how do i tell if Max is overweight?

he eats half a cup of whiskas dry food everyday. and because of the cold weather, he hasnt been outside much for walks. he does run around the house and play.

he looks a little chubby. but how do i know if he is overweight?
i think he is 12 pounds now. he is 1 year old. what do i look for?

 

HI eman,
We used to have chart at the animal hospital I was at, it was great for showing exactly what your cat should look like, I couldnt find it on line but I found this site with some good info on it.

Heres an excerpt. (sp)

"So how can you tell if your cat's too fat? Feel his sides. Can you feel his ribs? A little fat covering is ideal. You should be able to feel his ribs if you put slight pressure on his sides, but you shouldn't be able to count them just by running your hand over his body."

http://www.advancingwomen.com/balancing ... esity.html

Hope that helps.

 

thanks for replying
i can feel his ribs if i put a little pressure. does that really mean that he is not overweight?
everyone that comes to my house says that he needs to lose weight. maybe he is just big. not fat..

if i put a recent photo for him standing..would u be able to tell me?

 

My cat food bag (Purina ONE) has pics on there that describes/shows an underweight, ideal weight and Copper lol. My vet said Copper should weigh 12#, but he is big. Even without the 6.3# extra gas in his tank! Sabrina weighs 10# but is a smaller framed cat.

 

A photo might help, it would depend on the angle you take the pic, if you can get one from standing above him so your looking directly down when hes standing....(sorry that probably doesnt help much), the other things is from what your describing it doesnt sound as though he is overweight, could you take him to your vet and get your vets opinion?

 

http://www.placervillevet.com/feline body condition.htm

This page has pictures showing how the waist should look.