Sudden Overfeeding/ Free Feeding Worries

[Optatus Cleary]

When I rescued Blossom in June of 2019, she was tiny and very hungry. She was six to eight weeks old, and weighed eleven ounces. Once we got her eating wet food, we never limited it.
The feeding routine has worked like this: we have a plate of dry food (Taste of the Wild) out for her in case she gets hungry. When I leave for work in the morning I give her half a small can of wet food, and a bit later if she’s eaten my wife gives her half of another kind of wet food. From there we just go by whether she has food or not. If there’s no wet food left, we put more down for her. She sometimes doesn’t eat what’s there, in which case we just give her other food later.

I was told by a few people not to worry about overfeeding a kitten. Now, however, she’s getting close to one year old and I’m worried that she is getting too heavy. Last time I weighed her she was 8.6 pounds. She seems active and only looks like a fat cat in some positions but not in others (she seems lean and lanky when stalking around, but chubby when she flops on her side and lays there).

Does anyone have any advice? Having found her when she was hungry and scared, I think we have a tendency to be a bit too indulgent. I don’t want her to face health problems though and I want to know how to feed her appropriately. She still seems small for a cat, so she might still be growing, but I want to make sure I’m not giving her too much and making her unhealthy.

I see her mother in the back yard from time to time (I saw her run away from Blossom so I know which cat she is) and she is is thin and tiny. Probably about Blossom’s current size but very thin. There’s another male cat around that might be her father (based on appearance: Blossom has a bit of a lion’s mane while her mother is very short-haired, but of course there’s no way of knowing) who is a lot larger and bulkier. It might be that she’s still going to get longer and be a larger cat than she seems like now.

Any advice is appreciated. The photos are mostly here for cuteness, not to illustrate her size but if you see anything let me know!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! She is very pretty! What does the vet think an appropriate weight would be for her? Allowing a cat to eat pretty much what it wants up until they hit a year or so is pretty common, so it would seem to me you are doing OK. How much of the dry food does she eat? That would be the best food to reduce if and when it is time to lessen her caloric intake - dry generally contains more calories than canned due to the carbohydrate content.

A standard rule of thumb (just a guide) is that most younger adult cats can sustain their weight on about 20-25 calories per pound. So, if the vet said her current weight is fine, to maintain that she theoretically could eat around 215 calories per day. But, you really need to know how much she eat is currently eating. That also is a good thing to determine, just so you know what you might be dealing with if she needs to lose weight.

Once you find out what the vet thinks is a good weight for her, you will be better able to judge what you need to do in terms of food provisions. It could be something as simple as reducing her dry food by just a few morsels a day from what she eats now. Keeping track of her weight is also a good idea, as it helps to know if she is gaining/losing/maintaining weight on the amount of food you choose to feed her.

I am sure other members will soon offer their insights as well!!

 

[Optatus Cleary]

I haven’t talked to the vet about her current weight because I haven’t gone for a while. She’s been healthy and happy since her last appointment. She’s definitely getting more plump, but kittens are very skinny and wispy so it might just be her taking on an adult frame.

She doesn’t eat much of the dry food, but the vet recommended having it as an option for if she wants it. I see her go to it sometimes between real meals of wet food, or if she’s suddenly decided she doesn’t like one of the wet food flavors (we use mostly Taste of the Wild Salmon and Venison, Taste of the Wild Salmon and Trout, and Pure Harmony Salmon, Oceanfish, Crab, and Shrimp.)

Her recent weights:
November 2nd she was 6.4 pounds
February 4th she was 7.8 pounds
March 1st she was 8.6 pounds

It’s hard to get a really solid weight for her: my wife just weighs herself with the cat and then without, so fluctuations are certainly possible. I worry a bit about the seemingly large gain from February to March.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Having the dry food as back up for a kitten is certainly the way to go. It is hard to say, but with the most recent weight gain, she could be 'settling' in to her adult weight and doesn't need as many calories. But, if you haven't been tracking how much you feed her all these months, it is hard to say because some of the foods you are giving her likely vary in their calories, so her intake probably varies as well.

