Cat growth..

skyclad72

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My wife and I have 2 cats (brother and sister).

Merlin is a 10th month old neutered male
Freya is a 10th month old neutered female

Freya is considerably larger than her brother. Whilst not overweight / obese (at 4 and a bit kg) she is physically stockier and "taller".

I was wondering at what age male / female cats stop growing. I'm curious how much growth they both have in them?
 

arlyn

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There really isn't much of a predictor aside from individual build (bone structure).
Unless your kittens are registered pedigree cats, it's very likely that there were serveral fathers involved.
Each kitten in a given litter can have a different sire.
Most cats are finshed growing around 12-18 months, some a little longer, with some slow maturing breeds taking 2 years.

I have two male littermates here, 2 years old.
One is long and sleek and has almost no bodyfat, built like a runner, the other is rounded (not fat), and built like your average lapcat.
The sleek one is 9 pounds, the lapcat is 10.5 pounds.
Not really much difference in weight, but a huge difference (visually) in size.
 
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skyclad72

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Well we adopted Merlin and Freya from the rescue centre locally. They came from a large litter, but only 4 had survived and the mother had pretty much deserted them. There were obviously several fathers involved (although I'm no expert on cat genetics or the probability of certain genetic characteristics)

Our 2
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Merlin - shorthaired tabby (m)
Freya - very longhaired tabby / white (f)


Other 2 at the rescue centre
----------------------------
"sparky" - shorthaired black (m)
"muffin" - longhaired black / white (f)


I suppose therefore it depends on the size of the corresponding father as to how large the offspring might be. It's just that Freya can barely squeeze through the catflap and we're hoping she doesn't get much bigger !!
 

arlyn

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Bless you for adopting them

I'd have had a hard time not taking all 4 home


It is fairly safe to say that your female probably isn't going to get a whole lot bigger.
Unless there is some huge cat genes in her background.
Average weight will probably top out probably between 9 and 13 pounds.
While with males, average weight usually tops out around 11 to 18 pounds.
Again, this will depend on their individual builds and activity levels at maturity.
 
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skyclad72

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Here is a picture of the 2 of them when they were very little - captured at a moment where they kept still for a microsecond. Amazingly Freya actually grew into her ear tufts !! The size difference between the two of them now is phenomenal ! Thank you for your advice.... perhaps my wife and I can lay off having to get a dog door installed
 
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