Anyone else have a "petite" cat?

Kitchi was in for a neuter yesterday and they weighed him.

He's 7.2lbs at 8.5mos old. Only gained one lb since Oct.

The vet thinks he's fine, she's not concerned about his weight at all.


I on the other hand would like to see him slightly heavier....I don't like being able the really feel his ribs.... Like Kizzy, I can feel his ribs, but they are underneath a coating of body mass. Kitchi, you can feel every single rib.

Maybe its me, well I know its just me.... I prefer animals and humans to have some meat on their bones

Anyone else with a petite cat? Did they gain some weight (not just in the belly flab) after being altered?

Yes, I have a petite cat. Peaches is 8 months old and weighs 5.6 lbs. The vet said she might get to 6lbs eventually. She didn't change much after being spayed. She is just really small. She is round and filled out. It's cute, she will be kitten size forever!

Id say flash would be classed as petite shes the weight of a feather yet eats like a horse she only looks big because she is so fluffy, she really stopped growing after her operation but i think thats just a conincedence (sp)

ill weigh her next time i see her

If your vet says he's a healthy weight, then he is. He's also a kitten, he's probably working off plenty of calories.

He'll gain more weight as he gets older and stops growing.


Tomas was just under 8lbs at 8months. He's about the right size for a female cat... he's small for a male. After he stopped growing he did put on more weight and is probably right around 11to 11.5lb ( he's been sneaking kitten food lately...) now. I can feel his ribs, but it's not like they're sticking out.

Scarlett isn't even 7 pounds and she's 8 years old, but she is a petite little girl.

My Oscar was very small until he started to really grow at about 14 months old. He was a very late bloomer for a cat and is now about 14 pounds at 6 years old.

Neutering will help, I bet. My girl, Abbey is not going to be very big, I think. Her whole family outside are petite things. Spaying her mother's kittens and grand kittens helped them pack on a few pounds, but they are still rather small.

Zoey is the smallest cat I have ever had ... she is 9 lb s at nearly 6 years old ...I should note I can easily feel her ribs.. and the vet said up to 10 would be fine but I am fine with 9 as it is up from 8.5

If there's one thing I've learned is to trust your instincts, but still rely on professionals to help guide you toward what needs worrying and what needs patience. It sounds like Kitchi is healthy and that is the most important thing -- I've certainly had cats fill out following their spay or neuter and I suspect Kitchi will too.

But, on the other hand, some kitties are just teensy. I have a petite cat. Emory, my tortie girl, weighs about 7.5 pounds and she is two years old. The vet says she is extremely healthy and is just a small girl, but I, too, would like to see her gain a little -- even if just a half pound. Emory had a rough start and was extremely malnourished when she was rescued and brought in to the shelter. She's gained a bit and is definitely the very picture of health, but should an emergency or illness arise, I'd like her to have some reserves to pull from. But, if she stays this small, then that is okay too. She's just my little girly-girl.

Kitchi is still a baby and is full of energy. He may gain a little post-neuter, but he just may be a little guy in a big, fuzzy package .

Originally Posted by sharky

Zoey is the smallest cat I have ever had ... she is 9 lb s at nearly 6 years old ...

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Siri was 9lb when I took her in last August. Her food intake has been more regulated since then and she acquired a more defined waist. (she was probably eating other outdoor cats food, too)

She's probably 8.5-8.8lbs now. She's a small girl but not abnormally so for a female cat.

MewMew was tiny until she was 2 years old. She's probably around 11-12lb with winter bulk up now.

Kinney weighed in at 9 pounds yesterday. He is 1 1/2 years old. I think he is small.

Frankie, my abyssinian is a pudgy midget.

He weighs 8 pounds and is chubby

Sweetness is 4 years old and only weighs 6 lb. She is tiny but very healthy otherwise!

Both of my boys fluffed up after their neuters, but they are both BIG cats, not petite at all.

My mom's cat Patches is 5lbs at 11 years old but he's not underweight, just super tiny!

You should talk to your vet about your concerns with his ribs being felt so easily. He may say that Kitchi is a healthy weight but on the low end of the scale, etc. and give you some idea of how to help him gain some.

Originally Posted by CruiserMaiden

You should talk to your vet about your concerns with his ribs being felt so easily. He may say that Kitchi is a healthy weight but on the low end of the scale, etc. and give you some idea of how to help him gain some.

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As I already posted in the first post, my vet is quite satisfied with his weight. I asked about it in Oct, then again it Dec. LOL.

Its a personal choice/preference in my case as I wrote:

Maybe its me, well I know its just me.... I prefer animals and humans to have some meat on their bones.

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I was just curious if others had petite cats, and if they gained after being altered

Guess it doesn't help that I have a 2 other BIG cats, so they make poor Kitchi look so very scrawny.

Thanks for sharing about your petite cats everyone.

Ginger is a spayed female and weighs 8 lbs, her baby weighs 8 lbs at 8 months...apparently daddy was big--because baby is still growing.

My boys are both neutered, Jack at neutered at 4 months and he weighs 10 lbs, Harley was neutered at about 18 months and weighs 9.5 lbs--I see Harley as petite, Jack isn't very heavy, but he's a large cat, he could gain a bit, but he is very active, I struggle to keep weight on him at times.

Leslie

I have two 'petite' cats but in different ways. Ellie is a normal height - actually, she has very long legs, but has always been very thin, despite eating well. She is five years old now and I have three times had her checked out by different vets, but they all look at her glossy coat and shiny eyes and say she is healthy. I do give her extra food in the form of a high protein supplement, or else I can feel her spine, but she is probably the most active of all my cats and is just built that way. I always say that if she were human she would be a supermodel, tall and thin and gorgeous.

Biscotte is completely different. She is just small, though three years old now, Vets ask how old the kitten is when they see her. She is cat shaped though, filled out and well covered, just very small. Again, it just natural to her. So funny to see her with Wellington though, she is half his size.

Fluffy is a tiny girl at about 5.5 lbs. She is healthy and beautiful, just very petite. She is 4 years old and spayed as soon as she was old enough.

Da Magpie must weigh all of 6 pounds now, and she is two and just tiny. She is about half the size of Da Lip, and about 1/3 the size of brother Zabbie. I don't know how much can be attributed to being orphaned at about a month old and how much is genetics: her great granddam was also very small until she got about 6 years old, and the other female here is also very small.

Marshmallow is small...when he first showed up at DH's office, we were sure he was female. He has gotten himself a bit of a potbelly since being neutered.

2 of my 3 recent cats have been petites.

Our late Gracie never crossed the 7 lb mark in her life. She was always 6 and change. She was adopted out to us as a 4 year old DSH/persian cross. She had a litter of kittens at the HS and was spayed on her way home to us.

My Aya is now 1 year old and is about 7 lbs. She really slowed down growing at about 7 mos just after her spay. I don't think she will ever be a big cat; her feets and head are really tiny. She's still very active like a kitten so she's skinny-inny. She looks a lot like a Japanese bobtail too, being derived from Japanese domestics that shouldn't suprise me, and they don't get much over 7lbs either.