Ragdoll Cat Forums

So I brought Dex in today for a checkup and to get his vaccinations. You were all correct about the vets not knowing their ragdolls! He tried to tell me I needed to start "watching his weight" because he's had such a big growth spurt. He's only 8 months old (he will be 9 in a couple days though )! Silly vet. He weighed in at 11.3 pounds. The doc gave me a growth chart of his previous weights... only 2.8# when I got him in July (12 weeks old), 5.4# in mid September, and today 11.3#. He just couldn't believe that he more than doubled his weight in 3.5 months. I explained to him that Dex's dad was on the bigger side, and he doesn't seem fat to me. He's a ragdoll, he's supposed to be big! The vet agreed and said he wasn't fat at all, just a big boy! He just doesn't want to see him get "obese," lol. I should have told him about some of the others on this forum who have younger and heavier rags than Dex! Haha...

Anyways, he said Dex is "the picture of health," and is a such a gorgeous boy. I think he and the staff have a soft spot for him for all the trouble he had with that infected tooth in September.

Dexter would like you all to know...."I'm not obese.... just a big boy!"

what a cute kitty, and a cute kitty's belly! Congrats on the good check-up! Your vet is right, be careful to not let Dexter become overweight... I lost that struggle with Winston (it's tough in a 2-cat household, I finally had to stop free-feedng), and it's been so difficult now to try to get him to lose weight. If Dexter is prone to overeating or being on the chunky side, one thing that I did as per my vet's suggestion, which helped to slow Winston's excess weight gain, and didn't hurt Ollie (who's naturally leaner), was to start gradually switching them to adult food at around 8-9 months old. They were completely on adult food by the time they were 10 months old.

(01-07-2010 08:42 PM)WinstonsandOlliesMom Wrote: [ -> ]what a cute kitty, and a cute kitty's belly! Congrats on the good check-up! Your vet is right, be careful to not let Dexter become overweight... I lost that struggle with Winston (it's tough in a 2-cat household, I finally had to stop free-feedng), and it's been so difficult now to try to get him to lose weight. One thing that I did as per my vet's suggestion, which helped to slow Winston's excess weight gain, and didn't hurt Ollie (who's naturally leaner), was to start gradually switching them to adult food at around 8-9 months old. They were completely on adult food by the time they were 10 months old.

Really?? How big was he? I thought you aren't supposed to feed adult food until they ARE adults..

Dexter's breeder was feeding him Natural Balance which is a kitten-adult food. He still has that (dry) and gets one-fourth of a can of wet food each night. I had Leo's food up on a bookcase because I didn't want Dex to get into it as a kitten, and he has recently discovered he can jump up there and eat that too. So now I feel like he's hardly ever eating his own food, he mainly eats Leo's! What to do?? I've lost the battle with telling him "no" and making him stop eating it. Would it be beneficial to just start mixing the two foods together since he's obviously going to keep eating Leo's but will still get some of his own then too?

Try feeding them in separate rooms, and not leaving food out in between meals. Or feed them at the same time, and pick up the plates when they're finished eating. I had to stop free-feeding my cats, which was TOUGH because Oliver is a very stubborn grazer, but Winston is such a little piggie that he'd eat more than he needed (also, I need to sit there to slowly feed him a few kibbles at a time because Winston also eats faster, and if he finishes before Ollie he goes and eats some of Ollie's food). Winston was 11+ lbs when he was 8 months old, and it was becoming more difficult to feel his ribs when you ran your hands down his sides. My (feline-only) vet said that by that age adult food was fine, because they'd done most of their skeletal growth. And it took me another 4-6 weeks to fully transition them over (I could have done it faster, but I had just opened a new bag of food when the vet told me that and i didn't want to waste all of it!).

As it turns out, Winston is still overweight (almost 16 lbs, and with his frame he'd be healthier at 14-15 lbs), because I'm not always as careful with the food policing as I should be, and also because I've had to go away multiple times this past fall/winter and it's much easier for my cat-sitter to free-feed them. And Winston is a couch potato by nature (if I am home when he's in a playful mood, I take advantage of it, but I'm not always home!). But he would be much more overweight if not for everything that I've been doing, and I'm determined to get him back down to a healthier weight because I don't want to put him at risk for diabetes, etc, when he gets a bit older!

Thanks for the input! For now I'm going to stick with what we're doing and just monitor his weight closely. Neither if them eat alot at one sitting so it would be hard for me to not free feed. Like Oliver, they are grazers. And they are both very active, playful cats so I'm sure that will help to keep the weight under control. He really doesn't look overweight! That pic isn't a good one because all you can see is belly (lol) but when he's upright he doesn't look chunky

Thanks for the advice!

Congrats on a good vet report, and I LOVE that tummy pic!! He's such a handsome boy, and I just want to cuddle him.

Great news! Dexter sure looks very healthy to me! Did the vet tell you that Dexter looks very happy and contented too? Hahaha! My Sky is also on the "big" side... He is already 6 lbs at 4 mths old... He already has a "fatty sac" underneath his stomach... Hehehe.. I am also abit worried about his weight, but Margaret told me kittens tends to eat alot and grow very fast, and asked me not to worry too much.. To be on the safe side, what I do is I will play with Sky and Evo everynite and let them "exercise" as much as possible.. :-)

Dexter does NOT look obese at all he is so precious I just love him. I am glad his vet appointment went well.

(01-07-2010 10:44 PM)ILUVRAGDOLLS Wrote: [ -> ]Dexter does NOT look obese at all he is so precious I just love him. I am glad his vet appointment went well.

Thanks! He's my "little" baby. I bet you're getting so excited to pick up your blue bicolor boy!!!! I almost named Dexter Oliver.. That woulda been pretty funny!!

Dex looks adorable, lovn' that belly! Glad his check up went well. He is a big boy (not fat) hehe, and a gorgeous one at that!