How heavy is your cat?

[TimO]

The last time Talisker was weighed he was around 3.75kg, and he hasn't changed significantly since then.  He's always been a small/medium sized cat, and a bit lanky (like his owner!), so not that beefy for a mog.

He was around 2.6kg before he started on his Hyperthyroidism pills, and was clearly underweight.  As mentioned earlier you could feel his very nobbly backbone easily.  It's more padded now, which is a good sign.

This page has some diagrams and simple descriptions of how the cat should look depending on it's over/under weightness.  This is probably more use than a simple weight, since this will vary so much for different breeds and degrees of "stoutness".

[SteveC]

We need some Maine Coon pics please 

Mrs C has many more, but here are some to get you started.

Misty and Wes

Misty and Wes again. 

Dolly doing cute

[rogerzilla]

Aren't you supposed to call them Maine African-Americans these days? 

Seriously, that name does jar a little, and I'm surprised it hasn't been changed.  You wouldn't have a British N*****, for instance.

[TimO]

Since I believe the name originates in the similarity of the breeds tail to that of a racoon, and as far as I know there is no drive towards renaming racoons, it seems an entirely reasonable name.

I'm assuming that in the pictures of Misty and Wes, whichever one is not the Maine Coon is a normal sized DSH ?  That is one big moggie.

[SteveC]

I'm assuming that in the pictures of Misty and Wes, whichever one is not the Maine Coon is a normal sized DSH ?  That is one big moggie.

To be fair, Misty was quite a small cat.  But, yes, Wes is one big moggie.  That's a fairly normal two seat settee they're on in the second photo.

Since I believe the name originates in the similarity of the breeds tail to that of a racoon

Racoon is correct.  The breed originated in New England (Maine presumably) as farm ratting cats.  One of the ancestor breeds in the Norwegian Forest (which can be even bigger).  The rest of the ancestry is 'less certain'.  Other characteristics are a double coat which is virtually waterproof and doesn't moult in the same way that a normal cat does.  There is a tendency for the under layer to matt, though, and with Dolly this is a serious problem.  They are also not particularly territorial, presumably as they were bred to live in large groups on the farms.

S

[nutkin]

My three are all from the same litter and but quite different weights (just under 4kg to over 5-and-a-bit). But they're quite different sizes and shapes too. Pip (the lightest) is smallish and lean, Twist is a solid cat (no fat but a hefty amount of muscle. If he lies on your feet in bed its hard to move!), Timmy was described by the vet as being a 'long cat' so although he was heavy, he wasn't overweight for his size. All three can put on an impressive turn of speed when required!

I think it really does depend on the build of your cat, and not necessarily be as simple as a weight between X & Y.

[Chris S]

Four and a half stone  .

[Regulator]

Four and a half stone  .

And fake....