Another weight question thread!

[Puddycat]

Hi I am new to cats and recently put down a deposit on 2 Norwegian Forest kittens. After reading various threads about weight I am a little confused. Firstly is 100g a week the correct gain for all types of cats and are the weights supposed to be the same even if they are different sexes?

But mainly I was wondering about my own kittens weight and if its ok. The breeders are very well regarded in the area so no problem there but when I looked at their home page I noticed they have 3 litters at the moment. 1 is the litter with my 2 in and then another 2. All have the same dad and the other 2 litters had birth weight of between 95 and 110g but our litters weight was between 72 and 90g when born, is that normal? it was a litter of 6 where as the others are litters of 4 and 5. Our 2 kittens are now 10 weeks old, the boy started life at 77g and was the 2nd smallest in the litter but he is now the biggest of the 6 at 1280g where as the girl was the smallest at 72g and is still the smallest at 933g. So with them being born small will this effect them in the long run or will they catch up? They both seem very healthy and we get regular emails from the breeders telling us how they are developing. The breeder does it for a living along with growing fruit and veg so I guess he pretty much knows what he is doing its just they seemed very small when born so wondered if they are doing ok considering this and what improvement should I look for in the next few weeks as I figure its going to be a bit different to kittens who are born around 110g which I hear is the norm for wegies.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Kittenfostermummy]

My kitten started off small he was about 10 weeks when he was first vacc and was about 1kg he is now just over 4 months old and about 2kgs he has caught up well and is happy and healthy. I think what you need to make sure is that they keep putting on weight and not loosing any. If they loose then this is a bad sign. Personally I think your kitten weight sound fine. Kittens are like children their weight can vary within a litter etc but its nothing to worry about Bet you can't wait to get your babies?!?!

[havoc]

The size of the litter can make quite a difference to birth weight and it makes no difference to the eventual size of the cat. One of my biggest cats was born at 52g, somewhat under what I then considered a viable kitten and one of a litter of 8. I didn't intervene and she grew at the same percentage rate as the others but obviously appeared to be falling further behind in terms of actual weight and size. Needless to say I kept her rather than allowing anyone to choose this 'runt' and risk disappointment. Four years on she is a big, healthy cat and I sometimes wish I hadn't been so quick to spay her.

The birth weight figure of 100g often quoted on here is, I assume, for moggies which tend to have small litters of 2-4 kittens. It doesn't mean anything under that is unhealthy or that there is something wrong.

[Puddycat]

Originally Posted by Kittenfostermummy

My kitten started off small he was about 10 weeks when he was first vacc and was about 1kg he is now just over 4 months old and about 2kgs he has caught up well and is happy and healthy. I think what you need to make sure is that they keep putting on weight and not loosing any. If they loose then this is a bad sign. Personally I think your kitten weight sound fine. Kittens are like children their weight can vary within a litter etc but its nothing to worry about Bet you can't wait to get your babies?!?!

Yeah really looking forward to getting them Its just a shame I have an important language exam the week after we get them so ill be a bit stressed at that time. They are gaining weight every week, I think the boy has gained about 120 and 130g the last 2 weeks but the girl only gains around 80g a week but is gaining that every week. Neither have lost weight at any point.

[Puddycat]

Originally Posted by havoc

The size of the litter can make quite a difference to birth weight and it makes no difference to the eventual size of the cat. One of my biggest cats was born at 52g, somewhat under what I then considered a viable kitten and one of a litter of 8. I didn't intervene and she grew at the same percentage rate as the others but obviously appeared to be falling further behind in terms of actual weight and size. Needless to say I kept her rather than allowing anyone to choose this 'runt' and risk disappointment. Four years on she is a big, healthy cat and I sometimes wish I hadn't been so quick to spay her.

The birth weight figure of 100g often quoted on here is, I assume, for moggies which tend to have small litters of 2-4 kittens. It doesn't mean anything under that is unhealthy or that there is something wrong.

Ah thats good to know. I was unsure what they should be as all I ever read on the net is that borth weight is 90-110g and rarely does it say they can be more or less or the reasons why.

[havoc]

It can also be breed specific and you are right that whatever the birth weights, males generally tend to end up larger than females. Kittens born at 63 days gestation are going to be smaller than those born at 67 - both perfectly reasonable gestation periods for normal, healthy kittens. Information on the internet does tend to be given in absolutes and the real world doesn't work that way

[Puddycat]

Originally Posted by havoc

It can also be breed specific and you are right that whatever the birth weights, males generally tend to end up larger than females. Kittens born at 63 days gestation are going to be smaller than those born at 67 - both perfectly reasonable gestation periods for normal, healthy kittens. Information on the internet does tend to be given in absolutes and the real world doesn't work that way

Good, this info will help my girlfriend. She has been worried that Daisy (the girl kitten) is underweight and not eating properly or is ill or something.

[havoc]

933g at 10 weeks is 'dainty' and it could be that this kitten is never going to make a big cat but it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with her.

To put it in perspective - I'm old enough to have worked in imperial weights without the benefit of digital scales. Lets take the supposed ideal average of 100g birth weight and compare it with the smallest kitten in that litter which was 72g. That's a difference of 28g or (by sheer coincidence) almost exactly one ounce. That 72g kitten was 2.6 ounces. We used to reckon on good sized kittens being between 3 and 4 ounces at birth and wouldn't have worried about one at 2.5. I remember getting scales which I could read to a quarter of an ounce and thinking this was fantastic. That's 7g! Whereas I'm a great believer in monitoring weight, what matters is that it goes in the right direction at a steady rate and the breeder can take action if it doesn't.

[Puddycat]

Its good to know its fairly normal Just need to get them home now.

[Puddycat]

Now 11 weeks old and the girl is up 74g this week an is now 1009g and the boy only put on 28g this weeks :S he is now 1308g.

Isnt it odd that the boy has been putting on over 100g a week but this week he only went up 28g?