Small cats

[Huxxle]

Sorry, couldn’t find the best place to post this. My local cat rescue Centre has kittens that are small for their age. Many of the kittens have remained small for their age. They are 4 months old but look about 8 weeks old. The vet said they are fine and alert. I’m worried about taking them on in case any abnormalities come to light later on down the line and we get too attached! Does anyone have any experience of having a smaller than usual kitten/cat?

My cat is five months and absolutely tiny for her age - barely more than 2 kg. She is absolutely fine and very healthy, vet said she is just petite.

Unfortunately she is also extremely active and loves to zoom around the house and jump off high things. This has led to her breaking her leg 🤦 But no suggestion that her small size is related.

Our cat is still tiny, she was a teeny tiny kitten, DH was against choosing her because she didn’t look as strong as the others. I think looking back the place we got her from was a bit dodgy. She’s 11 now and never had any health problems, she’s got super short legs like one of those munchkin cats but she isn’t one, she’s just never really grown!! I think so long as it seems healthy you’ll be fine

@CoalCraft our cat is also a bonkers little zooming creature! She's so light that despite being an adult she can run up things like a kitten - curtains, shelves, the garden wall... She still chases her tail and gallops around like an excited kitten too. I hope your little one's leg heals quickly

I rescued two small black toms. They stayed small for about a year and then suddenly I was sharing my flat with two panthers!
Small doesn't necessarily equate to unhealthy and I bet it'll be all sorts of bundles of fun

I have a six year old female who is about the six of a six month old. She was the runt and she just stopped growing, lol. We have a male cat who turned one recently and he outgrew her by five months!

She's perfectly healthy, has been neutered with no issues and has never been to the vet aside from her routine vaccinations.

We have 2 sister cats both very dainty who were feral kittens, they still only look about 6 months old but are nearly 10 and have had no problems so far

My sisters cats are 9 months old but look less that 12 weeks vet said they’re fine

I have a tiny cat - she's very long and thin and is built like the feral cats you see in Greece / Turkey. She's always weighed just under 3kg - and will celebrate her 19th birthday early next year, so no worries there about small cats not lasting as long. She has treatment for her bloodpressure but she's held up really well for her age

My cat is little, about 2.5kg... she doesn’t look particularly kitteny, just mini, her mum was small too (I got her from a neighbour as a kitten).

She’s 11, and has literally never been to the vet for anything other than her annual MOT.

4 months vs 8 weeks is probably a big size difference?

My cats were tiny when they were found as strays, their teeth proved they were about 10 weeks not the 4 or 6 that they looked. I had them from 5 months and they were still skinny with sensitive tummies, but not particularly small.

They're big cats now. One is over 6kg.

So I’d guess the kittens are just a small build?

@Huxxle

Thanks. I’m just wondering if the kittens will stay thin throughout their lives or have a shorter life expectancy.

My cats were small (littermates) they stayed small and lived to the ages of 16 and 17.

We had two little black cats when I was a child. Perfectly proportioned, just not much bigger than a ten month old cat.

One died aged 14, one 17. Considering my mother wasn't exactly great at the nurturing side of life and the only times they visited the vets were 1. To be spayed 2. When one was hit by a car within the first year (the one that lasted the longest) and 3. When they needed to be PTS, I don't think that their size caused any problems for them.

My DCat2 is 2.5kg to DCat1's 7kg. Guess who's in charge, though! Cats naturally vary in size and build, just like humans.

One of ours is loads smaller than his litter brother. He was the runt.

My rescue cat is a skinny titch. Naturally so. She's a spunky little thing and gets the zoomies and off she shoots all the length of the garden and back again. Her size must be to her advantage because she loves climbing up our trees. Gets right up so very high much to the horror of our neighbours! She packs a wicked swipe and claw, though. Chased a large Tom off from the garden. She is healthy and doesn't know what to do with herself when getting fussed, sometimes rolling off the sofa or tumbling all over the floor. She's a brilliant cat.

Are they munchkin cats? I don’t think they have a very long life expectancy.

I have two cats, one a wee little girl who is 5 now and not much bigger than a 6 month old kitten.

No health issues. She’s a scrappy little thing when she needs to be, if big cat is being a pain.

When’s she’s cold she does like to come under the duvet for a cuddle, although I’m not sure if that is because of her size.