Small male cat

[Kattiekins]

We have a male cat who is 4 years old. He was born on a farm with one sibling. He was well cared for, DH knows the farmer very well and he’s an animal lover. We got him at 3 months and he was neutered at 9 months.

He fluctuates between 3.5 and 3.7kg.

Is this normal? I‘m only asking because we’ve had a few comments recently about his small size.

Mine is between 6/7 kg but they are massive! I think i was told the national average was 4kg once?

Have you checked on the body shape chart? Some cats are just small

Mine is five and 2.6kg! She has small cat syndrome.

My late girls were between 3.5-4.5kg.

Yes very normal for there to be a runt, typically of a larger litter but not necessarily always so.
If he eats well, stays hydrated, toilets regularly and is engaging with you then I wouldn't be worried about him due to size or weight.

You can always ask your vet to check him over when he gets his yearly vaccinations.

Look at this

He‘s definitely not underweight, he’s like a normal cat just smaller! Can’t imagine him being the runt when we was only one of two.

Will have to ask DH to ask the farmer how big his mum/ sibling are

I have a seven year old male cat who’s weighed about 3.4kg since he was about one. He’s perfectly healthy, and eats plenty, but is just small (but perfectly formed!) My other boy is about 4.5kg, they get fed much the same.

3.7kg is a perfectly normal weight - mine all fluctuate between 3.5-4.5 depending on the time of year and how active they are.

Unfortunately we’re so used to seeing overweight cats that any “normal sized” ones are now seen as too skinny.

Perfectly fine size, and probably closer to standard as it was a few years ago before people started introducing larger breeds into the population, and general cat health and care improved greatly.

Its like with people, you can have siblings of different sizes e.g. I have 3 tall beanpole nephews and one shortish stocky one (def all the same father before anyone suggests otherwise!). Plus remember that cats are one of the rare animal types that can have different fathers for the same litter, hence great variety in a litter.

My friend got 2 kittens from a FOAF & visited them in their original home. Mother was a tiny little thing, and unless there had been a visitor from over 3-4 miles away there were no large male cats in the neighbourhood. So he took home these little kittens - who are now bloody enormous!

If you post a photo we can give more accurate advice... please?

Both my cats are Petite cats, one just over 2kg the other 2.5kg both abandoned and hand reared. Very healthy and in great condition according to the vet. Just like some people are small some cats are.

Cat sizes can vary greatly. If he’s a healthy weight with no health issues then I wouldn’t worry, he’s just little.

’Average’ cat weight is considered to be between 4-5kg so at 3.7 he’s not much below average range.

As someone else touched upon above, many cats these days are overweight so are not big / heavy just fat! so when people see a cat of a healthy size / weight they think they are starved. You should be able to feel ribs with very little pressure and have a waistline when viewed from above.

Cats come in different sizes. One of my cats is tiny (she was the runt of the litter) and looks like a kitten still - when you see her head next to her sister's, you realise that it's not only weight but also she has a very little frame. She is in great health though and full of energy, just a very petite cat. We had a childhood cat who was a tiny male too and he was the longest-lived of all the cats I had growing up.

There are a couple of big male cats who visit our garden and now that I'm used to our cats I am always shocked by how big they are!

One of my boys is under 4kg. The other one is nearly 6kg. They are fed the same so I think it’s just their natural set points.

My two boy 'kittens' (now seven years old) both consistently weigh between 3.5 and 4kg.
Pretty normal cat size really - people certainly don't comment on them being small 😁.

Possibly because there's so much floof they look twice the size they really are!