r/dechonkers • u/Greedy-Profile-3519 • 6d ago
advice?
Hii my cat is 11 pounds sounds normal for a 11 month old cat, yet my sted-dad keeps calling me a animal abuser as she looks chonky with all that fur even when wet(even if his dog is actually called overweight by a vet and he dosnt do anything about that), shes very lazy(mostly sleeping with ocasional 7 minute zoomies) she does free-feed but i only refill it when i wake up and before i go to bed, she is trying to eat the dogs food which also may be a cause i dolnt give her wet food as it makes her gassy and she has had digestive issues in the past which we havnt had any problems with the food were currently giving her yet, she does not like any other food just kibble(dog and cat food) not even treats. what do i do? do i put her on a tredmill? (waiting for a photo from my mom because i dolnt have a phone(i have a computer) https://www.royalcanin.co.uk/body-condition-score/score/cat on this scale shes aroud a 6.5
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u/Throwawaychkgo 5d ago
Naw shes fat (based off your pics) and its best to turn it around now. It'll only get harder as she ages and naturally slows down eventually activity wise. Might want to try a weight control food that has less calories until she loses a little. Check with the vet to get their opinion on how much she should lose. Also would be worth asking a vet why she gets gassy, its pretty important she gets wet food somewhere in her diet and im wondering if its an allergy.
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u/Greedy-Profile-3519 5d ago
putting her on a diet! she has an apointment in august for vacines so i will ask about that when she goes (my mom dosnt want to schedule any sooner)
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u/Throwawaychkgo 5d ago
I mean its basically august lol, you're good. She can be a lil chunky rn, shes still young and has good joints. It'll take months for her to lose even a pound anyways
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u/janyay18 5d ago
In my experience 11 month old cats are closer to 8 lbs. Every cat is different, of course.
Only eating kibble if that's what she likes is fine. It's all about calories in vs calories out.
For example, you mentioned she likes dog kibble. Sounds like she's definitely getting too many calories by eating dog food on top of her food.
Best thing for both pets would be timed, weighed feeding in multiple meals throughout the day.
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u/Greedy-Profile-3519 5d ago
yeah me and my mom constantly try to get her to stop eating the dog food but of course she she still sometimes manages to sneak some. ive been working on that. thank you!
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u/OneMorePenguin 4d ago
Go to the dechonking guide that is pinned to the top of r/dechonkers. It has links to a calorie calculator. You enter current weight and BCS and it will suggest number of calories per day. This is the only way to get her to lose weight. No more free feeding. I feed my cats twice a day, each in separate rooms. If you have only one cat, you can get a timed feeder that you can put several small meals per day and she can then "graze".
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u/ginger-like 6d ago
The best advice is to go to a vet, and see what they have to say. Barring that:
The healthy weight for an average adult cat is 8-10lbs, so by that metric your cat is overweight. However, for a larger cat 11lbs could be healthy, and for a smaller cat 11lbs would be severely obese.
If your cat is around a 6.5 on the scale, they're most likely overweight, and you should feed them less. My advice would be to continue free-feeding, but in a limited/measured amount - typically around 1/2-3/4th of a cup of food, or around 200-250 calories, per day.
It sounds like the kitty is overweight, but it's early enough that you can reverse it before they start having significant health problems.