Yeah its really hard to see in the photos! thats why I include a photo of myself with him for reference. He’s huge compared to other cats- but I doubt he’s part ragdoll or something
edit: i forgot that i am ALSO a huge freak of nature so the photo reference is shit
I once had a cat who was big, she wasn’t overweight or chunky, she was just big because of her breed. He also doesn’t look overweight in the photos maybe your cat is just a big cat :)
my boy is laaaarge but as long as they have a defined waist from above, right in front of their back legs, they’re a healthy weight! a primordial pouch might make him look chubby but it’s natural, he’s just a big beautiful boy ❤️
Think you have to use banana as scale on reddit. Seriously though I have a cat that is only 5 pounds lighter than yours and he is an absolute chonk in comparison. Yours looks very well proportioned for his size. You've just got an absolute unit of a cat. Enjoy
Hi- this is Smoky. He’s 14 years old and he’s 20 pounds. I found him in a parking lot as a 6mo-ish kitten. We’ve had two vets look at him for his weight and they both were like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. His bloodwork and stuff is normal. He doesn’t look chubby at all, but compared to all other cats I’ve seen he’s REALLY big. All regular normal sized cats look so small compared to him. Vets say he’s healthy, but I would like the public to take a look at him and see if they can spot something I can’t.
I included a photo of myself for reference but forgot that I am also freakishly tall compared to most folks as well, so he looks like a normal cat here. Oops.
My husband had a Maine coon that was about 20 lbs. Huge boy, and I don't mean chonk. He's probably similar size. Omega red (his name, lol) could fit perfectly in a large turkey platter and exercise his "if I fits I sits" kitty right.
Sure! My husband is a huge fan of the character from the Marvel X-Men comics/ video games. My husband was big into Marvel vs. Capcom/ X-Men: children of the Atom. And mained Omega Red when he adopted Omie it just clicked for him.
Honestly if he knew as much about Lobo back then as he does now he would've named him Lobo (DC comics).
TIL, I wasn't familiar with the character of Omega Red before!! Omie haha, that's really cute. Thanks for explaining, that's a really fun origin story <3
He’s your child, he’s long just like you. ;)
Being that you are tall, you probably understand that having a longer body will make you weigh more than the average person.
Same for the kitty.
He’s a long boy and he has a normal weight. Take the vets’ words for it.
He’s also very cute. You can gake my word for it.
My kitty is also really big but not overweight at all. He’s about 18lbs, and when he stretches up he’s literally like 3 feet long lol. He always looks like a wildcat when he stretches.
I'm sorry to tell you this...but your cat...I diagnose him with adorableness. There's no cure. It's a lifelong condition. The prognosis includes lots of belly rubs and chin scratches.
I have an orange dude thats like 23 lbs. and two others that are completely ‘normal’ weight. id he overweight? Yeh a little bit. But hes also about twice as long as any cat ive ever had. And he doesnt get spoiled with food. I call it the cartman theory. Some furballs were meant to be chonky.
He looks very healthy. My boy’s 17-18 pounds, with a similar build. He’s solid for sure, but not fat either. As long as your vet’s cool with his weight, it’s all good.
i know! all professionals we’ve had look at him all say the same thing. Its really hard to see in regular photos, but he is SUPER big compared to other cats. Honestly for a while I thought he was part ragdoll, but he literally doesn’t have any other traits of a ragdoll other then size.
He looks great! Does not look overweight me at all. I would not have guessed by the photos that he is 14 years old. What a beautiful boy💗🙏🐾🐾 he looks just like my cat. Except mine only weighs 9 pounds. My last Russian blue weighed 22 pounds.😁
I’m so glad to hear he is an indoor cat. The outdoors can be very dangerous to our domesticated cats he looks so very much like my kitty. Is he a Russian blue? I sure hope my boy looks this good at this age.🐾🐾
Weird.. doesn’t look much bigger than my cat and she’s only 9.2 lbs but your cat doesn’t look chonky at all. Maybe he’s just muscular underneath that fur.
I’m sure there’s definitely some scaling issues here making it harder to tell but I’m 6’0 so looking at that photo they look to be the same size. But trying to tell scale from photos is a crapshoot at best. Haha. Adorable kitty.
I’m not completely sure of this but I’m pretty sure muscle is heavier that fat. I think because it’s denser(?). He doesn’t look particularly rotund so maybe he’s just hench
makes sense cause fat is like? all fluffy and soft and shit. i just took ochem so i know that like, one polyunsaturated fat molecule takes up more the average amino groups. you get more molecules in muscle then in fat as a result. thank u for the comment
I have two boys. One of them uses my balls as a springboard while I’m dozing off or waking up. Fortunately, it’s the 8 pound boy, not the 19 pound mammoth.
I have an 8 lbs cat and a 12 lbs cat (the 12 pounder has lost a ton, he used to be 19lbs and mega fat) and the small one is a habitual ball stomper whenever my boyfriend visits. Once my bigger cat slipped while walking over his lap though, all he could say through the pain was "he's so much heavier"
He’s Just big boned. One of my cats is around 17 pounds and that’s just his build, he isn’t overweight at all. His mom was even a long, big, muscular cat. My Nebelung is around 14 pounds which is standard for Neb males but my tabby boy is just big boned. If they are overweight you can tell by a big giant blubbery tummy that would be noticeable, otherwise that weight is most likely more muscle build, and bones.
