We collected our male and female kittens yesterday. I weighed them this morning and they both weigh approximately 890g at almost 14 weeks of age.

According to the kitten weight chart, Dinah should be at least 1.1kg by now and Monty should be at least 1.5kg.

They were from a large litter of 7 kittens - could the large litter size delay their early growth? On both vet visits the breeder's vet has been happy with them. We are taking them to our vet on Monday evening.

Both are eating, but they're not eating as much as I expected. The breeder said they were on one Felix pouch each, per day, and had a 24/7 supply of dry food down (they haven't touched the dry since we got home though, only the wet).

Both kittens seem healthy, playful, in good condition, and so on... do you think I need to worry? They do feel "skinny" - as in I can feel their ribs and the bumps along the spine - but that may be normal (I don't know). I can't see their ribs or spine bumps though.

I didn't know the worry would begin after only 24 hours.

__________________
Bonnie and the gang xxx

Other people will be better placed than me to comment on their weight and development but if they are only eating the wet food then put it down for them every few hours and let them eat as much as they will. Don't restrict them to 1 pouch a day just because that's what the breeder said they'd eat.

We're not restricting what we put down - they're not finishing any of their (wet) meals.

__________________
Bonnie and the gang xxx

Sorry not sure about weights Tango was 2kg at 13 weeks but he's an MC he was on the RC kitten food & whatever the pensioners were haveing & could, still does eat for england

__________________

All my children have paws!

presley is eating three pouches and dry is down all day for grazing i can feel he is getting bigger by the day im going to weigh him later because i dont actually know what he weighs. your kittens are beautiful by the way

__________________



So why don't you stay for the night? Or maybe a bite?
I could show you my favourite obsession.
I've been making a man with blond hair and a tan
And he's good for relieving my tension[/COLOR][/B][/COLOR]

A general guide to kittens weight is 100gms per week in age.So roughly 13 weeks = 1.3kg,so on that basis I would agree that they are significantly underweight.Not sure how siberian kittens compare with Ragdolls but my raggie at 12 weeks was 1.3 kgs.(just checked his vacc record)Kittens should be eating a lot more than your 2 are eating,but it is very difficult to make them eat if they are not hungry.Their appetite may increase once they are settled.What food are they on at the mo,not that you can change it just yet anyway.

__________________

Siberians are hefty cats, similar in size (when fully grown) to Maine Coons and Ragdolls I believe, but not sure what the kitten weights should be like. I would expect them to be heavier by now. Looking forward to seeing what the vet things of their size and weight. They don't feel emaciated or anything - perhaps they are just small for their age and weigh in proportion to their body size?

They're currently on Felix Kitten pouches and Purina Pro Plan dry food. I put out one pouch between them at about 8.00am and they ate roughly two thirds of it. How long should I be leaving out wet food before clearing it away, if they don't finish it?

__________________
Bonnie and the gang xxx

Hmm, they are more than just a little light. Could be that them not eating a lot at the moment is because they are still feeling skittish in their new environment. However, Felix does an awful lot of different foods. So, could it be that you aren't offering the type of Felix they are used to?

Personally though it looks as though they had an appetite/feeding problem before they came to you as they are more than just a little underweight for their age.

Can you phone up the breeder and ask them what exactly they were fed? Could you try heating up what you have very briefly in the microwave (heat tends to bring out the smell and may make it more appetising)?

As long as it isn't really warm then in my experience wet food is fine left out for 3-4 hours possibly more. Many cats like to graze rather than eat it up in one sitting.

Assuming you visited them at the breeders, were all the kittens a similar size?

The breeder gave us the pouches we're using so it's definitely the right kind of food. I was a little concerned when she said they have one pouch each per day as that doesn't seem like very much, but I can see now that they don't actually eat that much. She did explain exactly what they eat and gave us various pouches and things, as well as instructions as to feeding times, so it's a bit confusing really...

I will try warming their next meal slightly in the microwave - how long should I do it for? (I don't particularly want to test it myself. )

__________________
Bonnie and the gang xxx