Thread: Advice please

Hi guys

I took Harry for his yearly boosters today and have come away from the vets feeling a bit confused. He gave him a general check up and that included worming so he weighed him and shook his head and said that he was a bit concerned that Harry had put on over 4lbs since august. (his weight is 7.8kg now and he is 1 year, 3 months approx old) He said that was quite a lot of weight to put on in such a short time and that he wouldn't want to see his weight increase any more !

Now, the vet, who i've known for years owns a maine coon himself so you'd think he would know what he was talking about, and I am a novice by comparison so am I right to still feel a bit confused. Harry is a long, solid boy and yes he is heavy, but when he asked me his feeding habits, I told him that he is a grazer and that I leave MC mix down for him. He suggested that I start putting it down twice and day and then take it away again.

Any feedback would be appreciated

Please don't worry at all - I had exactly the same with my mika who weighed in at 5.6kg and they told me to put her on a diet.

Mc's are big cats who have regular growth spurts up until they are 4. Please don't change his eating habits - he will start to get panicky about food and this could lead to all kinds of problems.

On another note, would love to see a pic xx

Louie is due his booster in next month so will see what the vets scales say although Im not that convinced that they are very accurate after it said Banjo had lost 20kg in one week he's put it all back on this week thank god

Originally Posted by WoodsideMaineCoons

Please don't worry at all - I had exactly the same with my mika who weighed in at 5.6kg and they told me to put her on a diet.

Mc's are big cats who have regular growth spurts up until they are 4. Please don't change his eating habits - he will start to get panicky about food and this could lead to all kinds of problems.

On another note, would love to see a pic xx

Thanks louise, I was thinking much the same, but it's nice to have it confirmed. Will post a picture tomorrow, hope all your babes are well x

Look forward to pics tomorrow

All good here - star had her 2nd litter in December so we have three 7 week old boys here at the moment...will get pics up of them soon too

Louise x

Originally Posted by WoodsideMaineCoons

Look forward to pics tomorrow

All good here - star had her 2nd litter in December so we have three 7 week old boys here at the moment...will get pics up of them soon too

Louise x

Ahhh that's good news, so you got your hands full then,can't wait to see the pictures. Alison x

As promised a couple of photos that I took this morning, Will post a couple more in the next post as I couldn't download them all in one go. Alison x

17 pounds is a not unreasonable weight for a large 15 month old MC. Our boy Zephyr was over 19 lbs by then, Remy was more like 15 lbs. Most of the male MCs that we have had and have seen are much stockier than the females. Does your vet have a male or female MC? I think people familiar only with female MCs would be astonished at how much larger and how different physically the males are. You said he had put on 4 lbs in the previous 5 months. Did you mean 4 lbs or 4 kg? 4 lbs is exactly what Zephyr put on between 9 and 14 mos. If you actually meant 4 kg, then I would agree that sounds excessive. Since male MCs can vary quite a bit in ultimate weight, the best way to tell if they are getting fat is by feeling of their bodies. You should be able to tell if he is getting fat and flabby, or just big and solid.

Well quite, that was why I was confused. It was 4lbs he gained, which seemed to me to be ok. My vet has a female yes, but again my confusion arose from the fact that surely he would know that there can be a considerable difference in the weight between the two sexes, surely most owners know that, let alone a vet ? The most worrying to me was when he said that he doesn't want to see him increase in weight any more before we start doing something about it.

If he's carrying any extra weight it is on his under carriage, again difficult to see, but you can feel the beginnings of it. (bit like a female that has had kittens) but you can still feel his spine quite easily and his sides like Candes asked are flat.

My other theory, don't know whether this could be the answer is that when he was born he had a hernia, which was repaired when he was neutered, could this possibly be the reason for it ? Just guess work now.

Thanks for all the feedback, it is appreciated

A hernia should make no difference at all,basically all they are doing is suturing up the very small hole that could have at some time become a problem if the "innards had come through" & got strangulated.I think the vet is making a big thing out of nothing at the moment like others have said,just as you say a bit of a worry when vet in question should know more about the breed as he has one himself.They do all tend to differ though,Pansy P eats well & has a super trim figure,her brother Bruce eats little & as expected trim figure no undercarriage hanging,Merlyn is a pig hence a very careful watch on his diet because by the age of three it was obvious he had big weight problems,thats was when we packed up leaving food down all day for them & that was mostly wet, he lost a good kg but can still look rotunded in the belly when he walks but after a bath or if you hold the furr down he looks fine, he has got "boobies"though,had them from quite an early age & think they will always be there,Wellynton Boots eats for England,has his own & then everyone elses that he can get,he is small,slim & taut undercarriage his brother Shimba eats very little,rarely even wants brekkie now , loses half of his "small" supper to bruv Welly but he is big boned,big in stature but worse of all he has got jelly belly underneath,now where has that come from,he should be the smallest undernourished bag of bones MC ever,no reasoning to any of it,what I do try & get Merl & Shims to do though is chase the laser beam up the wall,I think if they stretch upwards it just might help tighten the flab underneath,perhaps could see if they could manage sit ups & press ups as well,might help a bit as long as mum is not expected to show them how....!
Don't worry at the moment Harrymc,sounds like normal weight gain for his age,he most probaly will start slowing up a bit now anyway but he will still have growth & weight spurts,you are aware just keep an eye on things but like us they all tend to differ a bit on the "figure front"....x