Is My 8‑Year‑Old Ragdoll Cat Overweight? Vet Tips and Feeding Strategies

Looking for reader feedback, pretty please!

Betty writes, “My eight-year old Ragdoll cat weighs approx. 15 lbs. His vet is concerned (as am I) that he not get obese. He cries for food often and after waking throughout the day. He eats only high quality canned food, as mentioned in your article. Some he likes are Wellness and Weruva. I tend to feed him frequently (3-4 X per day) to keep the peace. If I feed him less then approx. 9 oz. of food, he will not be happy. He also wakes me very early in the morning and relentlessly bugs me until I get up and feed him. I think he has food issues because before we adopted him he may have not gotten enough to eat on a regular basis. What is considered to be a good amount of food (ozs. of canned)? Thanks!”

So I asked Betty if she would send me photos of him – from the side and from a bird’s eye view.

“Thanks so much for replying to my questions re. Buddy’s food/weight.

Buddy gets no dry food, however I do give Buddy a few small freeze-dried chicken or salmon bits as treats (about 8-10 smaller than pea size) in one of two treat mazes which I got on your web site’s recommendation.  He loves them!”

While I am not a vet, I do not think this kitty is fat – I would have to feel him for sure, but he appears to even have a waist, especially in the last photo.  I know that often times vets inaccurately label Ragdolls as fat, but I also don’t want to that to be an excuse.

What say you?