Fat Catty

Jacaré went to the vet today, and he should now be safe from rabies, feline leukemia, and distemper. The bad news is that he is apparently obese.

The vet tells me my 16lb cat should be 11lbs. She called him "chunky" rather than obese, and pointed out multiple times that his harness was not flattering him (I said I could loosen it...) She also said when they saw him 6 months ago, he was only 10lbs. I wasn't sure if this was a problem as he's been growing exponentially since I adopted his 4-week old self a year and a half ago. I will readily admit that, having grown up with two-20lb cats, I am not a good judge of "proper cat weight."

So now we're on a regimented diet, which involves me trying to change him over to wet food (higher protein-to-carb ratio, which is better for cat metabolism) and only feeding him small quantities twice a day (rather than just throwing out some food and letting him pick when he eats.)

All in all, I am torn in two directions.
Direction one: I am a horrible parent and do not deserve a pet.
Direction two: Seriously? It's a cat. This thing's lucky it's not schmucked by a car already.

Ultimately I am setting aside my shame and my worry, and ignoring his cries for more carbs. He will lose weight. Oh, and he'll also learn to use the toilet.