But Weight, There's More ...

Nope, I didn't misspell the title of this post. I'm just being horribly pun-ny.

You see, weight is a very important thing in keeping track of cat health. If a 10 pound cat loses a pound, it's 10% of their weight, and it's like a 150 pound human losing 15 pounds. You're not supposed to lose that much in a short time. So you can get a jump on early diagnosis of diseases by keeping track of your cat's weight on a weekly basis.

However, a human scale won't weigh a (normal) cat, so you have to do subtraction weighing, where you step on the scale carrying the cat, and make note of the weight, and then put the cat down and note the weight, and subtract to find the difference. Problem is, a human scale of a normal cost range, like the one I have, isn't actually that accurate. I've stepped on my cheap digital scale three times in succession, and gotten three different weights. Different by a half a pound each time, which isn't that much in comparison to what I weigh ... but it's a big difference in comparison to a cat's weight.

Now that I have three cats to keep track of, and pair that are supposed to be growing on top of that, I decided that I just couldn't keep trying to use the subtraction method. I needed a real scale for cats.

However, I didn't even know where to start looking. Food scales? Mailing scales? What kind of accuracy and price point did I really need? But I did know who to ask, so I asked Ginger if she could recommend one for me. I figured she had to know about scales since she weighs the kittens and her mommy cats as well as the pet cats, plus her husband is a vet and if she didn't know of one (like perhaps the maker of her scale had gone out of business or something), he surely would.

She came through with a scale from Old Will Knotts that's about mid-range in price and the same as hers only the new model. The link will take you to the scale she recommended, just in case you want one too. It arrived on Thursday, and so I unpacked it.

With help. I will admit, I threw a straw into the cardboard box the scale came in to start the fun, but it didn't take much! So while they played in the shipping box, I was able to unpack the scale from its display box and get thoroughly puzzled about what went where. I had all these pieces, and no instructions on what they all were. Turns out they were mostly adapters and things. There's an adapter to put on in place of the tray so you can weigh a large box, and an adapter to hold envelopes on the scale. There were instructions, just very brief and non-informative.

I sat there, figuring it out, and getting a little irritated with myself. I'm a chemist, for heaven's sake, I use far more complicated scales than this on a daily basis! I should be able to get this straight! And I was able to; it just took me longer than I thought it should.

It also enabled the two helping me to get tired of the cardboard shipping box and come over and start helping me with the parts to the scale, which also slowed things down!

But I managed in the end, and even found a better place for it in my house than the original thought, which it didn't fit into. So I weighed all three cats and started a weight journal for them.

Colby in the scale, looking pretty.

Apricot actually got to go for a ride on the scale first, simply because he was the first cat I saw when I came out of the foyer (where the scale is now located) to find them. He weighs 11 pounds and some. The vet said he should stay at 11 pounds and he's probably a little more than she meant, but I find it hard to see how I'm supposed to restrict his food intake and not theirs. I just hope he doesn't get too overweight. However, as I rationalized with Tiger--overweight and happy and a slightly shorter lifespan beats being cranky and skinny for a longer one.

Colby was, on Thursday, 6 pounds 8 ounces. He's more now. Thimble was 6 pounds 10 ounces on Thursday, and today the scale couldn't make up its mind whether he was 7 pounds even or 6 pounds 13.5 ounces.

Uh-oh. Ginger, when I sent her the Thursday weights, said that her rule of thumb is the 4 month weight, if it's 7 pounds, will indicate a cat at least 20 pounds when grown. Four months is February the 9th. Two weeks (more or less) from now).

And Hiro, their brother, got to go to the vet on Thursday for his 16 week shots. (My vet said I could skip that set of boosters since Thimble and Colby weren't going anywhere, unlike Hiro's human mommy's plans for him.) Anyway, Hiro was over 7 pounds on Thursday.

Wow. As my mom said, I guess they're going to have to be leash-cats! I'm just hoping my muscles develop with their weight. I think I can hold a 25 pound cat; I just can't hold two of them, even if I get strong enough to carry 50 pounds. It's a size thing more than a weight thing at that point. No place to put the other one.

Hm ... and a dreamy note here ... just imagine how warm I will be with two cats that large draped over and against my lap. I may be able to turn the heat down!