How to Determine if Your Cat Is Overweight - eHow.com
If your favorite feline is wearing an apron instead of sporting an hourglass figure, you’ve got one fat cat.
Steps:
1. Check that your pet’s ribs are easily felt but not visibly sticking out. This indicates that your cat is at a desirable weight.2. Look at your pet from above. Some indentation between the rib cage and the hips, depicting an hourglass shape, indicates that your pet is at a desirable weight.
3. Check your pet’s belly. If the belly of a cat protrudes, the cat may be overweight. (A protruding belly on a cat is called an apron.)
4. Feel your pet’s hips. Anything more than light fleshiness indicates that your pet is above normal weight.
5. Always consult a veterinarian before putting a pet on a diet. Your veterinarian can recommend a special diet appropriate to your pet, and can examine your pet to rule out the possibility that a serious medical condition is causing the obesity.
Warnings:
Visible ribs or excessive thinness could be a sign of hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) in cats, especially in those over 12 years of age. If this were to occur, just put your cat down and get a new one. or better yet get a dog.
