New member with worry about my cat

Hello all,

I am not sure if this is the best place for me to ask my question. First by let me tell you about my cats. Baxter is my first cat as an adult, he is 5 years old. Last June my friend had a cat have a litter of kittens, and then was blessed with finding 3 kittens in a box beside a dumpster to add to her own. The mother cat took in the extra kittens with no problem and took care of them as they were her own. At about 9 weeks my kids and I chose to take 2 of the ones from the box she found. Eddie (an orange male) and Chloe ( the calico runt)

Well we knew Chloe was the runt, and she was so small, but ate enough for both her and her brother. Being so small at 3 months she was accedentally shut in the door and broke her leg. We took her to the vet of course and she had a cast for about 2 months (it took longer than expected to heal) The vet then warned that getting her fixed might be risky because of her size, so we chose to keep her as an inside cat and get her bother fixed.

I know this may sound like a bad cat owner, but I have not gotten her any shots. I do take my two male cats for thier regular check ups and vacinations because they go in and out, but I have always thought with her not going outside she would not need the shots (and I dont have a ton of money).

Well finally to my question.... Chloe is still very small. About the size of a six week old kitten. I just looked at it like she was special and was a perma kitty. Everyone that sees her cant believe how small she is, and always say things about her. For some reason I wanted to look online to see if there was some reason she was tiny, maybe some type of kitty dwarfism or something. What I read was not good. It has got me scared that she may have some problems or have a short life span. Does anyone on here know of any other cat not growing. She seems healthy in every other way. She just looks like a tiny cat. Nothing abnormal (except I think her whiskers are long for her tiny head)

Please help calm my fears if you can,
Thanks,
Christine

Hi there Christine

we're so happy to get the chance to welcome you and your furfamily to TCS. I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay with us - we're one great big family and you'll find loads of friends here. If I can help at all while you're finding your way around TCS just click on my username and send me a Personal Message - I'll do what I can to answer your questions

I'm sorry to hear that your worried about your little girl kitty, perhaps you would like to make a post in the Health and Nutrition forum, one of the experts there will pick up on it and may have some information for you.

Good luck!

Thank you a bunch. I am not sure how to work my way around this site right now, but I will copy and paste my post in that forum now. Thanks again.

Christine

Welcome and realize most of us likely will say try talking with the vet or another... the shot thing I wont say give them but to follow local laws and your and your vets judgement

I've merged your Health and Nutrition thread with the duplicate thread in New Cats on the Block. All of your answers will be in one place.

I have to agree with the others that it would be best to take your cat to the vet. It is just impossible for us to diagnose something over the Internet.

Good Luck.

I agree with the others- it's not too late to take your kitty to the vet, and besides, this way you will learn more about why she is so very small. Maybe she is a munchkin breed of kitty.

Good luck!

Hi Christine, welcome to TCS.
I think that you would have peace of mind about Chloe if you took her for a vet check-up.
That way your vet can rule out something serious with your sweetie.

If I can help with questions about TCS, just click on my username, send a private message and I will get back to you asap.

I have two kittens too and the boy is a orange tabby (his name is Berach though) and a little girl tortie named Chloe! (she kinda looks like a calico)
like twins...
Ico, a kitty from a previous relationship (she's still w the ex) was very small too. still is. she was a stray we took in and I imagine she kinda starved a bit before we found her. She has a clean bill of health now and is healthy in every way but she never really grew to full size.

I agree though, go to the vet, it'll give you peace of mind and bring to light any ailments the little one might have.

I have 3 kittens that are about 6 months old. Garfield, Little Cow, and Sweetie Kits and they looks to be the size of a 6 to 8 week old kitten. Sweetie Kits is sick from an URI but outside of that, all 3 are healthy and fine. My vet can't find anything to explain their size except to say "Wow! They are small!"

I agree, though, to put your mind at ease, have her see the vet. After her clean bill of health, I'm sure you'll feel so much better!

Another thought about seeing the vet...
it's always useful to have an early baseline check-up so that in the future, if your kitty shows symptoms of illness, your vet will have a previous history on your cat.

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. I don't know why all of a sudden I started worrying about her so much. I always looked at as if she was a normal year and a half old cat, just looked like a 6 week old kitten. I think it is wonderful.

My brain got spinning wondering if anyone else had a drawf kitty and when I started looking online it just made me freak. The things I read just scared me. My cats are just like my children too. I will look into seeing a vet soon. I need to make some calls and see if I can find one that is not so expensive or will allow me to make payments (right now I am on a VERY fixed income). But like I said, they are like my kids, and when my kids are sick I find the means to take them to the doctor, so I will do the same for Chloe. At least then I will feel better.

Thanks again all,
Christine

I forgot I wanted to add a picture of her, but I am not sure how. I will try this and see if it works.

Christine

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g15/camandchristine/DSC00952.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>



I hope one of those works...

what a cutie, she sure does look tiny for her age...

At the shelter I used to work for, we had the neverending foster kitten. He was almost 8mo old before he was big enough to neuter. As far as anyone could tell, he was just very stunted and not suffering from any genetic dwarfism.

As she was seen by the vet for the broken leg, I would imagine your vet has been able to get a decent look at her. You might want to schedule an appointment to see if the vet thinks she should get her rabies vaccination, so you're not breaking local laws. She may now be big enough to spay, too. Get a vet's eyes on her, and see what he/she thinks.

That picture is just precious.