I would track her caloric intake for the next month, based on how you are currently feeding her, and see what she weighs then. But, it would help to weigh her once a week and calculate the average per day amount of calories that she is eating each of those weeks, just to keep track of any change from week to week as well. At least you would have a baseline of the calories she is consuming and how much weight she may or may not gain this coming month on those calories. She is young yet so you've got plenty of time to worry about her weight!!

If your scale is digital, weighing her the way you describe should be fairly accurate. If you think there is a possible variance, weigh a 2nd time. I have a digital scale that is supposed to weigh accurately within 2 oz, so I feel pretty good about weighing Feeby that same way your wife does. However, when Feeby has lost/gained a bit from week to week, I weigh a second time just to be sure. Doing this will also tell if you have a fluctuation in the scale that you are wondering about.

 

[IndyJones]

Are you able to get a small postal scale? This would be more accurate than what you are doing now. You can put a towel on top and zero it with the towel on top. Then place the cat on the towel and record its weight.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

This is how we weighed her when she was little, on the kitchen/kitten scale. But she’s too big for that now! The postal scale might be a good idea.

I’m going to start measuring her dry food intake. Her wet food consumption seems pretty reasonable. I’ll put out a given amount and see how long it takes her to eat it all. Probably a few days because she doesn’t eat much of the dry food.

 

[MissClouseau]

Sounds like she's almost 1 year old. For a typical tabby cat, average adult weight for a female cat is said to be about 10 lbs. At 8,6 lbs at almost 1 year of age, she doesn't sound overweight. Body condition score is a more reliable scale than numbers of course, but with numbers she doesn't sound overweight. (and with longhair cats body condition score gets a bit tricky to check)

The vets I know usually recommend free feeding until 12-13 months of age at least and say every kitten is different and unless the cat is "no doubt overweight" level overweight, it's probably OK.

Also reminder, a cat will look heavier later in the day after they eat, and have stools and urine inside they didn't release (yet.) The thinnest version you see in the day which is typically before breakfast is what you should do the Body Condition Score calculation with.

Also some female cats have their abdomen fur longer in the spring and summer even if they are spayed. Don't mistake that as a thing about weight as it might look like :-)

I also suggest after 12 months of age weighing the cat on the same scale every day of the week, before breakfast. You get an idea about weight and how it manifests itself in looks in a short time. And if you see any unwanted weight gain, you can take an action right away and it would be easier to manage weight this way.

 

[lisahe]

To follow up on what MissClouseau writes about body condition, Optatus Cleary , how does Blossom look compared to the profiles on this chart? Sometimes it's hard to gauge a fluffy cat's weight so, beyond looking, you might need to feel her belly and back. This chart gives some good indications of what you might see and feel when taking a good look at her. One of our cats is fluffy so always looks a little chunky but I can feel her spine, part of what makes her look large is the fluff on her belly, and the vet's happy with her weight. Her weight, by the way, fluctuates a little, something the vet says is entirely normal. (This is one of the many reasons we don't weigh our cats!)

Blossom's fluffiness, along with the fact that she's eating mostly wet food, leads me to suspect her weight's probably fine. What you say about filling out her adult frame is important, too: our cats came to us as very underfed ten-month-old kittens and it was a little jarring to see them finally fill out to normal weights!

 

[IndyJones]

One additional thing to above, not all cats have a tuck like dogs do. Many cats have loose skin called the primordial pouch. Not much is known about why they do but it might help with flexibility or be used when food is in short supply.

 

[lisahe]

One additional thing to above, not all cats have a tuck like dogs do. Many cats have loose skin called the primordial pouch. Not much is known about why they do but it might help with flexibility or be used when food is in short supply.

I'm so glad you mentioned the pouch, I'd meant to and then forgot!

 

[FeebysOwner]

One additional thing to above, not all cats have a tuck like dogs do. Many cats have loose skin called the primordial pouch. Not much is known about why they do but it might help with flexibility or be used when food is in short supply.

