Stunted?

[Moonbeam]

Hi everyone :smt039 We bought Lottie when she was four months old, and have had her for 9 weeks. Unfortunately, I collected her from a tiny house that was overrun with cats and was very unsanitary. She seemed quite traumatized for weeks, and was very underweight as i'm pretty sure she would have had to fight for whatever food was available at her previous house. When we drove home with her the car stank of stale urine and as soon as we got home we had to bath her and sort out her matted fur to make her comfortable :cry:
Thankfully with loads of love and tlc she is now very confident and loving, following us round the house and is a real little character. Her long fur is now shiny and healthy and she has started to play with her toys like a normal kitten. We have always noticed how much smaller she is compared to Purdy and the first time we took her to the vets we found she had a heart murmur which seems to be getting slightly better with each vet visit. But yesterday when we picked her up after her spay the nurse said they couldn't believe how dinky and petite she is, weighing around 2lbs. It's made me think that her poor start in life has stunted her growth and perhaps contributed to her heart murmur aswell, and it angers me to think that had she had proper basic care when younger she would'nt have these problems. We did report the original owner as I couldn't stop thinking about the poor cats left behind. Does anyone know what the average weight should be for a 6 month old kitten? Sorry the post is so long :oops: :)

[angieh]

Hi Moonbeam. How very sad that your lovely little Lottie has had such a poor start to her life, but from what you say she is growing and is now a happy kitten and obviously well loved and cared for.

I would think that you are right and her bad start has curtailed her growth. 2lbs does sound very small. She may of course still grow a bit and it's a good thing that her heart murmur seems to be getting less.

I found this chart of cats' weights which I presume are in kilos -

http://www.petsgetslim.co.uk/site-media/images/modules/advice/Cat_weights.pdf

According to Wikipedia -
"The smallest adult cat ever officially recorded weighed around 1.36 kilograms (3 lb)."

[Moonbeam]

Thanks angieh, she is a special girl. That link was really useful, I hope Lottie doesn't beat the record and stay under 3lb, though judging by the amount she's been scoffing down her neck it's probably doubtful :lol: I also googled about her weight after I started the thread and it seems like the average is about a lb per month so she should be weighing around 6lb I think, but I suppose it also depends on whether a cat is big boned, genetics, breed etc. Her dad was half maine coone and half persian so I think if she'd had a better start in life she would probably have been a big girl

[Liz]

Our Storm is 11 and only weighs 2kgs and we have some other light weights all between 3 and 4 kgs so I wouldn't worry to much she is in a loving environment and will blossom to be all she can be

[Moonbeam]

Aw thanks Liz, Storm sounds like a cute and dinky one too :D Its amazing to watch their little personalities shine through as they become more settled :cat22

[Moli]

I fostered a litter of farm kittens, they were between 4-5 weeks when I got them, grossly underweight, now they are all very healthy, but smaller than most cats their age..I put it down to the bad start they had....

[Moonbeam]

The poor little things, if only people would just neuter it all seems so sad and unnecessary. We could feel every bone in Lotties body she was like a walking skeleton and so terrified, I had to feed her with a baby spoon for weeks as she was too scared to move or eat by herself and carry her to the litter tray, it was like having a poorly baby. Purdy thought the whole thing was very strange and went in a huff for a fortnight :lol: they are good friends now though :D

[alexgirl73]

My Teddie is far smaller than an average exotic shorthair too. She had a dreadful start in life too, and basically survived on cooked chicken and fish for her first year. She's my little dinky cat :lol:

[Moonbeam]

Aw another dinky one, poor girl, people never cease to amaze me, surely its just common sense that animals need balanced nutrition just as we do :roll: I bet she's living the life of luxury now though :D I sometimes worry if Lotties poor start in life will cause her problems when she's older with her heart and organs, and if she will live as many years as she would have had she been fed properly, I suppose only time will tell, whatever happens we'l make sure she lives life to the full

[angieh]

That's all you can do - and really, it's all about quality of life rather than length IMO.

[alexgirl73]

Aw another dinky one, poor girl, people never cease to amaze me, surely its just common sense that animals need balanced nutrition just as we do :roll: I bet she's living the life of luxury now though :D I sometimes worry if Lotties poor start in life will cause her problems when she's older with her heart and organs, and if she will live as many years as she would have had she been fed properly, I suppose only time will tell, whatever happens we'l make sure she lives life to the full

Sorry, miscommunication lol. Teddie was fed chicken and fish by me, because it was basically the only food she could keep inside her. Anything else gave her chronic diahroea :( She came to me for 'free' :roll: from a friends friend who was a breeder. She had worms, fleas, ringworm, ear mites, suspected giardia and IBS. Tbh I don't expect her to live as long as an average cat, but I cherish every day we have together :)

[Moonbeam]

oops :oops: sorry alexgirl73, I thought you meant she wasn't being fed properly by previous owners, of course you were giving her the best thing as she was so poorly when you got her, hope I didn't cause any offence :oops: Hope Teddy is well now :D

[Shelley123]

Luck little Lottie that you gave her a good home. Good for you for reporting the previous owner, i hope something is done to help the cats left behind

[Moonbeam]

Thanks Shelley, I hope so too, I did ask if they would update me but I havn't heard anything back :( I'm pretty certain that once it had been looked into there's no way it could have been left the way things were though :smt078