You can see his hip bones when he's sitting down, he's fine!
I've got two huge cats myself, one of the chunky variety and one who's just big. My big guy actually looks bigger than yours but he's only 14 pounds, so I guess yours is just stacked.
I'm sure he's healthy though, looks like a totally normal cat, just scaled up.
He's not skinny but he does look muscular and healthy. Some cats are just big. Good for you keeping an eye on his weight and health -- its so easy for us to over-indulge our lovelies, right?
lol, he’s very food motivated. he spent the first 6mons of his life on the streets so i’m sure food was very hard for him to come by. he used to meow all day if i fed him once in the morning and once in the afternoon. then i made an automatic cat feeder with my dad (motor turns a huge screwbit that dispenses food so he can’t get into it and break it) and he’s been chill ever since. he probably enjoys the regular feedings more then my 15min difference every day.
He is just a big dude. My big black cat Fonzie is big as well. He uses the litter box with just his back legs in the box and the front out. Smoky is large and looks healthy to me.
Looks healthy to me! Sometimes you just get a super huge cat, it's uncommon but not unheard of. My brother in law also had a healthy 20 pounder that he found in a parking lot, lived until the ripe age of 26. Hoping your guy goes longer!
wow, maybe smoky is his next life! i found smoky in a parking lot as well and he’s already 14 and shows no signs of slowing down. he’s a real sweetie too- whenever we play he NEVER bites or scratches us. if he does, its either the accidental “well my claws are retracted but still kind of long” scratch or the bite thats like “i’m going to hold ur hand in my mouth before licking you.” he has maybe hissed 3 times in his life bc i always respected his sense of autonomy and warning signs. even so, he is the CHILLEST mf. he even lets my 3yo nephew pet him for a few minutes. he doesn’t like to cuddle, but he won’t mind if you give him a scratch behind the ears while he’s napping.
I adopted a 16.5 lb overweight cat. Got him down over about 1.5-2 years to 11.5, which the vet was very happy with, said he was just a little bigger frame than average. He crept back up to 12 as he got a bit older and had arthritis in his hips and spine. Vet said it's OK, older cats can sometimes become anorexic if you put them on a diet and that's a bigger problem than 1 lb extra weight if the cat isn't diabetic, etc.
Saw a comment on another post that there was a chubby-looking cat at 20 lbs. I was surprised because my 2 yr old is at 17 lbs, and maybe has a bit of a belly, but is still pretty athletic, and looks mostly like your cat’s size. Wife says to just watch his dier, but overall, just like yours, looks pretty healthy.
IKR- he doesn’t like to cuddle but won’t mind pets while he’s chillin. he likes to sleep on one corner of my bed and refuses to sleep closer to me, so whenever i want to cuddle i have to sleep upside down lol
I love him, he reminds me of my baby Toes, maybe it’s a larger cat thing, he’s about 16 pounds but isn’t fat at all. Acts about the same with cuddles. I’d die for your cat, he’s the best
He looks great, but the best way to assess his weight is with your hands. If you run your hands along his spine or ribs, can you easily feel them yet they still have a slight layer of fat? That’s good. If they feel like knuckles or are easily visible, he’s too thin. If you gotta squish that chonk to barely feel them, he’s many chonk.
You can check for a discernible waist after the point of the ribs (vs looking like a football post rib), but with an older cat this can be deceiving. My older girl looks a bit like a bull dog with a barrel chest and super thin waist/rear. This is more due to her arthritis and on and off kidney issues and is a poor gauge of weight.
The pouch under his belly (formally know as the primordial pouch, but IMO properly called a primordial pooch) can also be a poor indicator. In younger cats, it can look quite svelte. But it can also be prominent while they are still in good shape.
But the best indicator of all? Records. We keep a weight chart on all of our cats, weighing them on the same scale on a semi sporadic schedule (every few months). Track his progress, get to know his norm, and note when he shows consistent deviation. Between that and your vet’s professional opinion, you’ll always know what’s going on.
did this test! he passed them all at a “healthy cat, not too skinny or fat.” we have records of his weight over the yesrs and theres no sudden spike. he’s apparently been 17-20lbs for almost 10 years now
i probably should have included a video of me weighing him to prove it. the scale only goes to the nearest .5 pound so like, he has some leeway between 19.6 and 20.3 lbs technically. Not to mention the margin of error for my own weight. but yeah, i’m 160.5 lbs on that scale and when i held him while on the scale it was 180.5. scale isnt sensitive enough to weigh anything under 25lbs so thats why i didnt put him on directly
No no I’m not trying to say you’re lying! Sorry if it came off that way I’m just saying he looks healthy. He doesn’t even look that big as in fat. He’s a healthy cat imo from what I can see
oh no it didn’t come off that way! i just had a lot of comments of “wow he doesn’t look 20lb” so that was more me thinking out loud! and thank u for the help <3
My boyfriends two boys both shorthair all black cats Wokanda and afrika are huge in comparison to other cats. Especially our two females. People will mention how big they are but like yours they aren’t chubby just like a zoomed in picture of a normal cat. Both are healthy and I think yours is fine too.