I'm so glad you mentioned the pouch, I'd meant to and then forgot!

It is amazing to me that none of the 'weight charts' depict the primordial pouch! It isn't actually fat. Rather, it's a flap of thick skin that all cats, wild and domestic, carry. The pouch evolved to protect cats during fights with one another.

 

[lisahe]

It is amazing to me that none of the 'weight charts' depict the primordial pouch! It isn't actually fat. Rather, it's a flap of thick skin that all cats, wild and domestic, carry. The pouch evolved to protect cats during fights with one another.

Yes, it really is weird that they never have it -- it is so common! Our previous cat was most definitely overweight but she looked far heavier because she had quite a large (but "empty," just skin and fur) pouch.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

I took this picture in the morning before she had eaten. I can always feel her spine if I pet her back. Her ribs are a bit hard to feel (I have to press slightly) but I can feel them. I think based on the chart she seems like a 5 or at most 6. She just looks extremely pear-shaped when she sits up, and it makes me worry that she’s gaining too much.

I try to vary her foods as much as possible. She likes “cuts” over “pate,” which I’ve heard is not ideal. Her favorites are definitely the ones I listed in the first post, and I have a sentimental attachment to Taste of the Wild in the green can because it was the first real food she ate when we found her (after the droppers of formula and rejecting the dry Hill’s Science Diet the vet gave us). Does anyone have any recommendations for other foods I could try? I think I want to leave what she currently eats in the rotation, but I’d like to make sure she gets some other options as well.

 

[lisahe]

Based on this photo and what you say about Blossom's spine, I don't think I'd worry too much. (She doesn't have that middle-of-the-body bulge as in the 7 cat on the chart.)

You're right about the "cuts" foods: they usually have some sort of filler/binder to make the pieces. What, exactly, are the foods you've been feeding her? (I didn't see mentions in your first post other than Taste of the Wild.)

 

[IndyJones]

Wuvera and its child brands are advertised as having less of the junk in them like gums and carrageenan (potentially carcinogenic). I think they might even have the stew and sliced ones in cans so you can put the leftovers in the fridge.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Based on that picture, and what you've described, I don't feel like she is overweight at all. I also didn't see where you mentioned any food other than Taste of the Wild - but, I can't be of much help on that aspect anyway as Feeby eats urinary care canned food and FF pates.

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Taste of the Wild and Pure Harmony are the two brands we’ve used. Pure Harmony has salmon, oceanfish, and crab cuts that she likes. Looking at the ingredients it looks like Taste of the Wild does not contain carrageenan but Pure Harmony does.

 

[lisahe]

Yes, Weruva has some good ones and the new BFF OMG foods are basically cuts, with carbs that are a little high but probably not as high as some, so not outrageous. (I try to keep all our cats' foods at or around five percent, dry matter basis, but the 10-11% for the chicken foods isn't awful.) You can find nutritional information on the Weruva site here. Our cats like the BFF pates, either the cans or pouches, particularly the ones with lamb and duck in them. They're here; you can see those carbs are lower, though your cat may not like them as much! Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen cans are also good.

FeebysOwner mentioned Fancy Feast pates, which are a very decent, very low-carb choice! Another option might be Sheba pates, which our cats love for some reason. They also like Tiki Cat and will eat Chewy's knockoff Miko, which is much cheaper -- those are all shreds with no thickeners. (The cats probably don't like Miko as much because it's cheaper!)

 

[Optatus Cleary]

Here’s a picture to illustrate why I was worried. This is her after having eaten and sitting up, looking extremely pear shaped. I have never had a cat before so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a problem.

I feel certain that if shapeshifters ever evolve on this planet they will descend from cats: these creatures can look huge or tiny, fat or thin, like long tubes or like round balls of fur at will!

 

[IndyJones]

She looks gorgeous. I think that is just the point where her ribs compress as she sits.

Love her feathers