Kitten big in size small in stature

frankie00

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Hi Guys,

Just wanting some advice on one of my kittens. I had a litter of orphans that I bottle fed and they all did super well except one. I ended up keeping him and naming him Jett. He always had issues with calcium and always had running eyes and suffered with allergies and I just couldn't part with him knowing all his issues would be a lot to take on. I'm an experienced bottle feeder but this is a new one on me.

Now my Jetty boy is super active, super playful and an all round great cat. HOWEVER, he weighs in a nice round 4.5lbs at 20 weeks now. My issue is that he is with out a doubt fat. I currently have a litter of 12 week old kittens who are all about the same size if not bigger in length and height. I wasn't concerned for the first few weeks about his rapidly growing belly but now seeing him gaining weight but not any size seems to be troubling me. It's possible that his issues with calcium are finally catching up to him and he might just be a small cat? I'm not sure.

He is fed a raw diet with very limited dry food (they have the occasional kong or interactive treat toy to share between 8 kittens and I haven't seen him take much interest). Because every one is raw fed they all get set amounts at set meal times and if they don't eat it's taken away after 10 mins. Should I be worried that something more serious is going on with this guy?

Thanks
 

stephenq

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Hi Guys,

Just wanting some advice on one of my kittens. I had a litter of orphans that I bottle fed and they all did super well except one. I ended up keeping him and naming him Jett. He always had issues with calcium and always had running eyes and suffered with allergies and I just couldn't part with him knowing all his issues would be a lot to take on. I'm an experienced bottle feeder but this is a new one on me.

Now my Jetty boy is super active, super playful and an all round great cat. HOWEVER, he weighs in a nice round 4.5lbs at 20 weeks now. My issue is that he is with out a doubt fat. I currently have a litter of 12 week old kittens who are all about the same size if not bigger in length and height. I wasn't concerned for the first few weeks about his rapidly growing belly but now seeing him gaining weight but not any size seems to be troubling me. It's possible that his issues with calcium are finally catching up to him and he might just be a small cat? I'm not sure.

He is fed a raw diet with very limited dry food (they have the occasional kong or interactive treat toy to share between 8 kittens and I haven't seen him take much interest). Because every one is raw fed they all get set amounts at set meal times and if they don't eat it's taken away after 10 mins. Should I be worried that something more serious is going on with this guy?

Thanks
Kittens put on almost exactly 1 pound of weight every four weeks, you can actually age them by weight.  SO a 20 week old kitten should weigh 5 pounds, so your cat is 1/2 pound light a small amount.  He may be the runt of the litter, a small cat.  A growing belly suggests he's getting plenty of calories.....

Here is a link to Body condition score: https://www.google.com/search?q=fel...AhVqiFQKHXflDOAQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=iAiF99_XgrNRmM:
 
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frankie00

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Thanks for that! I'd completely forgot about the body condition chart. Yes he definitely fits in to the "overweight catergory". He is VERY round and has a big belly on him already. He was very runty and I've actually done a conversion now (sorry I'm in Australia everything is in Kgs here) and he weighs about 4.7lbs which isn't too bad for a bottle fed baby and the runt of the litter. But at 20 weeks why would his body condition suggest he is overweight? I think I'm just worrying but I am taking him to the vet later today any way as he is not over eating so there's no reason for him to be overweight. All my 8 other kittens are different shapes and sizes but not one of them is overweight. So just seems odd that he is putting on weight but not growing in to it. Just don't want it to be a big problem I suppose.
 

stephanietx

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At his age, I wouldn't be overly concerned about his weight and being overweight. His metabolism is so high right now and he is still growing and his body is changing. As he grows, his body will become more proportionate.  My cat weighed 8 lbs when he was 6 months old. His body finally caught up to his weight.
 

abyeb

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He is still very young, but if you're concerned, you can talk to a vet about the possibility of hypothyroidism. This is more common in older cats but *can* be in younger cats (albeit more rarely), but when it does occur, it's mostly in kittens who were runts, which it sounds like Jetty is.

Disclaimer: this is personal opinion and should not be considered over advice from a veterinarian.
 
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