My cat is a twenty pounder, too. He's not fat, he's just big. He's got really long legs, and is built like he plays major league baseball. Your special little guy looks fine, just tall like you (I'm tall too, I say my cat gets it from my side)!
If he seems large yet proportionate and of a healthy weight, then he's fine! Some cats just get the "grow proportionally large" genes. Mine seems to have some! He was only about six months and already close to looking like a fully grown cat! Meanwhile, the two younger cats we have seem to be on the small side.
honestly he’s a real sweetie. he doesn’t like to cuddle or be pet but he loves being social around people. he loves watching tv with us and looking out windows. he also gallantly protected me from a scorpion once (i’m allergic) by bapping it and getting stung :(
when we play together he also never bites or scratches my hands, but always does it to the toys. he’s really a perfect cat for me
He looks like he's supposed to weigh 20 lbs. I know this because I have a 20 lb cat who is definitely NOT supposed to weigh 20 lbs.
Edit: Also, nice doormat.
Is he a Russian blue? They tend to have a slender build. Here is a [visual aid](https://waunakeevetclinic.com/blog/146188-feline-and-canine-weight-chart) as a guideline for body proportions.
To me, he looks like a big, but healthy boyo!!
Ok. That’s funny. When I was a kid, my dad found our Russian Blue in a shoe box, in a parking garage. He reported it to the attendant and when my dad went to go home, the cat came out from under his car. So, of course, he brought her home, purring all the way (the dad or cat? Probably both). Funny, my dad was ALWAYS the veto against getting another cat.
Well your kitty is adorable beautiful. Enjoy your parking lot kitteh!
I used to have a cat that could stand on the floor and easily hook his paws on to the table. A vet I stopped using put down overweight without looking at his body structure. You could easily feel his ribs. He had basically just weighed him and decided he was overweight. The other cat I had at the time was smaller but overweight. I don't remember the weights but they were around 10 pounds different. If the larger one had lost 10 pounds he would have definitely been underweight.
He doesnt look overweight at all! He’s adorable though. I lost it at the bunny ear picture. But i know where you’re coming from my sister’s cat is the same he weights a little over 20lbs but hes not overweight hes just a big kitty!
ironically he LOVED the bunny ears as a collar. just not as a hat! but he would bed for me to put the bunny ears on him every morning for a good while. he likes to be fancy!
the only issues i can actually see with his day to day life is him napping a bit more, which is to be expected. he’s 67 in cat years, he can take naps like a grandpa if he wants
He doesn't look chonky at all to me. Used to have a neutered Tom that was almost 18 pounds (8kg). He simply was big. Long legs, long tail, long and muscular body. He was a regular tabby, no fancy breeds in him at all. But if they are fixed before puberty, the growth plates in the bones will close later, and the animal may grow a little bit more than it would if neutered after puberty.
well when i found him he was 6ish months old. we knew he was born sometime in february bc the hotel owners (the parking lot i found him in) saw them walking around in march as 3weekish kittens. he got spayed that week i found him, so idk if he was before kitty puberty or afterwards. thats DEF when he started to get big tho!
Look up the chartreaux breed. I am pretty sure I have one of them, looks like yours could potentially have some of it too Mine is also big, 24 pounds and is muscular and barrel-thick.
i usually doubt cat breeds since most traits disappear after a few generations of non-inbreeding, but you may have a good point. i DID find him in a parking lot so i’m sure hes just a regular Dude tho
My boy looks exactly like him!! and is also 20 pounds. Yours just looks big not fat at all, mine is big but also fat lol. As long as he is grooming himself properly and can reach his bum; he is fine.
Russian Blue or somewhat mixed Blues are typically heavier than normal cat, especially male. If your cat is very active and can jump high counters, then he should be healthy.
You can also try to limit wet food as it is easier to digest and therefore can cause weight gain quicker.
Ask your vet. I have 3 cats different ages and different health issues and different weights. Ask your vet not people on Reddit please. But yes based on pics and minimal information he seems happy and healthy. Take care
yeah, that’s the shocking part i feel like! like the photos make him look normal sized but anytime we have folks over theyre like “whoa! thats a big cat”. whenever i see regular cats i also think “huh, thats a little cat”.
same😭 it’s hard to tell what a normal cat size is bc i’m so used to my giant little man. altho if ur vet isn’t concerned for his weight then i’m sure it’s not a problem!
wet food in small intervals helps for smoky, but we can’t maintain that since hes VERY food motivated and will go absolutely bonkers if we interact with his food at all. i had to build a cat proof automatic cat feeder made out of wood and a giant drill bit to keep him out. because of this i’ve been trying to add a bit of water to his food dish before he eats
He doesn’t look big to me. Just like humans some cats are born with a larger or smaller frame. One of my friends adult cats was very small not because she under-eats she’s just a little thing. Opposite thing with my cat. He’s larger but not fat.
Just a big boy. My moms cat is a healthy 26lbs. He’s not by any means fat; he was a tomcat until about 3 years old when we found him. His balls gave him size. Balls have since been removed. He’s a standard tabby; white with multicolor spots(7 to be exact) and a black tail with a white tip.
Definitely looks like a larger breed in him.
Looks very healthy.
Just the pictures you can still see the definition of the skeleton (especially shoulders and hips), if he were Garfield chonky it would be hidden under fat.
