How Much Weight Should Older Kittens 12+ Weeks Be Gaining

NewYork1303 · Jun 18, 2015

When we got our kitten, she had just been to the vet for a spay operation and shots. The vet weighed her in at 2 pounds 10oz at 11 weeks old. I never confirmed this weight. However, when we took her back to the vet since she was ill, he said she needed to be eating more and likely had worms. We weighed her yesterday at 13 weeks old. She weighs about 3 pounds 4 oz. I was wondering how much weight she should be gaining each week as an older kitten.

This is her when we got her.

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NewYork1303
Jun 13, 2015

This is her now.

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NewYork1303
Jun 18, 2015

zhakar · Jun 18, 2015

it doesn't seems too light for me

u simply have to monitor her stool and see how much she eats per day

sometimes u can't just rely on vet as they talk in general and each cat is different

if her stool is normal ,eats normal and keep gainning weight

don't worry too much then

simply deworm her regurlary and see if she keep on gaining weight

stephenq · Jun 18, 2015

NewYork1303 said:

Hi, what a cutie!

She's right on track. Healthy kittens reliably gain 1 pound per month for the first few months so a 3 month old kitten should weigh 3 pounds, 4 month, 4 pounds. Generally at this age they should eat as much as they want, 3 times a day. Wet food and dry, or wet only, but generally there is a consensus that a dry food only diet isn't ideal.

NewYork1303 · Jun 18, 2015

I think the vet was mostly concerned weight wise since she feels like a little skeleton. Her spine and hips stick out from her body if you pet her. This has definitely been getting better since we started using the worming medicine. And her belly is more round now.

zhakar · Jun 18, 2015

then it's no big deal , don't worry bout it

u will have to deworm every month or 2 though

or parasites may come back

Sarthur2 · Jun 18, 2015

stephenq is right. About a pound for every month and let her eat as much as she wants.

Did your vet give you worm medicine?

She's really cute!

NewYork1303 · Jun 18, 2015

I have her on scheduled meals of Royal Canin, but I have to lock her in a dog crate to give it to her since my older cat has developed a real hankering for the kitten food. He will stand outside the crate and watch her eat it. Yesterday, I caught her pushing kibbles out of the bowl and pushing them through the crate to share with him.

He is free fed and has plenty of his own food, but wants hers more. She wants to be out of the crate and playing rather than eating so she'll cry for a bit about being in there and then eat all but like 8 kibbles.

I've been getting her to eat slightly less than what is recommended on the bag, but I can't get her to eat more. I have also been feeding half a can of Fancy Feast to go with this. It is much easier to feed to her since the older cat hates canned cat food. She also snags some of his food between meals, which might be why she can't eat all of her own. I'm not too worried about this since he eats a grain free brand that has higher amounts of fat and protein than the kitten food she is eating.

Sounds like she's on track though so I'm glad to hear it!

NewYork1303 · Jun 18, 2015

sarthur2 said:
@StephenQ is right. About a pound for every month and let her eat as much as she wants.

Did your vet give you worm medicine?

She's really cute!

Yeah. The vet gave us medication to give her for the next several days to get rid of the worms.

zhakar · Jun 18, 2015

NewYork1303 said:
I have her on scheduled meals of Royal Canin, but I have to lock her in a dog crate to give it to her since my older cat has developed a real hankering for the kitten food. He will stand outside the crate and watch her eat it. Yesterday, I caught her pushing kibbles out of the bowl and pushing them through the crate to share with him.

He is free fed and has plenty of his own food, but wants hers more. She wants to be out of the crate and playing rather than eating so she'll cry for a bit about being in there and then eat all but like 8 kibbles.

I've been getting her to eat slightly less than what is recommended on the bag, but I can't get her to eat more. I have also been feeding half a can of Fancy Feast to go with this. It is much easier to feed to her since the older cat hates canned cat food. She also snags some of his food between meals, which might be why she can't eat all of her own. I'm not too worried about this since he eats a grain free brand that has higher amounts of fat and protein than the kitten food she is eating.

Sounds like she's on track though so I'm glad to hear it!

kitten food has more flavor essence in it to attract kittens to eat more, btw it;s not a bad idea to look out and see if royal canin is still having probs with their products after they moved their production line to china. try to give her some cooked chicken too that may increase her appetite =)

stephenq · Jun 18, 2015

NewYork1303 said:
I have her on scheduled meals of Royal Canin, but I have to lock her in a dog crate to give it to her since my older cat has developed a real hankering for the kitten food. He will stand outside the crate and watch her eat it. Yesterday, I caught her pushing kibbles out of the bowl and pushing them through the crate to share with him.

He is free fed and has plenty of his own food, but wants hers more. She wants to be out of the crate and playing rather than eating so she'll cry for a bit about being in there and then eat all but like 8 kibbles.

I've been getting her to eat slightly less than what is recommended on the bag, but I can't get her to eat more. I have also been feeding half a can of Fancy Feast to go with this. It is much easier to feed to her since the older cat hates canned cat food. She also snags some of his food between meals, which might be why she can't eat all of her own. I'm not too worried about this since he eats a grain free brand that has higher amounts of fat and protein than the kitten food she is eating.

Sounds like she's on track though so I'm glad to hear it!

There would be nothing wrong with putting her on a wet food only diet and that would solve the problem of the other cat wanting her food.

NewYork1303 · Jun 18, 2015

I would definitely try putting her on wet food all of the time, except that she also seems to favor the dry food over the wet. I know her foster mom said that they were trying to switch the kittens to dry only so maybe that's why she isn't as interested in it? I am just giving wet food with the hope of her getting some more nutrients and moisture into her diet.

NewYork1303 · Jun 30, 2015

So she is now 3 pounds 10 oz. I figured out that I weighed her wrong last time and she was actually only 3 pounds and a fraction of an ounce. Either way since she is right around 15 weeks old she seems like she is on track.

She seems to mostly be growing in the legs just getting taller and lankier as a teenage cat now. She is definitely a lot healthier now. Both cats are eating a mix of the kitten food and the cat food during the day since they are no longer separated and both have free access to food (neither will stick to their own bowl, they both trade it up). She gets her half can of wet kitten food each day. She still doesn't seem to love it, but will eat it. He sneaks just one bite each time to remind himself that he doesn't really like wet food. I guess he doesn't want to be left out of the special feeding time.

How Much Weight Should Older Kittens 12+ Weeks Be Gaining

NewYork1303

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