Size Question

tiberius709

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I have been thinking about this since our girls went to the vet.

One weighs 2.4lbs and the other weighs 3lbs. They are sisters from the same litter. I'm just curious why one would be so much bigger than the other?

We keep dry food out all day because of our work schedules but we feed them wet food once a day. The 2.4lbs kitten will barely eat 1/2 a can of wet food, the 3lbs kitten could eat 2 cans a day if we let her, but we don't. She normally finishes off the other one's portion. The 2.4lbs kitten seems to prefer the dry food over the wet.

Do any of you have any suggestions? Or ideas on why the weight difference? The vet said it's normal to have a weight difference like this, but I'm not sure. They are about 13-14 weeks old.

I'm worried that the littler one just isn't growing like she should. Not sure what else to include. We feed Blue Buffalo both dry and wet.

Thanks!
 

yosemite

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Bijou and Mika are extremely different - he is 20.4 lbs and she is 9. Although they are from different litters they have the same parents. Mika was the runt but aside from being a little diva, she is healthy. The vet says Bijou's ideal weight would be about 18 lbs. so we are working on that.
If she is healthy according to the vet I wouldn't worry.
 

mrblanche

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Different cats have different genes, just like people.

I'm 5"7' and 170. My brother is 5'4" and 200. My sister is 5"2" and 130. Funny how genetics work out.
 

strange_wings

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I have three kittens right now, around nine weeks and each of them have very different weights.

Smallest female is right at 2lbs
Slightly larger girl is 2.4lbs
and the male, who is fat, is 2.8lbs

As long as all kittens are within safe weights for their age. Don't worry, too much. I'd say yours are a little light - but I'd have to see their sizes to know for certain. Make sure you have a good kitten food and use a canned kitten food, too.
The reason mine are so fat is that I'm still mixing a bit of formula with their wet food.
They get half a 5.5oz can, between the three of them, twice a day and free fed dry. I'm about to reduce the wet a little because they're not eating as much now that they put weight on.

I'm not sure about the blue buffalo dry - The adult formula seems so so for it's price. You'd have to post the ingredients and %s for the kitten version.

All kittens have been dewormed?

My suggestion is less wet per meal. Even those little 3oz cans may be a bit big for a kitten - try a third of it and see if that's finished off, if not try a little less. Instead of one meal of wet, make it two. Feed before you go to work and after you get home.
 

jack31

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Oh the variation.

I raised a litter of 5--and have one kitten and their mother still. At birth the biggest was 4.2 oz and the smallest 2.6 oz. I kept the biggest and she remains the biggest of the litter. Her momma is only 8 lbs and her baby is over 6 lbs at 6 months.

I'd have to check a good friend has the male of the group who was the runt of the litter I believe he is rather small still.

Leslie
 
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tiberius709

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

As long as all kittens are within safe weights for their age. Don't worry, too much. I'd say yours are a little light - but I'd have to see their sizes to know for certain. Make sure you have a good kitten food and use a canned kitten food, too.
We leave dry out and feed half a can to each around 1-2 ish. (I should clarify that it's half a 3.5 oz can)

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I'm not sure about the blue buffalo dry - The adult formula seems so so for it's price. You'd have to post the ingredients and %s for the kitten version..
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Whole Ground Barley, Salmon Meal, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Whole Potatoes, Menhaden Fish Meal (natural source of DHA-Docosahexaneoic Acid), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg, Whole Carrots, Whole Sweet Potatoes, Cranberries, Blueberries, Flaxseed (natural source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Taurine, L-Lysine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Turmeric, Salmon Oil (natural source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Black Malted Barley, Oil of Rosemary, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin C, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Beta Carotene, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Folic Acid, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Calcium Chloride, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Potassium Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Potassium), Cobalt Proteinate (source of Chelated Cobalt), Potassium Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Salt, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bacillus subtilis, Bifidobacterium thermophilum, Bifidobacterium longum, Enterococcus faecium.

Crude Protein \t36.0% min
Crude Fat \t20.0% min
Crude Fiber \t3.5% max
Moisture \t10.0% max
Ash \t6.0% max
Magnesium \t0.10% max
Calcium \t1.0% min
Phosphorus \t0.9% min
Taurine \t0.15% min
Omega 3 Fatty Acids* \t0.5% min
Omega 6 Fatty Acids* \t4.5% min

Originally Posted by strange_wings

All kittens have been dewormed?.
Both have been dewormed and are going for a second round next month. (I just know my vet said to bring them in again for more dewormer)

Originally Posted by strange_wings

My suggestion is less wet per meal. Even those little 3oz cans may be a bit big for a kitten - try a third of it and see if that's finished off, if not try a little less. Instead of one meal of wet, make it two. Feed before you go to work and after you get home.
So you think instead of giving them each a half a can, give them less and spread it to twice a day? The one kitten (Jadzia is the 3lb-er) could eat a whole can at once but we don't let her. Ezri (the 2.4lb-er) barely eats 1/2 a can and even when we first started we gave them 1/4 two times a day and she barely ate it then. She just seems to favor the dry. I hear(well read) people suggesting sometimes to warm it up a bit, would this maybe help her want to eat it?

