Are they big enough?

fostermomm

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Ok I got the kittens weighed today they are 7 weeks old. The 3 boys are all exactly 1 lbs. And the girls are 1 lbs, 15 oz and 14 oz. respectively. But the other women in the rescue who have kittens say they are about the size of 5 week olds. Is 1 lbs to small? They are a little thin but they are pretty much not nursing at all. Their mom is producing milk out of 2 nipples. Thats it. There are 6 kittens. Mom and kittens didnt come from a good place before they came into our rescue. Mom was very sick, very thin, and very dehydrated. We know the kittens have to be at least 7 weeks old. Weve had them 3 weeks and they were up walking and alert when they came here. How big is the normal 7 week old kitten?
 

momofmany

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An eight week old kitten typically weighs about 2 pounds. At 7 weeks, I would say that 1 pound is pretty small. Have you tried supplementing their diet with KMR?
 
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fostermomm

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

An eight week old kitten typically weighs about 2 pounds. At 7 weeks, I would say that 1 pound is pretty small. Have you tried supplementing their diet with KMR?
Thanks. That would explain why the other women were so surprised when they saw them. I had to bring them into the adoption event to get them weighed and pick up the amoxicilin for Selena. I havnt tried giving them KMR because they are eating canned food (a can a day) and 1/2 a cup of dry food a day. Plus munching on Skye's food. They dont like their food to be wetted down either. They want it hard and crunchy. Heres a pic of them taken a week ago.
 

sandycoles

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i breed ragdoll kittens and have had regulare kittens too and yes that is a little small but some times it is the breed but yes i use a suppliment to KMR and it works great but as long as they are healthy that is your main concern.
i just had a litter of kittens on the 19th lol.
i had 5 but 1 died

here are some pics!
 
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fostermomm

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Originally Posted by mlopus

Aww, they're so beautiful!
Thanks! They really need to start growing though. They have to be 2 lbs to be spayed and neutered. Cant be adopted out till then. I think Ill try out some KMR with them though. Their mom is small and maybe they will just be tiny like her. Maybe they didnt get enough nutrition when they were younger. Who knows but I gotta get them nice and strong so they can find homes.
 
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fostermomm

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Originally Posted by sandycoles

i breed ragdoll kittens and have had regulare kittens too and yes that is a little small but some times it is the breed but yes i use a suppliment to KMR and it works great but as long as they are healthy that is your main concern.
i just had a litter of kittens on the 19th lol.
i had 5 but 1 died

here are some pics!
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I know their mom is only 3 1/2 lbs maybe 4 now. But shes really thin right now. The vet doesnt think shell be more then 6 lbs though once she fills out. So they might just be tiny cats likes Skye the mom.
 

ladybass0711

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They look to me like they are 4 weeks old... I have kittens and they are this same size. Double check the date, and maybe ask to have a vet re evaluate them.
 

sandycoles

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well ragdolls are a big breed of cat lol my boy is 24 lbs lol
how can you tell what sex they are?
here is my boy there dad.
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by Fostermomm

Thanks! They really need to start growing though. They have to be 2 lbs to be spayed and neutered. Cant be adopted out till then. I think Ill try out some KMR with them though. Their mom is small and maybe they will just be tiny like her. Maybe they didnt get enough nutrition when they were younger. Who knows but I gotta get them nice and strong so they can find homes.
I had a feral litter that was orphaned at 3 weeks old. The mom hadn't been taking that good care of them and on the day we decided to intervene and start to bottle feed them supplements, the mom died. 1 of those kittens (female) was very tiny as you described. Her 2 siblings (male and female) were twice her size by the time they were 8 weeks old. The KMR did plump them out and I don't know what would have happened to the tiny one had we not intervened. We kept the tiny girl and she grew up to be a very petite 7 pounds (my Scarlett princess). We always assumed that her poor diet early in life might have stunted her growth. Their mom was smallish, probably no more than 8 pounds, but hard to say because we couldn't handle her.
 
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fostermomm

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Originally Posted by ladybass0711

They look to me like they are 4 weeks old... I have kittens and they are this same size. Double check the date, and maybe ask to have a vet re evaluate them.
I know they arent 4 weeks old because I started fostering them 3 weeks ago and they were already starting to eat hard food, going potty in the litterbox, eyes open, playing with each other. They were supposed to be 4 week old when they came here. That pic was taken of them when they were 6 weeks old. This was them when they first came here. They were about half the size of them now.
 
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fostermomm

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Originally Posted by sandycoles

well ragdolls are a big breed of cat lol my boy is 24 lbs lol
how can you tell what sex they are?
Hes very pretty! My boys already had their boy parts dropped when I got them. So I dont know about young kittens like yours.
 
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fostermomm

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

I had a feral litter that was orphaned at 3 weeks old. The mom hadn't been taking that good care of them and on the day we decided to intervene and start to bottle feed them supplements, the mom died. 1 of those kittens (female) was very tiny as you described. Her 2 siblings (male and female) were twice her size by the time they were 8 weeks old. The KMR did plump them out and I don't know what would have happened to the tiny one had we not intervened. We kept the tiny girl and she grew up to be a very petite 7 pounds (my Scarlett princess). We always assumed that her poor diet early in life might have stunted her growth. Their mom was smallish, probably no more than 8 pounds, but hard to say because we couldn't handle her.
I think thats what their problem is too. Mom wasnt getting enough food before she came here so they didnt get all they needed either. So they are just small. They are growing alot. They just are small. They easily doubled in size since they came here.
 
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