Kitten Weight Question

moxymom · Jun 3, 2005

At birth, kittens should weigh approximately 3 to 3 and a half ounces.

At 1 week weight should be approximately 4 ounces.

At 2 weeks, weight should be approximately 7 ounces - Your others sound in line with this however, at almost 3 weeks old now, they should weigh a little more.

At 3 weeks, weight should be approximately 10 ounces - this is where your kittens should be at this stage.

At 4 weeks weight should be approximately 13 ounces.

At 5 weeks, weight should be approximately 1 pound.

By the end of the 8th week, kittens should weigh approximately 2 pounds.

That was posted, I believe, by Gayef in another thread and I stole it

hope you don't mind, I needed it for reference!

Trixie had 4 kittens on May 21. The youngest one died on the 23rd. The firstborn, Cajun, was big at birth (I didn't have a scale yet but he was pretty hefty!). The second, Abby, wasn't quite as big, but was pretty darn close. The 3rd, Lilliputian (Lilli for short) was only about half the size of the others.

So, yesterday I was getting a little concerned as the 2 oldest ones look soooo huge and while Lilli is bigger than when she was born, she's still, by far, the runt of this litter. I went out and bought a food scale and came home to weigh my kitties. When I weighed them, I thought the scale must be wrong so I grabbed a steak out of my fridge to test it and it was right!

Anyway, I'll stop rambling. The kittens are 13 days old (12 when I weighed them).

Cajun: 12 oz. (avg weight for age 7 ounces)
Abby: 11.5 oz (avg weight for age 7 ounces)
Lilli: 8.5 oz (avg weight for age 7 ounces)

Now, I was super concerned and ran out to buy KMR for Lilli since she weighed sooooo much less than the others. She won't take it though

BUT, Looking at what Gayef posted, the first two are actually WAY over what they should be and Lilli is about right (a little over but with 7 being the avg, I assume 6-8 is about the norm.)

Soooo....should I be concerned? Should I be doing something differently?

moxymom · Jun 3, 2005

Additionally, should I not worry about the KMR for Lilli? I'm not having much luck getting her to take it but if she needs it, I'll persist!

gayef · Jun 3, 2005

I wouldn't do anything any differently - sounds like you have some fat, happy, healthy babies!

moxymom · Jun 3, 2005

Thank you

After losing the little one, I'm sooooo paranoid now. I swear I check them more than Trixie does

I hate being at work cause I can't check on them ROFL

lydia_plus3 · Jun 3, 2005

Congrats on your healthy babies! Mine are not much older, Lydia had her 3 on May 15th. Her first born started out a hair bigger than the other 2, now he's about half their size. When I took them to the vet at 8 days old, she said he was a runt, to make sure he wasn't getting pushed out of the way at meal-time & he would catch up. When I took them back at 17 days, vet said he was a fading kitten, & hospitalized them for a day & a half, to get him rehydrated. vet says he's now 2 wks behind his littermates. It's still up in the air whether or not he will survive (I think he will, he's a fighter). Anyway, sorry for rambling, Iwas just wondering what kind of scale you use to weigh kittens, & where I could find one. I still don't know any of their weights, & vet never said.
Nikki

moxymom · Jun 4, 2005

I picked up a food scale at Walmart LOL It cost me about $10 CAD. To make sure it was accurate, I put a steak in it that had a weight on the pkg and it was

Since I posted this 2 days ago, their weights have already changed!

Cajun: 12.5 oz
Abby: 12 oz
Lilli: 10 oz

gayef · Jun 4, 2005

Don't get too tied up with their weights - there are so many factors that will cause them to gain or lose that it really isn't that horribly important. Weight is really an indicator/factor for the first couple of weeks or so ... you want to see a steady increase and be on the lookout for either rapidly declining weights or a kitten that isn't gaining at all.

moxymom · Jun 4, 2005

Ya, the only reason I wound up getting the scale was because I was concerned Lilli wasn't getting what she needed. Looks like I may have overreacted LOL

lydia_plus3 · Jun 4, 2005

Originally Posted by gayef

Don't get too tied up with their weights - there are so many factors that will cause them to gain or lose that it really isn't that horribly important. Weight is really an indicator/factor for the first couple of weeks or so ... you want to see a steady increase and be on the lookout for either rapidly declining weights or a kitten that isn't gaining at all.

My little actually needs to be supplemented w/ formula. vet says if I don't supplement him w/ formula regularly, he will surely die. Everything I've read about bottle feeding a kitten is tied into their weight w/ regards in how much to feed them. Vet never said anything about his weight, just feed him every few hours until his belly rounds out, but it's so hard to tell. Also I've read not to squeeze mill from bottle into kittens mouth, but vets assistant said she had to, so that's what I've been doing. Also I haven't gotten him to go potty yet. I'm worried I'm doing things wrong, & this poor little guys life is on the line

Do you have any input that might help me?
P.S. He's 3 weeks old tomorrow, but vet says he's 2 weeks behind his littermates

moxymom · Jun 10, 2005

Good god Trixie gave birth to.....................

...........................

.............................

PIGS!!!

Cajun (Whom my hubby calls Garfield LOL): 1 lb 1.5 oz

Abby: 14 oz

Lilli: 12.5 oz

I can't believe the size of them!! Especially Cajun...he's ginormous!! They'll be 3 weeks old tomorrow!

Kitten Weight Question

moxymom

TCS Member

Thread starter

moxymom

TCS Member

Thread starter

gayef

TCS Member

moxymom

TCS Member

Thread starter

lydia_plus3

TCS Member

moxymom

TCS Member

Thread starter

gayef

TCS Member

moxymom

TCS Member

Thread starter

lydia_plus3

TCS Member

moxymom

TCS Member

Thread starter

Latest Posts

Connect with us