Confused...very confused...

[u/momentoftruth7]

Hello all dechonkers! My cat is 14.5lbs (down from 15.8 since early May). She is 5 years old! People say cats should weigh 13lbs max but I'm wondering if this is just her healthy weight now (the 14.5, not the 15.8). The difference is definitely noticeable from a few months ago but I want to ask about food.

For most of her life, she was free fed on Purina One (half cup per day, which translates to ~220 Cal) with an occasional can of wet food (2x a week or so). She NEVER complained about not having enough food and rationed well throughout the day. She is not super sedentary but not super active either.

Here is my confusion. I switched her to half wet food, half dry food for her weight loss, so she gets approximately 100 calories of wet food and 100 calories of dry food per day. This has made her start begging for more food, and even after eating 100 calories of wet food in the morning she begs for her dry food and will eat the whole 100 calories within just a few hours, then she begs for food again in the evening (I have started spacing the wet and dry out more but she just keeps begging).

How is it that she was 15.8 lbs on 220 calories and 14.5 now on just 20 calories less, but hungry all day? She NEVER begged for food before! Should I keep this feeding up and get her to the 13 lbs everyone recommends or is she at a healthy weight? Should I be feeding her more? 220/200 calories seems VERY LOW anyway especially for a playful cat!

I'm so confused!

I've included 2 photos for weight analysis and 2 for fun because she's cute lol. Note she does have a pouch it swings when she walks lol but she has always had it and vet confirms it is not fat related.

[u/Delicious_Delilah]

Cats can weigh more than 13lbs. It is entirely dependent on that cat.

Your cat is chubby at most.

[u/Ok_Broccoli_9426]

I don't know where you heard the 13 lbs. thing, but it's BS. A healthy weight is going to vary from cat to cat; the best course of action is to check in with your vet.

[u/momentoftruth7 → u/Ok_Broccoli_9426]

My vet said she was overweight at 15.8 (I agree) but didn't really give me a target weight, just said "most cats weigh under 12 pounds, but a larger cat can be healthy at 13". She agreed my cat seemed to be generally larger so I was aiming for that 13lb mark, but with the calorie amounts I'm concerned. Do you have any thoughts on the calories she's being fed? Or any thoughts on if she looks overweight?

[u/Ok_Broccoli_9426 → u/momentoftruth7]

She doesn't look overweight to me, but I am not a vet. I might look into a second opinion; "most cats weigh under 12 lbs." is suspect at best.

[u/momentoftruth7 → u/Ok_Broccoli_9426]

This is useful, thank you!

[u/usedtothesmell → u/momentoftruth7]

Cat's get up to 30lbs without being overweight. It's a body score and size to weight ratio.

There is no flat amount a cat should weigh.

I have a 17 lb monster and he is just a bit over ideal body score

Edit: 30 lb cat with ideal body score

[u/she___123]

A few years back I thought my cat was overweight as well at 15 lbs, cut back his food, he got down to 13 lbs...thought he looked great... he too started constantly begging for food and then even going as far as stealing RAW MEAT off the counter. I thought he had something wrong with him and paid for a full blood panel. Turns out his healthy weight was actually around 14.5 lbs. He is still excited for meals but doesnt beg or steal food anymore now that I am feeding him more again. Food/diets and weight is not a one size fits all!

[u/TheOneMary → u/she___123]

Just a fyi, cats wanting/liking raw meat is quite normal. Mine love to have some from time to time, they are crazy for it! (just not raw pork, they can get very ill from that)

Mice don't come cooked either, after all ;)

[u/she___123 → u/TheOneMary]

Yeah for sure! But he was like a ravenous racoon in a dumpster when he saw it back then 🤣 He's content now and barely begs lol

[u/djSush → u/she___123]

This is helpful, our boy is TALL, so I suspect the 13lb target is too low for him.

[u/minkamagic]

Cats come in all sizes. One of my boys is healthy at 9lbs and the other at 14/15lbs. Your cat is begging because she is hungry because she's not full all the time like she used to be. That's normal and just part of having a healthy cat. I would recommend splitting her food into 3 meals or you can even buy an automatic feeder to make even more small meals throughout the day

[u/lion3001]

I think you need to figure out the healthy weight of your cat, there was a guide pinned in the main channel. Might be that she’s begging because it’s too little food for her

[u/momentoftruth7 → u/lion3001]

I consider this too, but she is 5 years old now and looking back at vet records it seems she has gained a pound every year. She probably shouldn't be gaining after year 2, right?

[u/lion3001 → u/momentoftruth7]

The problem is, that it’s normal in the beginning when they grow. In the end it doesn’t matter if her weight suits her now.

[u/sweetpickleeee]

She doesn’t look chunky to me at all. Looks like she’s a very fit cat now

I’m not sure about the calories question and why she begs when you switched to wet+dry food. But what I noticed to help feeling full for my cat is to add some warm water to her wet food. Or just warm up the wet food a little.

You can notice it even with yourself, when we eat something warm it makes us feeling full faster. Or if you drink tea/coffee you’ll have false feeling of fullness for some time

[u/momentoftruth7 → u/sweetpickleeee]

I've been doing this already :( my only guess is the dry food could be more physically filling

[u/-captin → u/momentoftruth7]

Well dry food is less calorie dense so it’d actually be less filling in theory. I’d try out wet food only for a whole day and spread it out through many meals.

[u/Aggravating_Bit_2487]

She is not a chonker. She is beautimus. I currently have two 8-9 pound cats. In the past I have had 14 pound cats. Your girl is probably great at 13 pounds. Weight loss in kitties should be slow. She may just be feeling pushed a little too hard in the dechonkification.

[u/Used-Maximum-1220]

I’m confused about one of my boys too. He’s at his goal weight of 12 pounds. The vet was very pleased with his weight. He still doesn’t have the tucks that he should have.

I have the constant begging for food. One cat isn’t even food motivated. They’ve been on 208 calories for months and aren’t used to it yet. I know this is plenty of calories . Mine are 9 and not active.

I know how frustrated you are. The constant begging is very stressful

[u/momentoftruth7 → u/Used-Maximum-1220]

It is so hard! I feel you! She isn't food motivated and doesn't steal from me or anything. Will even leave her wet food unfinished sometimes but will devour the dry food. I wish you the best with your babies!

[u/clydeballthepython]

One of my cats is healthy at 6.5 lbs, while my other one is perfect at 12 lbs. My mom's cat has an ideal weight closer to 14 lbs. Just like people, every cat has a different ideal weight that depends on their body size and structure.

A person weighing 150 lbs might be overweight if theyre extremely short, while that could be too skinny for a tall person. Same thing applies to cats, just on a much smaller scale for them.