What's hanging from your cat's tummy?

Is this flaccidity, is the feline overweight?

No, this is the primordial pouch, and is common in some cat breeds.

It appears in the adult stage, as a kind of hanging skin, regardless of whether the cat is overweight or not.

The primordial pouch in cats is a genetic inheritance that has been maintained since the first breeds of wild cats.

Today it seems it does not have a key function, but it is still useful on some occasions:

Protection: one theory is that the pouch and its fatty cushion offer protection to the cat’s internal abdominal organs, which would be especially beneficial for wild cats.

Flexibility: another theory is that the pouch provides extra flexibility while running, enabling the cat to cover more ground with each stride. This flexibility could also aid a cat in cutting from side to side quickly when they are escaping predators, or while they are chasing prey.

Energy: it's also possible the primordial pouch comes in handy when food is scarce. Some theorize that the pouch may act as a fat reserve, storing fat that can be later used as energy if reliable meals are unavailable.

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Discussion

Feeling much better about myself suddenly

🤔

you'll get less back pain if you do more situps though, and i say that because i am saying it to me and i'm very resistant to that too (but every time i see it flabbing out i am reminded and feel bad)

i think that the reason why cat's coat fits loose is related to reducing velocity when in a fall

cats can survive falls from hundreds of meters up in the air, and i believe part of the reason is that their skin is loose and stretchy and so when they are falling, once they get correct orientation it acts as a flightsuit

it doesn't have as big an impact in a short fall (like under 10 meters) but it's why they basically don't usually die from falls, they basically are like sugargliders in this way, who also have a loose skin that has a lot of stretch around their belly