Where to buy a reasonably priced digital baby scale?

I think it would be helpful to have a baby scale to monitor Ally and Ollie's weight over time. It would help me to keep track of their growth, and once they're adults, to monitor their weight maybe once every month or so to catch any health problems early.

Any recommendations on what product works or where to buy it would be great.

I have a scale for me, but I don't think it would be accurate with their weight and the minute weight differences that are important to know about.

Thanks.

Not sure what "reasonably priced" is for you, but you can get a mechanical scale for around $60 - $70 new. Works well for both babies and small pets.

Look for the "Redmon" pet scale (or baby scale)

Here's one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Redmon-Pet-Sca...8211612&sr=8-6

I noticed they have a digital scale for just a little more:

http://www.amazon.com/Redmon-Pet-Sca...8211612&sr=8-1

I have the mechanical scale, bought when digital scales were $100+ but now that it's only another $10 extra, I'd suggest springing for the digital model.

There is an easier way to weight them, if you have a human scale - I step in with them in my arms, take a note of the weight, and let them go - the difference in weight is their weight.

I'll try that method, but I don't have a scale that shows ounces. It is in increments of an 8th of a lb.

Is Redmon a good company with good products?

A scale is a great idea.

I have found that our pet scale has been an invaluable tool to monitor Dexter and Sadie's weight.
Some members have found good "baby scale" deals, that work well for cats on e-bay.
I bought ours at Foster Smith.

Good luck

You might check out something like Office Depot for a scale that can be used for mail. I have one I got from the post office that will weigh very accurately up to 10 lbs. and it cost about $30.

However, that might be something Toys R Us/Babies R Us would carry.

I have a friend whose kitties like going for car rides - she visits the local post office after hours (trying for the very quiet times!) and weighs her kitties there

Dr. Foster & Smith has a good rep for its products - or maybe even check overstock.com for baby scales as well.

The postal scale idea works well, too, for smaller cats. Someone else on another forum said they were using one, too, and happy with it.

One problem with people scales is the accuracy. The resolution, i.e. the smallest increments in the readout, really isn't a representation of how accurate the scale is, in terms of giving the correct weight. Just because a digital people scale has a readout with 0.1 pound increments doesn't really mean it's accurate to 0.1 pound. Researching this online last night I found plenty of posts where people said they stepped on one scale and then stepped on another scale and the readout varied by five pounds. I couldn't find any good data on the accuracy, though, because the scale specs present readout accuracy as being the same as resolution, which is an improper mix of terminology.

I think as a general rule, the more expensive the scale, the more accurate its sensors and its readout is. If the accuracy (or maximum error) of a scale is a percentage of the maximum weight that it can measure (which is the usual measure of accuracy and is represented as variance) then a scale that can weight up to 300 pounds, as the usual people scale can, and which has a variance (or maximum error) of, let's say, one tenth of one percent (which is pretty good -- and is what the expensive medical scales are), will give a weight accurate to within plus or minus 0.3 pounds (or 4.8 ounces), which is plenty accurate for weighing people. Whereas a scale that can measure up to ten pounds, as the postal scale can, and has a variance of 0.1 percent, can give a weight to plus or minus .01 pounds (or 0.16 ounces) which is plenty accurate for weighing mail. But the people scale's variance of plus/minus almost five ounces, or ten ounces from one extreme to the other, represents a huge error in weighing a ten pound cat.

Its about that time of year that garage sales begin, at least here in Texas
I have a set of baby scales that I picked up in a garage sale for $5.
I closely monitor my babies with it. What a bargain it was!
I guess when your human baby grows up and you are done having kids, into a garage sale it goes...

I step on my human scale with Jake. To put it in terms we used in my general chemistry class, it may not have a lot of accurracy but will have precision Meaning, maybe it doesn't show the accurate weight but it will not vary every time you step on it and will be consistent ....So when you subtract weight with cat- weight without cat, the difference will be correct. I dunno, generally the smaller the weight, the smaller the discrepancy too so I don't think it's a big deal... To me, I dont need to know the correct weight in ounces. Half a pound accuracy is good enough for me..Last time I weighed Jake he was about 5 and a half pounds...

I just bought this scale from AMAZON:

http://www.amazon.com/Salter-Electro...8269316&sr=8-1

I can verify that it weighs very acuratley because I had the kitties weighed at the vet last week and the weights correlate with my new baby scale.

Utopia, you're correct, it's not the absolute accuracy of the weight. What's important in a cat is the weight change. A young cat should be gaining weight and a mature cat should be maintaining weight. So you need to be able to tell that with whatever method is used. If you're confident that the variance is consistent, then your method works just fine. But I'm curious how you know that it's consistent?

If a cheap people scale has a variance of plus/minus half a pound, for example, it could be half a pound low the first time you step on it without cat and a half pound high the next time you step on it with cat. That big an error of a full pound isn't likely in a scale with fractional increments; it's just an extreme example of how variance works, and what might be possible with a cheap scale. Without a set of calibrating weights, you have no idea what error your scale is giving you. And if a scale doesn't have fractional resolution - like mine which has no decimal point - then the variance on mine is a minimum of plus/minus half a pound. Good enough for me; unsatisfactory for a cat.

A good way to check how well your scale is doing is to use whatever scale and method you want, then go right straight over to your vet's office, weight your cat on his/her scale, and see how close it is. With my pet scale, it's always been within a couple ounces, plenty good enough for watching a cat's weight.

IMO $70 is a worthwhile investment in catching a weight loss before it's critical. A one pound weight loss on a ten pound cat is, well, the cat's probably near death. Think it can't happen? Someone on another forum posted about that very experience. Sorry, I can't mention the particular forum, though.

The way I know is because I usually weigh myself more than once, like I will weigh myself before I step into the shower then after for no particular reason lol...And I never see a change when there shouldn't be. I've weighed myself 10 times in a row sometimes to test the scale... But, i dunno I really don't know for sure. I do see my weight to be constant every morning though, minus no more than a pound, but that's normal based on how hydrated I am when I'm getting weighed...I guess I can't be sure if it's hydration or the scale's problem...

I think 10 times is more than enough.

I doubt my mechanical scale is that consistent. Its problem is a sticky tare adjustment. One reason why I'd recommend spending the extra money for a digital if a person wants to get a pet scale.

My brother bought a really good postal scale... It is very sensitive and accurate, can weigh accurately to a fraction of an ounce. It works well for the cats, I often borrow it to weight my cats and he uses it for his. It is a Salter Brecknell postal scale.