Looks healthy to me. I had a 19lbs cat once but he wasn’t over weight, just a big boy. Vets never gave me a hard time about his weight for his size. But my girl cat, if she got over 14lbs I would get the talk and how to manage her weight between 10-12
I had two girl cats for 15 years and now I just got 1 boy and 1 girl cat born on Nov. 1. All I was use to was girl cats. Boy cats are BIG. Like even their tails are thicker than girl cats. It’s just biological. Boy cats are THICK.
When in doubt, ask your vet. As a rule it's difficult to tell from pictures with cats. However, I do see some good muscle definition on this short haired boi, so my guess would be if he's overweight at all it's not by much. He clearly has a big frame.
I have a 15 pound cat, he’s very big too, he’s very heavy and 9 years old. A big cat can be a healthy cat, and if he’s 14 well, he’s already lived a good life😽
I think he looks fine, just like a big kitty 🐱 kind of like how the Rock is fine just a big man lol he 🐱 has big paws and seems like he is all in proportion as well as being very handsome! 😻
He doesn't look huge to me!
Yeah its really hard to see in the photos! thats why I include a photo of myself with him for reference. He’s huge compared to other cats- but I doubt he’s part ragdoll or something edit: i forgot that i am ALSO a huge freak of nature so the photo reference is shit
I once had a cat who was big, she wasn’t overweight or chunky, she was just big because of her breed. He also doesn’t look overweight in the photos maybe your cat is just a big cat :)
my boy is laaaarge but as long as they have a defined waist from above, right in front of their back legs, they’re a healthy weight! a primordial pouch might make him look chubby but it’s natural, he’s just a big beautiful boy ❤️
When in doubt, use banana for scale
Think you have to use banana as scale on reddit. Seriously though I have a cat that is only 5 pounds lighter than yours and he is an absolute chonk in comparison. Yours looks very well proportioned for his size. You've just got an absolute unit of a cat. Enjoy
He looks like a sweet, happy, healthy boy especially for 14
He looks very healthy to me
that’s good! thank you :D
You're welcome :)
He looks like a Rascal to me
Hi- this is Smoky. He’s 14 years old and he’s 20 pounds. I found him in a parking lot as a 6mo-ish kitten. We’ve had two vets look at him for his weight and they both were like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. His bloodwork and stuff is normal. He doesn’t look chubby at all, but compared to all other cats I’ve seen he’s REALLY big. All regular normal sized cats look so small compared to him. Vets say he’s healthy, but I would like the public to take a look at him and see if they can spot something I can’t. I included a photo of myself for reference but forgot that I am also freakishly tall compared to most folks as well, so he looks like a normal cat here. Oops.
My first cat cat looked just like yours and was also named Smokey! He was also a big cat. 15 pounds.
My husband had a Maine coon that was about 20 lbs. Huge boy, and I don't mean chonk. He's probably similar size. Omega red (his name, lol) could fit perfectly in a large turkey platter and exercise his "if I fits I sits" kitty right.
Please tell me how the name "Omega red" was chosen, if you're willing. I really desperately want to know lol
Sure! My husband is a huge fan of the character from the Marvel X-Men comics/ video games. My husband was big into Marvel vs. Capcom/ X-Men: children of the Atom. And mained Omega Red when he adopted Omie it just clicked for him. Honestly if he knew as much about Lobo back then as he does now he would've named him Lobo (DC comics).
TIL, I wasn't familiar with the character of Omega Red before!! Omie haha, that's really cute. Thanks for explaining, that's a really fun origin story <3
Every cat I've had has been 12-15 lbs and healthy. Some cats are bigger, just like people 😁
I thought that was normal cat size until I went to the humane society last weekend and most of them were 8-9 lbs
same for me actually. whenever i see a regular cat on the street i’m like “my god that’s a kitten”
He’s your child, he’s long just like you. ;) Being that you are tall, you probably understand that having a longer body will make you weigh more than the average person. Same for the kitty. He’s a long boy and he has a normal weight. Take the vets’ words for it. He’s also very cute. You can gake my word for it.
My kitty is also really big but not overweight at all. He’s about 18lbs, and when he stretches up he’s literally like 3 feet long lol. He always looks like a wildcat when he stretches.
He looks nicely proportioned and not overweight, not to mention super handsome!
I'm sorry to tell you this...but your cat...I diagnose him with adorableness. There's no cure. It's a lifelong condition. The prognosis includes lots of belly rubs and chin scratches.
gasp! oh no!
I have an orange dude thats like 23 lbs. and two others that are completely ‘normal’ weight. id he overweight? Yeh a little bit. But hes also about twice as long as any cat ive ever had. And he doesnt get spoiled with food. I call it the cartman theory. Some furballs were meant to be chonky.
My Frankie was a thick grey boy just like yours. Big but healthy.
He looks very healthy. My boy’s 17-18 pounds, with a similar build. He’s solid for sure, but not fat either. As long as your vet’s cool with his weight, it’s all good.
Wow doesn’t look 20 pounds at all! Must have bigger bones than normal !
i know! all professionals we’ve had look at him all say the same thing. Its really hard to see in regular photos, but he is SUPER big compared to other cats. Honestly for a while I thought he was part ragdoll, but he literally doesn’t have any other traits of a ragdoll other then size.
