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I weighed Simba this morning at nearly 9 months old he was 13.2 pounds. Still going up steadily. I weighed him because I have noticed he is eating so much at the moment and I seem to be for ever filling up his bowl with more food. I guess he must be going through a growing patch and his appetite has increased. I have decided I'm going to start weighing him more frequently to see how much he is putting on as I can never remember what he was the last time I weighed him and how much he has put on.
I found with mine that their appetite increased with age until they were between the 12 & 18 month age group then it evened out & now the big ones seem to eat hardly any more than the average cat even though there is a lot bigger frame to maintain. Their weight chart levelled out more at the same point as well,hubby's didn't though I have proof in black & white that his monthly weigh in while holding the cats is going the wrong way...!
We are obsessed with weighing Larry and Monty and do it nearly every day! These are our first kittens so it's all new to us. Monty is very tall and long-limbed, but Laggs is more of a stocky chap. So Monty was heavier than Laggs for a few weeks, but it turns out that Laggs is a proper greedy guts and would eat all his food and Monty's twice over! So his weight has now overtaken Monty's and he's shooting ahead - this week he's putting on 80-100 grams EVERY DAY! (5 months old!) I think that Monty is growing his bones longer, whilst Larry is getting fatter...
Our two year old was around 14 lbs at a year and is now 21+ lbs at two years. Our just one year old, though, is 17+lbs. It will be very interesting to see if the one that is heavier at a year ends up bigger or not. I found they gain weight quite fast until like 8mos. then it becomes much more variable. The two year old didn't seem to put on much weight for quite a while, but then in the last several months put on quite a few pounds.
Hmm, I don't wish to offend anyone but with the research Ive done into weight and size etc, I'd say your cats are higly likely to be over weight, they are supposed to a long lean bread (Tall, long and narrow) The post from NCarver seems far more reasonable "14lb at a year". Look into the food you feed them, cats are carnivours, they don't need excess carbs which all the normal foods are very high in, (Potato, maize, rice etc) This is why and have discussed on here before that my MC's have 'natures menu', it's min 70% meat, and the small amount amount of dry food I mix in is 60% Chicken also. The crappy foods - whiskers, felix, hills, royal canin (infact it's all the well known brands) are the very reason that cats develop these health complications, think about what they would be eating in there natural habitat. Anyways, Ive ranted on now. :pissed: So now im happy :nod:
I don't think anyone can make a comment on what the "average"maincoon stature should be versus weight as with so many different breeding lines now there are many variations,I have always fed my cats the "crap food"felix,hills,RC & have never had any health or weight problems with them.As to being overweight as I posted in another thread I have two litter mates that were the same weight until 10mths old now at 2.5yrs one weighs in at 7.10kg & is small, stocky & eats for England the other is tall & long weighing in at 9.65kg & hardly eats at all so no way do I think you can generalise on this.I have worked at a vets for a lot of years & can't think of one time when I have seen a overweight kitten of any breed,they are too active....
Would have to agree with jckerrison, there are weight variations in every breed of animal as there are in humans too. Harry eats the "crappy foods", ie Royal Canin and Felix but hasn't got an ounce of fat on him, he is big. i.e big boned, long etc and when he's had a bath you realise how long and thin he actually is, although at 9 months he weighs 14lbs. It will be interesting to see how they boys (Larry and Monty) end up, I suspect Larry and Monty will continue to have growth sperts but not necessarily at the same time.:smile:
Why on earth do you think that? That is not what any of the MC breed standards say. The CFA standard, for example includes statements such as: "solid, rugged" and "BODY SHAPE: muscular, broad-chested." and "legs substantial, wide set, of medium length, and in proportion to the body." The TICA standard includes: "Torso: Large, long, substantial" and "Boning: Substantial. Musculature: Substantial, powerful" and "The Maine Coon is a large breed with big ears, broad chest, substantial boning, a long, hard muscled, rectangular body...Good muscle tone and density give the cat the appearance of power."Quote:
they are supposed to a long lean bread (Tall, long and narrow)
Seems pretty much the opposite of "tall, long and narrow," actually. In fact the TICA standard says to penalize a MC for having a narrow torso. I cannot recall ever seeing a fully mature MC that I would describe as you have. Certainly they would not score at all well in the show ring so no breeder is aiming for that shape.
Obviously one doesn't want one's cat to be fat, but simply being heavy (for a cat) does not imply that a MC is overweight. Fully grown male MCs can absolutely be over 20 lbs and not have a speck of fat on them.
I weighed Simba again this morning because I need to worm him and need to know the dose to give him. I was a bit disappointed. He weighed 14 pounds which I think is about 6.4 kg so he hasn't put a huge amount on in the six weeks or so since I last weighed him. Do you think it's normal to slow down a bit at his age (10 months).
