My mother's cat is about 6 months old. She feeds it at least four times a day. It's clearly getting fat. I'm worried even though our family's previous cats lived to 15 and 21 in humans years and were each fairly chubby.
hawnvballgirl
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The health risks are the same as in humans however for cats, kidney and liver problems are the most common ones. Being overweight also means inactivity which, for outdoor cats, is lethal. They lose their speed and agility which places them at higher risk for losing a fight, contracting feline leukemia, feline AIDS, feline rhinovirus (upper respitory infection) and other upper respitory problems. The list and possibilities do go on. However there is less risk environmentally if the cat is totally indoors.
As for your mother's 6 month kitten, 4 times a day is a bit much. I have always fed mine twice a day and I leave the bowls out all day.
Please encourage your mother to feed only dry kitten food in the amount recommended on the bag. DO NOT however have this cat on a diet as it is still growing and needs lots of nutrients. You may want to make sure the cat is actually gaining weight all over - if it's only the abdomen that's getting bigger, it could indication another problem such as worms or a gastric condition.
Best bet is the veterinarian though.
medrecgal1973
The health risks to cats from overfeeding are very similar to those for people: obesity, heart disease, diabetes, mobility problems, respiratory issues, etc., etc. Perhaps your mother should cut back on the feedings, say to twice daily. I have two cats, the younger of which is 9 months old. They get dry food left out, and a small can of cat food twice daily. He is growing like a weed but is not fat; he looks just as a young cat should, and has enough energy for both of us!
Shadycat
I wouldn't worry too much at this point. AT six months, he should still be a "kitten" and very active - plus their growing slows down at this point, and they "fill out" a little.
Best advice is to leave out dry food for free-feeding so kitty can eat when he wants. Canned food once a day as a proper "meal", and fresh water out all day will take care of it. Cats CAN get fat, but normally they don't until they're in much later years. If he seems pudgy to you now, up his exercise by playing more.
If he only gets food when it's "feeding time" he's gorging to make sure if more doesn't come, he's eaten all he can. Once he's used to food always being there, he'll mellow out.
yogazen
Pretty much the same as for humans...I was just told to put my cat Claude on diet food. He's 5 years old and weighs 19 pounds!
jibbers4204
it causes the same problems humans get for being overweight. They can get lazy and have heart, kidney problems. U should not over feed it.