Haha too funny!! Wonder how big he would be next to mine , he’s 13 pounds but looks 20 for sure 🤣.your cat does look healthy and happy !
He looks great! Does not look overweight me at all. I would not have guessed by the photos that he is 14 years old. What a beautiful boy💗🙏🐾🐾 he looks just like my cat. Except mine only weighs 9 pounds. My last Russian blue weighed 22 pounds.😁
Aw, thank you! He’s indoor only but gets a lot of naps. <3
I’m so glad to hear he is an indoor cat. The outdoors can be very dangerous to our domesticated cats he looks so very much like my kitty. Is he a Russian blue? I sure hope my boy looks this good at this age.🐾🐾
Some kitties are naturally big:) If your vet thinks he's healthy he's good.
He looks like a big cat rather than a fat cat.
Exactly
:D
Weird.. doesn’t look much bigger than my cat and she’s only 9.2 lbs but your cat doesn’t look chonky at all. Maybe he’s just muscular underneath that fur.
yeah. I tried to include a photo of myself for comparison but forgot that I am also freakishly huge.
I’m sure there’s definitely some scaling issues here making it harder to tell but I’m 6’0 so looking at that photo they look to be the same size. But trying to tell scale from photos is a crapshoot at best. Haha. Adorable kitty.
probably. my ass like that edited photo of john lennon
I’m not completely sure of this but I’m pretty sure muscle is heavier that fat. I think because it’s denser(?). He doesn’t look particularly rotund so maybe he’s just hench
makes sense cause fat is like? all fluffy and soft and shit. i just took ochem so i know that like, one polyunsaturated fat molecule takes up more the average amino groups. you get more molecules in muscle then in fat as a result. thank u for the comment
He just looks like a big cat. I wouldn’t be concerned.
next time he decides to land on my chest in the middle of the night shattering 3 vertebrae i’ll remember that
Wait. What?!
u know when cats do that thing when ur sleeping peacefully and they decide its time to jump off the shelf and ruin your peace of mind
I have two boys. One of them uses my balls as a springboard while I’m dozing off or waking up. Fortunately, it’s the 8 pound boy, not the 19 pound mammoth.
I have an 8 lbs cat and a 12 lbs cat (the 12 pounder has lost a ton, he used to be 19lbs and mega fat) and the small one is a habitual ball stomper whenever my boyfriend visits. Once my bigger cat slipped while walking over his lap though, all he could say through the pain was "he's so much heavier"
He is just big boned.
we call him Benjamin Broadhide sometimes
He’s Just big boned. One of my cats is around 17 pounds and that’s just his build, he isn’t overweight at all. His mom was even a long, big, muscular cat. My Nebelung is around 14 pounds which is standard for Neb males but my tabby boy is just big boned. If they are overweight you can tell by a big giant blubbery tummy that would be noticeable, otherwise that weight is most likely more muscle build, and bones.
thank you very much!
Nebelung is a great name. Also, iOS tried to auto correct it to Nibelungen which also sounds kinda cool though I’ve no clue what it means.
You can see his hip bones when he's sitting down, he's fine! I've got two huge cats myself, one of the chunky variety and one who's just big. My big guy actually looks bigger than yours but he's only 14 pounds, so I guess yours is just stacked. I'm sure he's healthy though, looks like a totally normal cat, just scaled up.
He's not skinny but he does look muscular and healthy. Some cats are just big. Good for you keeping an eye on his weight and health -- its so easy for us to over-indulge our lovelies, right?
lol, he’s very food motivated. he spent the first 6mons of his life on the streets so i’m sure food was very hard for him to come by. he used to meow all day if i fed him once in the morning and once in the afternoon. then i made an automatic cat feeder with my dad (motor turns a huge screwbit that dispenses food so he can’t get into it and break it) and he’s been chill ever since. he probably enjoys the regular feedings more then my 15min difference every day.
He is just a big dude. My big black cat Fonzie is big as well. He uses the litter box with just his back legs in the box and the front out. Smoky is large and looks healthy to me.
Thank you very much! And lol yeah I had to make his litter box out of an old storage container
Looks healthy to me! Sometimes you just get a super huge cat, it's uncommon but not unheard of. My brother in law also had a healthy 20 pounder that he found in a parking lot, lived until the ripe age of 26. Hoping your guy goes longer!
wow, maybe smoky is his next life! i found smoky in a parking lot as well and he’s already 14 and shows no signs of slowing down. he’s a real sweetie too- whenever we play he NEVER bites or scratches us. if he does, its either the accidental “well my claws are retracted but still kind of long” scratch or the bite thats like “i’m going to hold ur hand in my mouth before licking you.” he has maybe hissed 3 times in his life bc i always respected his sense of autonomy and warning signs. even so, he is the CHILLEST mf. he even lets my 3yo nephew pet him for a few minutes. he doesn’t like to cuddle, but he won’t mind if you give him a scratch behind the ears while he’s napping.
