You know how old cats have a "baggy" belly, between their hind legs?

Question

Well I was wondering if it is also common in young females. My mother has an old female cat who has it, and every other old female cat that I have seen have it.

But my female cat, who is only 1.5 years old, has it too. She is a very longhaired cat, and I recently shaved her for the summer. Thats when I noticed it.

Is this normal?

Answer 1

I would say I see it in about 50% of cats.  One vet told me that the stretchy skin is most common in really active cats.  If you have a jumper or a climber, they need the "room" in their "pants" to make those fantastic leaps and climbs.  I'm not sure I believe it, but it is interesting.

My one girl has zero belly, but she is Persian and I noticed most do not seem to have it.  My boy does not have any, but we have scheduled activity/exercise sessions several times a day because he has a handicap.   I think the exercise keeps him in shape.

Answer 2

Yes, totally normal and totally cute!

My little Daisy has a big fluffy belly flab that swings from side to side when she walks XD lol  

Answer 3

Have you ever noticed that when you pet a dog it has very firm skin and it hardly moves but when you pet a cat the skin is very loose and

moves around. That is because cats have about 50% more skin than is needed to cover their bodies.this helps them a/wriggle out of the grip of predators and other cats and b/ when they fall they spread their legs and the extra skin acts like a parachute or sail to ease their landing.All cats have this extra skin in some cats it hangs down and appears like a pouch around their belly (it is called the lion's pouch because lions and tigers also have it for the same reason) It has nothing to do with pregnancy or weight or anything else. They are born with it.

Answer 4

A judge at a cat show I recently attended called it a "jungle pouch" and said it was a hold-over from the days when our cats were not yet domesticated.  She said it was not fat at all, it was to give their stomachs extra room for food.  She said that in some breeds it has been bred out of the cat, and other breeds still have it.  All my cats have a "wahgle" as my family calls it.

Answer 5

For spayed cats, they do lose some muscle tone in that area, so they can be a bit 'floppy'.  So yes, it is normal, but not always seen.  And in some spayed cats, it may not develop.  Nor does it necessarily mean they are overweight.

Answer 6

Is it spayed?

Because my female cat is only about 3 years old, and she has a baggy belly.

I'm sure it's normal.

=]

Answer 7

it is common. i have had both males and females, young and old, that have/had the "waddle". we have called it that because when they run, it waddles/waves back and forth. i have always considered it a sign of a healthy and happy cat. my 4 y/o fixed male had one by the time he was 1. enjoy your time with her.

Answer 8

Perfectly normal. 'Most' cats have it and some never get it. I had a male cat that never developed a paunch. A neighbour actually reported me me for starving the cat. The authorities could not figure out how an eleven pound cat could be considered 'starved'. Case closed!

Answer 9

I have a male kitten that will be two in october and he has that also. It just varies from cat to cat. Some have it and some don't.

Answer 10

Has she given birth? It's just like in humans. They get it like we do& need to get more exercise.

I had a kitty that died in February. She would of been 20 years old in March. She didn't get it until she was really old. Because she didn't get enough exercise. So we got her a couple of kittens to play with. (It actually helped!)

So she probably needs to be getting a little more exercise

and maybe ,if she is an inside cat,get some of that food  

formulated for inside cats. This all should help.