Kitten is chubby?

[biscuit55]

So, my kitten is 24 weeks and 3 days old, and she already has a little swinging tummy pouch.

 I'm not sure what to do, she seems fairly active except there are days when I am not around for a good ten hours, so perhaps she isn't as active as I think? She gets fed a combination of Innova, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, and Wellness Core dry kitten foods, with some occasional wet food of those same brands. I recently moved to an apartment from a large house, so her play area has decreased by a lot, and she only has six steps to run up and down, as opposed to her previous two flights.. She seems happy and is her same usual little terror-self though.

I found out a month ago that she was eating twice what a 5-9 lb cat should eat of those brands in a day. She used to eat her fill and then leave, but now she seems to eat anything that is there. I thought she would grow a little and her belly would shrink as I cut her portions but it hasn't. I don't have a scale to weigh her in at, so I have just cut her down to 1/4 cup dry food twice a day (1/2 a cup a day total.) She plays fetch every day for quite a while and will run around late at night, too, so I know she is getting some exercise. She is getting quite big length-wise though. I just don't want her to have health issues because of her weight. Any ideas or suggestions? Should I mix in adult food with her kitten kibble, or just let her grow out of this chub-phase?

 

[krysta]

Glad you asked this... I have 2 kittens almost the same age, and one is perfect weight, the other is getting chubby.

 

[biscuit55]

Exactly! My kitten's sister is is lean and doesn't have a problem like this. And she was fed adult Cat Chow before her owner switched to IAMs Kitten; and the kitten is given an unlimited amount of food. I know the healthier food I get my kitten is higher calorie, but it still doesn't make sense.

 

[krysta]

He's not what I'd call "fat" yet, but has the little swingy tummy you're describing. I'm feeding mine California Natural dry, with occasional various wet foods.  I'd like to reduce portions of the dry for my chubby one, but I'm not sure how to do this without also reducing what my little one eats! Because the little one only eats small amounts at a time, he really needs some out all the time to graze on.  I don't want him to miss out on any nutrition since he's still growing.  But the bigger one will eat it if it's there!  Even when I feed them canned, the little one will not eat it all, he keeps coming back a little later to nibble on it til its gone. Sometimes the bigger one will want to finish it off.  So I'm not sure how to strike a balance--letting my little "grazer" have enough food/nutrition, but keeping chubby in check!  

 

[winnielouise]

I have two kittens, ages 6 months and 3 months. I feed them Nature's Variety Raw. Each eats 4-4.5oz per day plus treats and both are nice and lean with no tummy pouch, whereas my sister has a 6 month old kitten who eats dry kibble and has a noticeable "pooch belly" already.

 

[rad65]

My younger cat has a pouch as well. It's really common in cats. It's referred to as the spay sway because fixed cats tend to get it. My cat is not fat at all, but has a fairly pronounced pouch.

Kittens generally can't get too fat. They are growing pretty quickly for human standards, so any chubbiness will go away as the rest of their body catches up.

 

[biscuit55]

Lol the "spay sway"... My Biscuit definitely was spayed earlier than her sister, so maybe that's why. I'm also curious if high protein food yields a bigger cat? Lengthwise, and muscularly, I mean... Maybe there is a thread about this already somewhere... She's just so long already, I feel like she won't grow much more and she'll just get chubbier...sway-ier? She's not even half a year old yet, though. Maybe she'll just grow to be bobcat size! 

 Here's to hoping, haha. 

At least she's my only one, so I can limit her pretty easily. It just seems like way too little some days. Maybe you can separate the little one from the eater, Krysta?

 

[krysta]

Actually, today I tried some NV Raw duck on them, and Aerys (chubby one) wouldn't touch it, Finn (little one) ate it all.  So at least that's something that I know I can give Finn to make sure he's getting enough and Aerys won't gobble it all up! I'm also trying to portion the food out more and give it like 3 meals a day. And play with them so they get plenty of exercise. 

 

[ldg]

If you're able to switch to all wet foods and timed meals, it'll be much healthier for them in the long run. :nod: This is a helpful site: http://www.catinfo.org

And high (animal) protein won't impact their size - that's genetics. But it will affect their body composition. Cats fed high protein (where the protein comes from animal sources) will be much more muscular and active. :nod: Cats are obligate carnivores, and meant to eat small mammals. So they do really well on high protein and moderate fat, with low carbohydrates. They're also descended from desert animals, so unlike dogs, they don't really have a thirst drive - their bodies are designed to get the moisture they need from the food they eat. This doesn't mean they WON'T drink water - it just means it helps their bodies to get the moisture they need if it's fed to them in the form of their food. :nod:

When kitties are that young, I wouldn't really worry about them being chubby. They go through growth spurts, just like human children do. But if you want what is best for their long term health, it's best to feed them a high protein, no-grain, low carbohydrate diet (and not all foods that are grain-free are low carb) and limit the amount of dry (or not feed dry at all). Wellness Core grain-free canned food is a decent food.

 

[odettemayers]

I guess you have to bring your pet in vet so that they will give you actions for this habit and solutions on what to do. I guess you can lessen the food that you give to your cat since you said that she can eat everything she see.