I find that some cats develop that pouch and some don't. Our last Tom was
really slim, and yet he had one from since he was a kitten.
Please post in simple text in newsgroups, that's newsgroup standard.

Carola

One of my four ratty creatures has what we call here the "Jungle Pouch"...we
often tease her when she runs thru the grass how much her belly swings...we
often tell her she could survive a long time in the wilds...her name is
Cricket and she is currently sacked out on top of the warm monitor with her
"temperture-control" tail and one leg hanging off.

Dont know about deli roast beef but Wilson enjoys veal leg steak,
or beef leg steak or lamb leg steak on a daily basis, as he tires of one
I have to change to another, cats who'd be without 'em   Jean P.
 One of my four ratty creatures has what we call here the "Jungle Pouch"...we often tease her when she runs thru the grass how much her belly swings...we often tell her she could survive a long time in the wilds...her name is Cricket and she is currently sacked out on top of the warm monitor with her "temperture-control" tail and one leg hanging off.

 rfdjr@aol.com wrote:

Thanks so much for that reply. Very interesting information indeed. But
I have to admit, our over-indulgence to our fur babies has caused that
spay sway you talk about. Know of many other kitties who get a treat of
deli roast beef ona regular basis?  :-)

 

   
Are my babies just too well fed, or does anyone else have a furball with
a saggy pouch under their belly, back near their hind legs. All nine of
my guys have it, so it's apparently not a unique feature. Could it be a
storage of fat for lean times? Just curious. Thanks.
     
    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
   

 
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.

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

Prosciutto? Little Italian kitties at your house?  :-) That does outdo
my roast beef. Prosciutto ain't cheap!