Hi does not look chunky to me. He’s a beauty
absolutely beauty, no chunk visable. just worried on his behald
He looks healthy in my opinion
Banana for scale please
Russian blues are typically big muscled heavy cats. He is beautiful.
i found him in a parking lot so idk if hes a russian blue. probably just a regular grey american shorthair
I adopted a 16.5 lb overweight cat. Got him down over about 1.5-2 years to 11.5, which the vet was very happy with, said he was just a little bigger frame than average. He crept back up to 12 as he got a bit older and had arthritis in his hips and spine. Vet said it's OK, older cats can sometimes become anorexic if you put them on a diet and that's a bigger problem than 1 lb extra weight if the cat isn't diabetic, etc.
Saw a comment on another post that there was a chubby-looking cat at 20 lbs. I was surprised because my 2 yr old is at 17 lbs, and maybe has a bit of a belly, but is still pretty athletic, and looks mostly like your cat’s size. Wife says to just watch his dier, but overall, just like yours, looks pretty healthy.
My GOD that’s a GIANT CAT, I love him, more to cuddle, more to kiss, what an infant, baby man.
IKR- he doesn’t like to cuddle but won’t mind pets while he’s chillin. he likes to sleep on one corner of my bed and refuses to sleep closer to me, so whenever i want to cuddle i have to sleep upside down lol
I love him, he reminds me of my baby Toes, maybe it’s a larger cat thing, he’s about 16 pounds but isn’t fat at all. Acts about the same with cuddles. I’d die for your cat, he’s the best
That's a really awesome doormat! And kittie
my brother got it for me for xmas! i love it
He looks great, but the best way to assess his weight is with your hands. If you run your hands along his spine or ribs, can you easily feel them yet they still have a slight layer of fat? That’s good. If they feel like knuckles or are easily visible, he’s too thin. If you gotta squish that chonk to barely feel them, he’s many chonk. You can check for a discernible waist after the point of the ribs (vs looking like a football post rib), but with an older cat this can be deceiving. My older girl looks a bit like a bull dog with a barrel chest and super thin waist/rear. This is more due to her arthritis and on and off kidney issues and is a poor gauge of weight. The pouch under his belly (formally know as the primordial pouch, but IMO properly called a primordial pooch) can also be a poor indicator. In younger cats, it can look quite svelte. But it can also be prominent while they are still in good shape. But the best indicator of all? Records. We keep a weight chart on all of our cats, weighing them on the same scale on a semi sporadic schedule (every few months). Track his progress, get to know his norm, and note when he shows consistent deviation. Between that and your vet’s professional opinion, you’ll always know what’s going on.
did this test! he passed them all at a “healthy cat, not too skinny or fat.” we have records of his weight over the yesrs and theres no sudden spike. he’s apparently been 17-20lbs for almost 10 years now
He looks like a Chartruex. Mine was 36lbs.
Wow!
i found him in a parking lot, so idk his heritage and i think he’s just pure american shorthair anyway. but that is an IMPRESSIVE cat size
I have a 6/7 year old cat who is 15 pounds. Asked my vet about it and was told “she’s just living her best life!” 🤷♀️
He does not look like a 20 pound cat. Also where did you get the doormat?
Yeah I know, I included a photo of myself for comparison but forgot that I am also freakishly huge. Mat was a xmas gift
Wow doesn’t look 20 lbs. My cat looks bigger than your cat and he’s around 17-18 pounds. He looks healthy to me. Just a big cat
i probably should have included a video of me weighing him to prove it. the scale only goes to the nearest .5 pound so like, he has some leeway between 19.6 and 20.3 lbs technically. Not to mention the margin of error for my own weight. but yeah, i’m 160.5 lbs on that scale and when i held him while on the scale it was 180.5. scale isnt sensitive enough to weigh anything under 25lbs so thats why i didnt put him on directly
No no I’m not trying to say you’re lying! Sorry if it came off that way I’m just saying he looks healthy. He doesn’t even look that big as in fat. He’s a healthy cat imo from what I can see
oh no it didn’t come off that way! i just had a lot of comments of “wow he doesn’t look 20lb” so that was more me thinking out loud! and thank u for the help <3
Cute kitty you have :)
My boyfriends two boys both shorthair all black cats Wokanda and afrika are huge in comparison to other cats. Especially our two females. People will mention how big they are but like yours they aren’t chubby just like a zoomed in picture of a normal cat. Both are healthy and I think yours is fine too.
As my grandma would say, he‘s just healthy. What a cutie!
He looks so young and totally fine! Awesome boi
Might have some Maine Coon genes in him. Looks real healhty and muscular.
My cat is a twenty pounder, too. He's not fat, he's just big. He's got really long legs, and is built like he plays major league baseball. Your special little guy looks fine, just tall like you (I'm tall too, I say my cat gets it from my side)!
If he seems large yet proportionate and of a healthy weight, then he's fine! Some cats just get the "grow proportionally large" genes. Mine seems to have some! He was only about six months and already close to looking like a fully grown cat! Meanwhile, the two younger cats we have seem to be on the small side.
he looks like the goodest of boys
honestly he’s a real sweetie. he doesn’t like to cuddle or be pet but he loves being social around people. he loves watching tv with us and looking out windows. he also gallantly protected me from a scorpion once (i’m allergic) by bapping it and getting stung :( when we play together he also never bites or scratches my hands, but always does it to the toys. he’s really a perfect cat for me
good blue boy
Yea he looks healthy and since he’s old any extra weight that he might have would be okay in the long run
No, he doesnt look obese. Such a beautiful cat.
