Answer: If a cats fails to receive sufficient food from all possible sources, it will usually ask, even pester, you for more. However, a few cats may be greedy and therefore a more reliable sign is evidence of the cat’s weight gradually decreasing. This is also accurate then relying on the cat’s appearance, which may show no obvious change in the early stages of weight loss.
Regular weighting, say once mouth as a routine, but more frequently if an abnormality is suspected, will allow you to recognize a problem and correct it, if necessary with your veterinarian’s help. Obviously, the effects of overfeeding can be also detected by routine weighting.
The weight of adult cats varies a little with the breed, though nowhere near so much as in dogs. In general, males weight between 7 ½ to II lb (3 ½ to 5 kg) and females 5 ½ to 8 lb (2 ½ to 3 ¾ kg). Neutered animals often weight slightly more then entire animals because of their greater tendency to lay down fat.
If a kitten is consistently underfed it will fail to attain both normal weight of size. In particular, the skeleton is very sensitive to a lock of food as so the kitten’s growth will slow down and, in sever case, may even stop. If underfeeding has occurred over a long period, even though it is subsequently corrected, it is unlikely that lack of growth will ever be made up. The effected animal will stop growing at the usual age, around ten to twelve months’ old, and if it is undersize then it will remain stunted for the rest of its life. There are available growth tables showing the excepted range of weight at different ages.
Adult cats that are seriously underfed, in addition to losing weight, have less energy and stamina, show a lifeless, dull coat and may be unable to mate and breed successfully. They may appear obviously thin, especially in the flank, just with prominent ribs and an evident loss of muscle mass from the head and the hind legs. However, these changes are not easily seen in long-haired cats, although they can be felt. Poorly nourished animals of any age also have reduce resistance to infection from both micro-organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, and from the larger parasites, that is to say the worm and skin parasites.
