Weight

This weight business is something that bothers me... it's clear reading through various threads that weights for similar ages can be wildly different - Larry and Monty and JCKKerrison's litter mates are two great examples of that - but Freyja seems much lighter that some of the kitties at 6 months. She gets two wet pouches/ tins a day - Applaws in the morning and Cat Deli in the evening, both at least 50% meat. And she's got biscuits down all day to graze on - it's been RC Kitten 36 until the last 2 weeks, when we changed to Go Cat Complete Adult and Meowing Heads.

She usually polishes off her pouches - just a few crumbs left - and rarely finishes off the biscuits. Sometimes she wines for more food when she's still got biscuits down, and if her wet food has gone I will put down a small block of coley fish, which she usually wolfs about half down. I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that her appetite seems to have increased, and I'm guessing that might be as a result of her being spayed?

She was weighed the day she was spayed and was 3.4kg, and yesterday I weighed her (yes, finally worked out the best way to do it!) and she was 3.8kg. The day I brought her home (3.5 months ago) she weighed 1.5kg.

Howlinbob, would be interesting to know what the boys weigh now as they're almost exactly the same age as Freyja.

My worry is that I'm under feeding her, although - as I mentioned above - she rarely finishes her biscuits off, and I would think if she was THAT hungry she would tuck into them.

Simba won't eat any wet food, he has never liked it much. He is on purely RC MC and seems to love it. I have no idea how much he is eating but I'm constantly re-filling his bowl.

Just wormed him and he was sooooooooo good! I smothered the pill in butter sat him on a high surface, tilted his head back and opened his mouth then pushed the pill to the back of his throat and rubbed his throat while smothering him with kisses:smile: went straight down first time:smile::smile:

My next question is - no I will start another thread I think

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Karena

I weighed Simba again this morning because I need to worm him and need to know the dose to give him. I was a bit disappointed. He weighed 14 pounds which I think is about 6.4 kg so he hasn't put a huge amount on in the six weeks or so since I last weighed him. Do you think it's normal to slow down a bit at his age (10 months).

---

Can you ask the breeder what to expect - they would know what their breedlines do in the growth stakes.
I think you could stuff him with everything you could find and he will sit on that weight ( I would be surprised if totally no growth - I do have dry available 24/7 especially for the youngstars, and mine do night snack about 2am and 5 am) When he triggers a growth spurt that could be around the 12 -14 mth mark I would expect you will see him growing overnight. I think it is good to keep maintain his weight by feeding the good tucker, because sometimes when they have that growth spurt it is hard for them to eat enough to keep up to the growth rate. Good Luck with your coonie babe.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Karena

I weighed Simba again this morning because I need to worm him and need to know the dose to give him. I was a bit disappointed. He weighed 14 pounds which I think is about 6.4 kg so he hasn't put a huge amount on in the six weeks or so since I last weighed him. Do you think it's normal to slow down a bit at his age (10 months).

---

Yes--they definitely slow down by that age. 14 lbs at 10 mos. is a quite big male MC. Remember that he is going to keep growing for at least another couple of years. Our male that was 14 lbs at one year was 21 lbs at two years. Our younger male that was 14 lbs at 9-10mos is now nearly 19lbs (at vet) at 14 mos. He obviously cannot keep this growth rate up.

As for food...of our four, one girl eats mainly wet, one girl mainly dry, and the boys have been eating both. However, the two year old male has recently started eating mainly dry, and is clearly not eating as much anymore (he is if anything a bit pudgy now and clearly done growing fast, at about 22 lbs at 26 mos.).

Thanks for that. It's nice to hear that he is a good weight for his age. He certainly isn't fat, but quite stocky and he is long too, when he stretches out on the sofa we are always amazed at how long he is:smile:

She sounds a good weight for her age Karen,just think a normal average weight for a domestic cat is around the 4 to 4.5kg region & she is not far off of that with a lot of growing time to still go,if she likes her wet food best perhaps just up that more if thats what she is happiest with...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FreyjaRoMaine

Howlinbob, would be interesting to know what the boys weigh now as they're almost exactly the same age as Freyja.

---

Hi Karen, funny you should ask as we weighed the lads about 20 minutes ago! Larry is 4.94kgs (big unit) and Monty is 4.54kgs.
:nod:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Karena

He certainly isn't fat, but quite stocky and he is long too, when he stretches out on the sofa we are always amazed at how long he is:smile:

---

The difference in body type between our two boys and two girls is astonishing. The boys are very solid all over their bodies while the girls are relatively bony. We did have one boy a few years ago that was very lean/thin even at age two, but he seemed to have food allergies and died suddenly of a fairly rare intestinal problem at around two years! Our 19lbs "baby's" favorite game right now is to have you put Science Diet TD (tooth) biscuits on the edge of the counters and he stands up and grabs them in his paws.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jckkerrison

She sounds a good weight for her age Karen,just think a normal average weight for a domestic cat is around the 4 to 4.5kg region & she is not far off of that with a lot of growing time to still go,if she likes her wet food best perhaps just up that more if thats what she is happiest with...

---

That's a good thought, hadn't crossed my mind to try that. Will give it a go and see how she gets on, thanks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Howlinbob

Hi Karen, funny you should ask as we weighed the lads about 20 minutes ago! Larry is 4.94kgs (big unit) and Monty is 4.54kgs.
:nod:

---

Thanks, that's interesting to know. So she's got some catching up to do then!