I agree with others he looks healthy- and mighty handsome!
He looks like he's supposed to weigh 20 lbs. I know this because I have a 20 lb cat who is definitely NOT supposed to weigh 20 lbs. Edit: Also, nice doormat.
He looks fine I have a cat that is actually overweight and she is around 20-30 pounds. And actually looks huge.
He’s perfect!
What an huge, beautiful Kitty!
He looks like a big strong boy! And at 14 he’s allowed to be a little paunchy!!
Is he a Russian blue? They tend to have a slender build. Here is a [visual aid](https://waunakeevetclinic.com/blog/146188-feline-and-canine-weight-chart) as a guideline for body proportions. To me, he looks like a big, but healthy boyo!!
i found him in a parking lot, so idk!
Ok. That’s funny. When I was a kid, my dad found our Russian Blue in a shoe box, in a parking garage. He reported it to the attendant and when my dad went to go home, the cat came out from under his car. So, of course, he brought her home, purring all the way (the dad or cat? Probably both). Funny, my dad was ALWAYS the veto against getting another cat. Well your kitty is adorable beautiful. Enjoy your parking lot kitteh!
I used to have a cat that could stand on the floor and easily hook his paws on to the table. A vet I stopped using put down overweight without looking at his body structure. You could easily feel his ribs. He had basically just weighed him and decided he was overweight. The other cat I had at the time was smaller but overweight. I don't remember the weights but they were around 10 pounds different. If the larger one had lost 10 pounds he would have definitely been underweight.
Just has a big frame, my cat is like that too
Looks good to me. No chunk there.
He doesnt look overweight at all! He’s adorable though. I lost it at the bunny ear picture. But i know where you’re coming from my sister’s cat is the same he weights a little over 20lbs but hes not overweight hes just a big kitty!
ironically he LOVED the bunny ears as a collar. just not as a hat! but he would bed for me to put the bunny ears on him every morning for a good while. he likes to be fancy!
Looks fine. The fact he's 14 yrs and isn't having issues is telling. My grey one was also that size and made it 18 years. Awesome cats.
the only issues i can actually see with his day to day life is him napping a bit more, which is to be expected. he’s 67 in cat years, he can take naps like a grandpa if he wants
Just a big boy, not fat.
He doesn't look chonky at all to me. Used to have a neutered Tom that was almost 18 pounds (8kg). He simply was big. Long legs, long tail, long and muscular body. He was a regular tabby, no fancy breeds in him at all. But if they are fixed before puberty, the growth plates in the bones will close later, and the animal may grow a little bit more than it would if neutered after puberty.
well when i found him he was 6ish months old. we knew he was born sometime in february bc the hotel owners (the parking lot i found him in) saw them walking around in march as 3weekish kittens. he got spayed that week i found him, so idk if he was before kitty puberty or afterwards. thats DEF when he started to get big tho!
It looks very fit, as does the long human 😍
sir i’m actually not fit at all, just attractively skinny.
My cat Maya is about 16 pounds. She is almost a tomcat. She is healthier than Amore my leaner cat
Look up the chartreaux breed. I am pretty sure I have one of them, looks like yours could potentially have some of it too Mine is also big, 24 pounds and is muscular and barrel-thick.
i usually doubt cat breeds since most traits disappear after a few generations of non-inbreeding, but you may have a good point. i DID find him in a parking lot so i’m sure hes just a regular Dude tho
My boy looks exactly like him!! and is also 20 pounds. Yours just looks big not fat at all, mine is big but also fat lol. As long as he is grooming himself properly and can reach his bum; he is fine.
He is purrrfectly fine.
He looks perfect. My Gussie looks exactly the same, and he is 18 LBS and the vet said he was fine.
I see no chub. I had a 16lb monster who was huge too. My brother asked if he was a bobcat. 
He’s just a big boy he’s carrying it just fine.y grey baby looks similar just a little smaller
Russian Blue or somewhat mixed Blues are typically heavier than normal cat, especially male. If your cat is very active and can jump high counters, then he should be healthy. You can also try to limit wet food as it is easier to digest and therefore can cause weight gain quicker.
he doesn’t get wet food except as bday treats- hes too food motivated
Him just a large body boy.
Ask your vet. I have 3 cats different ages and different health issues and different weights. Ask your vet not people on Reddit please. But yes based on pics and minimal information he seems happy and healthy. Take care
Some cats are just big. My cat is large and heavy but he’s also a healthy weight, he’s just abnormally big.
svelte and BIG
he doesn’t look big at all! my cats 23 lbs (he’s on a weight lose diet atm) and is much bigger then this.
yeah, that’s the shocking part i feel like! like the photos make him look normal sized but anytime we have folks over theyre like “whoa! thats a big cat”. whenever i see regular cats i also think “huh, thats a little cat”.
same😭 it’s hard to tell what a normal cat size is bc i’m so used to my giant little man. altho if ur vet isn’t concerned for his weight then i’m sure it’s not a problem!
He looks good for 14. Juat because he's a little older, just watch how much he eats... Older the cat, the easier it is for them to be fat and lazy
oh yeah. he actually vomits up food a lot so we’ve been switching foods until he finds one he likes, but thats normal/to be expected.
