in the same manner. My current cat seems to eat about 5-8 ounces a day (it varies a bit).
 

Kieka

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I’d do the put down wet food and let her eat for 30 minutes. Whatever she doesn’t eat you can put in the fridge for the next feeding so it’s not wasted. Then leave some dry kibble down for free feeding between meals (at least until she’s done growing). Once’s she’s done growing, cut back wet portion sizes so she isn’t overdoing it but keep up with the four meals a day since that is more in line with their nature.
 

ailish

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My cat is a good weight and I feed calories, not amounts. However, it amazes me how different the same cat can look. One day I can think she's putting on a little weight, the next day I think she's a little light. Who knows.
 

lisahe

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My cat is a good weight and I feed calories, not amounts. However, it amazes me how different the same cat can look. One day I can think she's putting on a little weight, the next day I think she's a little light. Who knows.
Our cats can be like that, too! They gain and lose small amounts of weight all the time, something our (cats-only) vet says is perfectly normal. (As she says, people are like that, too!) I often notice that our cats' weight changes coincide with changes in the weather and their activity levels. I could sum up a lot of it by saying that some days, they are just lazy. ;) But they spend others tracking chipmunks from their veranda.
 

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My skinny Penny says hello fellow sister calico. He’s about 8-9 lbs and about 8 years old now. It’s a struggle to get her to eat sometimes and she occasionally scarfs and barfs her meals and won’t eat again after so keep weight on her can be a struggle. But I think our gals are just thin model ladies lol and yours is still growing so just give her a bit more time of eat what she wants and she’ll round out probably
 

maggie101

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Peaches is 7 pds. She is now 7 yrs old and eats 4oz of wet a day. As a kitten, 5.5 oz can+. Dont remember exactly. Small cat. Maggie eats 5.5 oz can. She knows when she has had enough. Not all cats do.
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jefferd18

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She doesn't look too thin and I would think it would be better health-wise to be a little bit on the thin side.
 
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