太ってる猫 vs "太った猫"?

Question

I saw this sentence and its translation in a textbook > 彼女は太った猫が好きじゃない。 > She doesn't like fat cats I was under the impression that 「太ってる猫」 means something like “cat that is in the state of becoming fat”, which basically means “fat”, so I was wondering: What's the difference between 「太ってる猫」 and 「太った猫」? <hr> If a cat has been fat since birth, is it true that in this situation then, we can only use 「太っている猫」 and not 「太った猫」 since the cat was already fat *right from the start* and did not “get fat”?

Answer 1

It would make sense to do what you are proposing, however, the woman in the sentence most likely hates all fat cats regardless of their past disposition; even though it says literally cats that have gotten fat. It's a nuanced interpretation of the sentence.