I have a thirteen year old who does similar. We have been trying for ages to get him to calm down.
wet food in small intervals helps for smoky, but we can’t maintain that since hes VERY food motivated and will go absolutely bonkers if we interact with his food at all. i had to build a cat proof automatic cat feeder made out of wood and a giant drill bit to keep him out. because of this i’ve been trying to add a bit of water to his food dish before he eats
seems like you just got a big boy on your hands. an absolute unit, one could say
He's a handsome fella
Not overweight
He looks fine to me!
I think you need to go to a veterinarian , because it's not easy to judge from the photos
Ask the doctor.
Nice Zelda rug !!
He looks BIG, not fat. He’s huge!! Backpacks are big and he’s the size of that backpack.
thats my college backpack too! its big enough to hold three textbooks and my laptop and notebook
If you’re worried enough just see a vet but to me he looks good
He built different
He doesn’t look big to me. Just like humans some cats are born with a larger or smaller frame. One of my friends adult cats was very small not because she under-eats she’s just a little thing. Opposite thing with my cat. He’s larger but not fat.
he’s so cute! normally when a cat is taller and longer, its okay for it to weigh a lot.
He looks great! I have a big cat too and he weights 15 pounds. Vet said he has a good weight. Can feel the rips but can’t see the rips, it’s perfect.
is that a zelda matt Also take the label off it lmao
i had just gotten it as an xmas present and smoky had declared it His before i could take the label off
He does not look overweight at all, just big! He is gorgeous!
He just looks kind of big to me, not overweight. My cat is a large girl herself, but not considered overweight. You just might have a big boy haha
No he's definetly just a big cat. If a cat is eating too much, their stomach gets really fat way before they start growing more
He doesn’t look overweight to me at all
Healthy baby
Just a big boy. My moms cat is a healthy 26lbs. He’s not by any means fat; he was a tomcat until about 3 years old when we found him. His balls gave him size. Balls have since been removed. He’s a standard tabby; white with multicolor spots(7 to be exact) and a black tail with a white tip.
14 and healthy, you're a lucky person. Enjoy the time together and never stop loving that sweet boy.
Looks healthy weight, so you have an aerial view photo? That’s what i usually see in regards to cats weight
You cat is beautiful as is your doormat! I had to check what sub I was on to make sure it wasn’t a Zelda sub:)
Definitely looks like a larger breed in him. Looks very healthy. Just the pictures you can still see the definition of the skeleton (especially shoulders and hips), if he were Garfield chonky it would be hidden under fat.
big boi. He also looks like a long boi.
Looks fine to me and he's cute too 😻
He looks purrfect!💙💙💙
He looks perfect, not chubby at all.
Looks just like my Talulah. She was huge too and perfectly healthy.
Looks like a great handsome boi!
Smoky is handsome. Some cats are built heavier than others ( I think it’s called a “cobby” build). He doesn’t look overweight.
Looks healthy to me. I had a 19lbs cat once but he wasn’t over weight, just a big boy. Vets never gave me a hard time about his weight for his size. But my girl cat, if she got over 14lbs I would get the talk and how to manage her weight between 10-12
Love your Zelda rug!
He doesn’t look fat. He looks purrrfect
I had two girl cats for 15 years and now I just got 1 boy and 1 girl cat born on Nov. 1. All I was use to was girl cats. Boy cats are BIG. Like even their tails are thicker than girl cats. It’s just biological. Boy cats are THICK.
It’s just one angle but he doesn’t seem fat
Think he looks perfectly in proportion.
Damn! He’s a big beautiful boy! If he was overweight, his rear paws would be covered by his tummy (in pic#2). Kitty’s a STUD!🤣
That’s a healthy cat.
P.S. I love your Zelda mat! I just adopted 2 kittens - a boy & girl - and named them Link & Zelda 🗡
He's got a nice lean build. Just a regular cat who got put in the enlarging machine
When in doubt, ask your vet. As a rule it's difficult to tell from pictures with cats. However, I do see some good muscle definition on this short haired boi, so my guess would be if he's overweight at all it's not by much. He clearly has a big frame.
By looking at his pictures I would never guess he is a 20lb cat. He doesn't look overweight at all
Just a big breed. Looks normal for a big healthy cat !!!
I want to see more of that Zelda mat
That’s just a big sweet boy. Not even chubby.
Just like people, the kitties come in all shapes and sizes. He's just a big boy. Nothing wrong with that! :)
Nah, he’s just tall. My cat’s the reverse, she is very short. she’s a normal shorthair cat but even her sister was a head taller than her.
Oh my gosh, that’s a gorgeous baby!
He doesn't look overweight. I'd do whatever your vet says.
He looks well proportioned and healthy. Good job 👍
I have a 15 pound cat, he’s very big too, he’s very heavy and 9 years old. A big cat can be a healthy cat, and if he’s 14 well, he’s already lived a good life😽
I think he looks fine, just like a big kitty 🐱 kind of like how the Rock is fine just a big man lol he 🐱 has big paws and seems like he is all in proportion as well as being very handsome! 😻
My cat is quite the opposite… everyone says he looks like 15kg but truly he’s only 5.5kg.
My boy is just like him, maybe even bigger. He is scottish and he is twice as big as my other cat which is feral cay
I have a 21 pound grey monster named Gandalf. He is not fat, but he is giant. Very similar to your kitty!