One of my 8 week old kittens is smaller than the rest. Have questions.

I have a litter of 5 and one of them is smaller than the rest. He is NOT thin. I can't feel his bones but his brothers are bigger. He plays alot and eats alot and doesn't seem to be ill. Could he just be unlucky and be naturally smaller? Also his belly is a bit big but I think it's due to how much he eats. he doesn't vomit or have diareah so I don't think it's worms. If this is common let me know. Thanks

Hello and welcome to The Cat Site.

Congratulations on the litter of five. I think your small kitty may be the runt of the litter. There is a search box in this forum at the top of the page. You might try typing in runt and read some other threads where people have had smaller kittens.

We do have some very good advisors and someone will be along to help you and answer your questions when they are online. Good luck with the the little one.

There is a runt in most litters. I had one in my litter of four. He ended up being the biggest cat of all, but it took awhile!

The most important thing for you to do is to make sure your runt is getting enough to eat each day. An 8-week-old kitten should weigh about 2 pounds. Do you know how much he weighs? Does he still nurse mom? Does he have access to dry kitten food 24/7 and several wet food meals per day?

I agree. If he adds at least 6+ grammes a day, seems healthy otherwise, no pity about him - its not his fault the  littermates are growing even quicker...  There IS always some biological variation.  And its oK - its even good.

What we want to prevent, is differences caused by negative factors, alike the kitten doesnt get enough to eat, is sick,or the bigger siblings are pushing him off the best teats...  This can we often compensate by extra feeding or letting the kittens take rotations at momma.  

As you describe it, it sounds all right - but good you DO have your eyes open!