My overweight cat

moorspede

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Hi! I have a female British Shorthair kitten who is about to turn 12 months in a few weeks time. I was worried that we were feeding her too much so I took her to a vet a month ago, she weighed in at 5.3 kilos.

The vet said that she wasn't overly concerned since she is still a kitten and that British Shorthair females can weigh 7 kilos. I know that this is the case for males but females are generally much smaller. Looking down at her, she has no waist, she looks round and I cannot feel her ribs. 

I've placed her on four timed meals a day but at the moment I'm still letting her eat as much as she likes. She's eating premium wet food which I'm rotating and I'm playing with her every day so she's getting exercise.

I'm wondering if it's ok to start to gradually reduce her intake since she is still young and how whether I need to worry about her losing weight too quickly. 
 

2Cats4everLoved

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I'm actually interested in this question also.

Although, my girl is 20 lbs, possibly 18 now, and is on a mostly wet diet.  She's 13 years of age.
 

dr rachel

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The truth is, if you are feeding a cat and it is overweight, then you are feeding the cat too many calories per day.  NOBODY gets to eat unlimited food every day, and neither should cats :)

Since your vet just saw your cat, call the vet and ask how much your cat should weigh and based on that, your vet can calculate how many calories your cat should receive per day to get to the weight, how much to feed of the diet you are feeding, and how long it should take tools weight.  As I have eluded to in other threads in this forum, deciding if your cat is overweight based on how much they weigh is really not possible. That you mentioned the cat has no waist and you can feel no ribs, suggests she may be over conditioned.  

I do think you can reduce the amount of food you are feeding by either reducing the amount fed per meal, or the frequency of the meals. By how much, I can't generally advise you.
 
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moorspede

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I actually went to the vet with these questions. As I said in my original post the vet said that she wasn't overly concerned since she is still a kitten and she told me that British Shorthair females can weigh 7 kilos.

I know she's overweight, I was asking you your opinion of putting 12 month old on a diet.  

I've seen your answer to the "losing weight too quickly" part of my enquiry to someone who asked about calorie/ kilojoule intake. 
 
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dr rachel

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My answer is that I do think you can reduce the amount of food you are feeding but that I can not estimate by how much from an internet post.  IMO, a 12 month old cat is metabolically a young adult cat, not really a kitten.  Most growth is accomplished by this age and so it is appropriate to feed less overall calories at this stage and to maintain in ideal body condition though calorie modulation.  
 
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