I appreciate any suggestions or advice. I try to get good food for them and have it available for them to eat, but I just worry that they aren't as big as they are supposed to be, especially my little Ezri. I just figured she was the petite sister.
 
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tiberius709

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Originally Posted by mrblanche

Different cats have different genes, just like people.

I'm 5"7' and 170. My brother is 5'4" and 200. My sister is 5"2" and 130. Funny how genetics work out.
I was curious if they were like people. Even though they are from the same litter, they could have different dads? I don't know, they look almost identical, but I am starting to believe they just are a little different.. like you and your siblings.. and me and my siblings. =)
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by tiberius709

So you think instead of giving them each a half a can, give them less and spread it to twice a day? The one kitten (Jadzia is the 3lb-er) could eat a whole can at once but we don't let her. Ezri (the 2.4lb-er) barely eats 1/2 a can and even when we first started we gave them 1/4 two times a day and she barely ate it then. She just seems to favor the dry. I hear(well read) people suggesting sometimes to warm it up a bit, would this maybe help her want to eat it?
The blue buffalo look ok, there are those iffy ingredients that you may need to keep an eye out for later. iirc - barely can be iffy, and theres all the extra stuff. The %s seem typical of most kitten foods.
sharky would have to give you a better break down than I could - I mostly know what to avoid and what must be there.

You could always try giving a little more to the piggy kitten - but I honestly think over an ounce per meal is pretty big for a kitten. That's closer to what I feed my adult cats per meal. Warming it up and spreading out meals may work. Some cats nibble more than others, and if the little one is nibbling at more meals it could get her to gain a couple onces.


But yes, she may ultimately be smaller. She could even have a growth spurt later on. And yes, kittens from the same litter can have more than one father.

I hope the extra deworming helps, too. Mine have to get another one in next week and I hope that helps my smallest kitten catch up to her sister (no hopes of her catching up to her brother, he's a big kitten
). What you really need to watch out for is if they're gaining weight steadily. As long as that happens they're growing fine.
If you don't have a scale, you could check and see if anyone has an old baby scale.
 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

I honestly think over an ounce per meal is pretty big for a kitten. That's closer to what I feed my adult cats per meal.
Kittens eat up to 3 times the amount that adults do. If the kittens wants a whole can i'd let him have it. My kittens eat 3.5-4 oz per meal.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by missymotus

Kittens eat up to 3 times the amount that adults do. If the kittens wants a whole can i'd let him have it. My kittens eat 3.5-4 oz per meal.
More overall during the day, not more all at once. Kittens stomachs are proportional to the size of the kitten - not that large. If you tried cramming a full can's worth of food into a kittens stomach all at once, plus whatever water and recently eaten dry food thats not fully digested yet, it wouldn't fit as well as you think it does. Older kittens can eat more.

My kittens are only eating a little over an ounce of wet, per kitten, at a time, after that they walk away and won't show interest for another hour or two.


Overall, and certainly no one is honestly going to disagree with this (?!), for kittens it's better to give more feedings throughout the day - as much as one's schedule allows, instead of just a one or two larger meals. Adults can deal with that schedule fine.

So to the OP: Please do add an extra wet meal. Your smaller kitten could be filling up and getting hungry later. If you don't want anything in the fridge, you can continue to let the other one finish off what's left. If you notice that the food is being left, further break up the meal - give the extra to them an hour later or so. The reason for this is because wet food is meat, it spoils if left out too long.
 

mrblanche

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Originally Posted by tiberius709

I was curious if they were like people. Even though they are from the same litter, they could have different dads? I don't know, they look almost identical, but I am starting to believe they just are a little different.. like you and your siblings.. and me and my siblings. =)
The genetic makeup can vary a lot. In addition, experiences while a kitten (illness, starvation, etc.) can result in large variations later.

I don't know if you've seen it, but there's a good book out recently entitled "Homer's Odyssey," about a blind cat. That cat, fully grown (now 12 years old) weighs only 3 pounds.
 

bunnelina

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When we took our 10-week feral kitten for her first check-up, the vet said she was too skinny at 2.8 pounds. She had worms and wasn't eating much. She also didn't play or run around — didn't know how to be a kitten. When we adopted her, they gave us some Royal Kanin kibble in a zip-lock bag, maybe two cups. Just keep her on that, they said, she likes it. Ten days later, there was plenty left, and she wasn't interested in other cat food.

The vet said she wasn't thriving and to try any and all food. We tried roast chicken breast. Our kitten gained a pound in a week, filled out nicely, and began racing around with toys in her mouth. Playing gave her an appetite, too. We thought she'd always be tiny, but she is clearly going to be a big cat. She eats all kinds of food now, except the Royal Kanin. She must have hated it!

Try feeding them as much as they want, as often as you can, and leave dry food in bowls when you're gone. If your littler one seems uninterested, keep trying new things until you find a winner.
 
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