Kitten with flappy stomach

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Debbie - 25 Apr 2004 20:53 GMT

I have a 10 month old male kitten that is trim and helthy looking
except he has the flab of fatty skin that hang down on his stomach. I
can touch it and rub it and it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

I didn't know if this is the food he is on or what. Should he be put
on a diet food or would this thin him down to much?

Right now he is eating either 'Pro Plan' or 'Purina One' dry.

Thanks,
Debbie

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MaryL - 26 Apr 2004 00:26 GMT

> I have a 10 month old male kitten that is trim and helthy looking
> except he has the flab of fatty skin that hang down on his stomach. I
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> Thanks,
> Debbie

Has your cat been neutered? This "flap" or "pouch" often occurs after
surgery. If that is all it is, it is nothing to worry about, but it is much
more noticeable on some cats than on others. I would recommend that you
switch to canned food (I use a variety of Wellness canned plus Felidae
canned), but it has nothing to do with the flab of skin.

MaryL

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BarB - 26 Apr 2004 01:24 GMT

>I have a 10 month old male kitten that is trim and helthy looking
>except he has the flab of fatty skin that hang down on his stomach. I
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>Thanks,
>Debbie

The belly flap is perfectly natural on some breeds of cats.
See these pages:
http://www.hercurian.com/keuda/breedstd.htm
http://centralpets.com/pages/critterpages/mammals/cats/CAT5830.shtml

BarB

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Tiners - 26 Apr 2004 01:36 GMT

I love that flap of skin. I like when the kitty runs and it swings back and
forth. It's funny!! Both of ours have the flap of skin but the female you
can't really see it cause she's really fluffy. Our male is short haired so
you can see the flap of skin.

> >I have a 10 month old male kitten that is trim and helthy looking
> >except he has the flab of fatty skin that hang down on his stomach. I
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> BarB

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Orchid - 26 Apr 2004 02:37 GMT

>I have a 10 month old male kitten that is trim and helthy looking
>except he has the flab of fatty skin that hang down on his stomach. I
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>Right now he is eating either 'Pro Plan' or 'Purina One' dry.

    It's called a primordial pouch, or sometimes, a 'spay sway'.
Primordial pouches exist to give the cats extra protection in
that area (cat fights involve a lot of savage kicking with the hind
legs at about that area) and to allow a longer leg extension when
jumping. A primordial pouch is just a flap of empty extra skin
between the hind leg and the torso.
    'Spay sways' come from the weight that altered cats put on
because their metabolisms slow down. Add that slowdown to the
American tendancy to overfeed our pets, and you get a primordial pouch
that is filled with fat that shouldn't be there, aka a 'spay sway'.

    Felis lybica (the African Wildcat) is actually quite different
from the big cats, predation-wise. Big cats are desgined to gorge and
fast -- they make one big kill maybe once or twice a week. Little
cats, like F. Lybica, are designed to kill many small things
throughout the day, eating every day at least, more often twice or
three times. This is why domestic cats are susceptible to Hepatidic
Lipidosis when they do not eat for two or more days. Their bodies are
deisgned for several small meals a day, not one huge one once a week.
In zoos, big cats are fasted once a week for health reasons --
small cats *never* are.

I would recommend putting him on canned food for urinary tract health,
but rest assured that, if the skin is emtpy, it's a primordial pouch
and supposed to be there.

Orchid
See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage
Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid

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Debbie - 26 Apr 2004 05:37 GMT

Thanks all. Well explained. And yes he was fixed when he was about 5
months old. I have the dry food out all times. I also have another
cat and she is about 6 years old. I have had several cats in the past
30 years and have never had one that had this patch. I have always fed
them this way.

I would love to feed them can food but I don't like the fact that they
would be under food in the kitchen and of course whenever they hear
the can opener.

I just so glad it's nothing to worry about.

Debbie

>>I have a 10 month old male kitten that is trim and helthy looking
>>except he has the flab of fatty skin that hang down on his stomach. I
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage
>Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid

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