• candyman337@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      A fully grown house cat is between 8 and 20 pounds, unless your cat is bone structurally very large, 20 points is already overweight. But sometimes it’s hormones or lethargy that can cause a cat to gain weight. I have our cats on scheduled eating times and they don’t get more food after their two meals aside from occasional treats. I have 3 cats that are the right weight and one that’s overweight. He’s overweight because he’s a fixed boy and in their older age they gain weight because of lower testosterone. He is, however, only 14 pounds. That being said, there are circumstances where being over 20 pounds is not always the owner’s fault like in the case of a thyroid problem

      • Caesium@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        it’s more common to see obese cats than underfed ones, especially on the internet. Without the stupid ‘chonker’ names, this chart could be an actual wake-up call for some owners browsing the internet, I’d hope.

      • candyman337@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        1 is actually mislabeled, that would be your cat from 8 to 20 points, depending on your cat, the smaller the cat the lower the healthy weight is obviously.

        If your cat is a healthy weight you will see the silhouette of their ribs when they stand, if your cat is ovular when they stand they are a little overweight, if your cat is more round, your cat is obese, which is not healthy for your cat. Anything above that is incredibly unhealthy.

        • kase@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Not a cat owner, just curious passerby. Where would you mark the difference between healthy and underweight? Or is it more of a thing you notice if they start behaving differently? Or is it something that just never happens?

          My sister’s cat used to always go outside and eat a mouse or something if she wanted more food than what they gave her (and sometimes just instead of eating her food, lol), so I wondered if maybe most cats are like that and so you don’t have to worry about underfeeding them.

          • candyman337@sh.itjust.works
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            11 months ago

            Most experts recommend you don’t let your cats outside unless it’s in a closed off yard and you’re supervising. It is super bad for your car to just eat random things outside, that’s how they get diseases and die

            On underweight cats the ribcage will be very visible, and the stomach will be too small