When I first brought her to the vet she was very skinny and I was worried she was underweight but the vet said she was perfect. Now she's 6 months old and very active but she has a pot belly. I feed her special kitten food and stick to the recommended dose. She's 2.75 kilos now and hasnt gained weight in the last month. She has been wormed as per the vet's instructions. I'm wondering if I should give her adult food now as I think it's not as fatteninng as kitten food. Can you offer any advice?
According to the vet she doesnt need wormed until next month and she was spayed in January. I feed her both wet and dry food - usually Natural Balance or Iams. She doesnt really like the wet food unfortunately. She normally leaves it and begs for dry food. I let her outside to play most days and she runs around and climbs trees like a lunatic so she's getting plenty of exercise.

I notice my kitten will get chubby before she has a growth spurt. Maybe that's it? You should be able to feed her adult food now, according to my vet. My kittens are younger than yours and she just told me to switch them to adult food because Sera is gaining weight on the kitten chow and she said they only need the kitten food when they are very young. Hope that helps.

that would depend on how much ground clearance we are talking about here?

maybe give her a little LESS kitten food but still keep with what she is used to?

and check to see if she isn't conning some extra somewhere else?

we had 2 boy-kittens that seemed to put on weight - at the same time the kitten-food seemed to be running out at a faster rate than i thought it ought to. I got up early one day and found out why.

my husband was first out in the morning and they got fed their breakfast then.

then our lodger would get up and they would bat their baby blues at him and sing until he fed them also

then i would get up and the same scenario repeated itself

so they were getting 3 breakfasts each! and getting fat too!

then having rumbled their rouse we then designated who was going to give them breakfast each morning - and the ensuing squeaks were just fussed over but not rewarded with food (they were beginning to 'ask' for breakfast on sight even when food WAS already in their bowls!)

that took care of the food disappearing and eventually the extra 'puppy' fat was taken care of too.

Your kitten isn't overweight dear. Cats are supposed to gain approximately a pound per month. Your cat weights 6 lbs give or take. She is 6 months. She is perfect. Don't get her adult cat food yet as she still needs the nutrients she'll only find in kitten food. I'm sure she plays and runs at some point during the day. Playtime helps with burning the calories so don't worry about that yet. Try giving her more playtime, make her chase her toys and jump; that'll do.

Almost all cats have pot bellies and that's completely normal. she ctually needs all the nutrients she can possibly get to be a healthy adult cat in the future. Keep checking on her weight, though. If she keeps gaining weight rapidly or if she really gets overweight while still being a kitten then stop giving her dry foods (if you're giving her dry foods of course) as it contains carbs and carbs are bad for cats since they can't sinthesize them. Switch her to wet foods only from Natural Balance and give her a small can 3 times a day only. When she grows to be an adult cat, reduce it to twice daily until she gets back down to a healthy weight.

If you think she'll need to have her weight controlled in the near future then instead of switching her diet to an adult cat diet try natural balance for kittens. The brand I mentioned is limited in nutrients, meaning it's got no sugars or any other type of carbs which make cats gain weight like crazy. It only has animal fat, animal protein, minerals and vitamins, the stuff she needs to be a completely healthy kitty and she'd find in naturally in nature, and cats in the wild are certainly not fat.

Is there any way she could be pregnant ? If not pot bellies normally indicate worming, otherwise just cut the feed down. Adult food will be fine for her now.

Cats are all different, just like humans and other animals.

A large built big boned cat will weigh more than a small boned petite cat.

I have big and tall built cats that are a muscular and healthy 19 pounds... and on the other end of the scale I have a teeny tiny boned cat who weighs in at a meer 7 pounds yet she is very healthy too. Based on their individual body structure I could never compare them.

It's best to assess your cats weight by it's body condition and not compared to other cats.

Here's a chart to help you do that...

http://www.purina.com/cats/health/BodyCondition.aspx

The proper amount to feed per cat/per day should be about 5.5 ounces of wet (high quality grain free canned or Raw Meat/Bones/Organ) food.

The calories in that amount of food are sufficient for most "normal" sized cats. Of course a highly energetic cat will need more food to keep it healthy, and a lazy cat will need less food to keep it from getting obese. But 5.5 ounces of wet food per day is a good place to start. Dry foods are the cause of obiesity in many felines so a switch to all wet is the way to go.

Here is a fantastic site that will help you help your cat lose weight!

http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm

Also... please reconsider the Iams food. It’s ALL fillers, byproducts, animal digest and CRAP. Read the ingredients! There is nothing good for your cat in that food. You could buy something much more appealing and better for your cat for the same price. Not to mention they conduct the most appalling animal testing you have ever seen. www.iamscruelty.com