I still think the amount Louie sleeps sometimes is when he is growing he has slept loads this week & has definately grown, made up for it yesterday though he was on a real mission to get up to alsorts :LOL:
Louie loves the RC food which I know is junk but does have added ingrediants to help his joints etc. He also loves raw turkey mince & has Hi-life which has a high meat content :nod:
This weight business is something that bothers me... it's clear reading through various threads that weights for similar ages can be wildly different - Larry and Monty and JCKKerrison's litter mates are two great examples of that - but Freyja seems much lighter that some of the kitties at 6 months. She gets two wet pouches/ tins a day - Applaws in the morning and Cat Deli in the evening, both at least 50% meat. And she's got biscuits down all day to graze on - it's been RC Kitten 36 until the last 2 weeks, when we changed to Go Cat Complete Adult and Meowing Heads.
She usually polishes off her pouches - just a few crumbs left - and rarely finishes off the biscuits. Sometimes she wines for more food when she's still got biscuits down, and if her wet food has gone I will put down a small block of coley fish, which she usually wolfs about half down. I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that her appetite seems to have increased, and I'm guessing that might be as a result of her being spayed?
She was weighed the day she was spayed and was 3.4kg, and yesterday I weighed her (yes, finally worked out the best way to do it!) and she was 3.8kg. The day I brought her home (3.5 months ago) she weighed 1.5kg.
Howlinbob, would be interesting to know what the boys weigh now as they're almost exactly the same age as Freyja.
My worry is that I'm under feeding her, although - as I mentioned above - she rarely finishes her biscuits off, and I would think if she was THAT hungry she would tuck into them.
Simba won't eat any wet food, he has never liked it much. He is on purely RC MC and seems to love it. I have no idea how much he is eating but I'm constantly re-filling his bowl.
Just wormed him and he was sooooooooo good! I smothered the pill in butter sat him on a high surface, tilted his head back and opened his mouth then pushed the pill to the back of his throat and rubbed his throat while smothering him with kisses:smile: went straight down first time:smile::smile:
My next question is - no I will start another thread I think
Can you ask the breeder what to expect - they would know what their breedlines do in the growth stakes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Karena
I think you could stuff him with everything you could find and he will sit on that weight ( I would be surprised if totally no growth - I do have dry available 24/7 especially for the youngstars, and mine do night snack about 2am and 5 am) When he triggers a growth spurt that could be around the 12 -14 mth mark I would expect you will see him growing overnight. I think it is good to keep maintain his weight by feeding the good tucker, because sometimes when they have that growth spurt it is hard for them to eat enough to keep up to the growth rate. Good Luck with your coonie babe.
Yes--they definitely slow down by that age. 14 lbs at 10 mos. is a quite big male MC. Remember that he is going to keep growing for at least another couple of years. Our male that was 14 lbs at one year was 21 lbs at two years. Our younger male that was 14 lbs at 9-10mos is now nearly 19lbs (at vet) at 14 mos. He obviously cannot keep this growth rate up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Karena
As for food...of our four, one girl eats mainly wet, one girl mainly dry, and the boys have been eating both. However, the two year old male has recently started eating mainly dry, and is clearly not eating as much anymore (he is if anything a bit pudgy now and clearly done growing fast, at about 22 lbs at 26 mos.).
Thanks for that. It's nice to hear that he is a good weight for his age. He certainly isn't fat, but quite stocky and he is long too, when he stretches out on the sofa we are always amazed at how long he is:smile:
She sounds a good weight for her age Karen,just think a normal average weight for a domestic cat is around the 4 to 4.5kg region & she is not far off of that with a lot of growing time to still go,if she likes her wet food best perhaps just up that more if thats what she is happiest with...
Hi Karen, funny you should ask as we weighed the lads about 20 minutes ago! Larry is 4.94kgs (big unit) and Monty is 4.54kgs.Quote:
Originally Posted by FreyjaRoMaine
:nod:
The difference in body type between our two boys and two girls is astonishing. The boys are very solid all over their bodies while the girls are relatively bony. We did have one boy a few years ago that was very lean/thin even at age two, but he seemed to have food allergies and died suddenly of a fairly rare intestinal problem at around two years! Our 19lbs "baby's" favorite game right now is to have you put Science Diet TD (tooth) biscuits on the edge of the counters and he stands up and grabs them in his paws.Quote:
Originally Posted by Karena
That's a good thought, hadn't crossed my mind to try that. Will give it a go and see how she gets on, thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by jckkerrison
Thanks, that's interesting to know. So she's got some catching up to do then!Quote:
Originally Posted by Howlinbob