Cat Growth?

vince

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I have a red longhair tabby girl that's been growing off and on for her whole 2 1/2 years of life. Recently, I think she's coming into yet another growth spurt. She's only a moggie, and not terribly big, but keeps slowly growing. She eats as much as her two older male "brothers," so it wouldn't seem to be a matter of nutrition, would it? I know some breeds take longer to achieve full adult size, but this seems odd. Anybody else have a cat like this?

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FeebysOwner

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Sorry no one has responded to your post yet. Do you have pics of the changes she has gone through over 2.5 years? Perhaps, with information about the weight changes? Maybe she started out smaller to begin with? Have you compared her to a body condition chart just to see where she falls?

Sadly, after my cats reached over 1 yo, if they grew it was not because of growth spurts, but likely too much food!! :blush:
 

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vince

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She feels sort of thin, but it's tough to tell because of her fur. I'd say a 3 or 4 on the body condition chart. I don't have a series of pix, just one from when I found her and some that don't show her condition well. I'll take some tomorrow if she'll cooperate and put one or two up on this thread.

She wasn't very large and had short legs. First, her tail grew, then her legs grew; finally, she got longer. I think she's getting even longer with this spurt. I'd say she's about average size now.

Her mother was a nearly-black short-haired tortoiseshell of average size and her father was a fairly large shaggy orange tabby. They were ferals in the neighborhood. I don't know how old either was.
 
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tabbytom

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I have a red longhair tabby girl that's been growing off and on for her whole 2 1/2 years of life. Recently, I think she's coming into yet another growth spurt. She's only a moggie, and not terribly big, but keeps slowly growing. She eats as much as her two older male "brothers," so it wouldn't seem to be a matter of nutrition, would it? I know some breeds take longer to achieve full adult size, but this seems odd. Anybody else have a cat like this?
Putting all health issues aside, female cats are smaller in size as compared to male cats. So it seems they are not growing if compared to male cats. Run your hand along her side a and see if you can feel her ribs. If she feels boney, likely she's underweight. But it's normal to be able to feel some ribs as long sit is not boney to touch.

If she is of the normal breed, she should have matured at 1 year old. Bigger breeds take 2 - 4 years before reaching maturity.

It could be due to insufficient nutrition. To help her gain weight and body fats, you can feed her food meant for kittens This will help fat her up with all the extra nutrients from the kitten food.
 
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vince

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Well, it took me some time to get it, but here's a pic of her a couple days ago and another I took in September '18.

Definitely can feel her ribs. I think she's fairly thin, but not undernourished. I do have to make sure she gets her whole meal at feeding time; I
20210625_161919A.jpg
sit with her and make sure the two other piglets don't push her out of the way. She gets treats, too. Meep.jpg


The other day, I found a small quantity of dry kitten food left over from when she was little. I suppose it's still good, having been kept in a box in the room I kept her in to get acquainted. I can mix that in with her other food, and maybe she'll gain a little (provided I can keep the others out of her dish).
 
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FeebysOwner

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The other day, I found a small quantity of dry kitten food left over from when she was little. I suppose it's still good, having been kept in a box in the room I kept her in to get acquainted. I can mix that in with her other food, and maybe she'll gain a little (provided I can keep the others out of her dish).
I highly recommend that you toss that old food out and by her some new food. Why take chances with it?
Sorry that I hit the button twice. Don't know how to delete a pic.
You can delete a pic by clicking on the 'Edit' button (lower left hand corner of the screen), and then you will see a 'Delete' option for the pics. However, this edit feature is only available for 2 hours after your initial submission of the post. You will note that 'Edit' option disappears after that.
 
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vince

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You know, it's probably good that I pitch it. I've seen some pantry moths around. Maybe they've been growing there?

Thanks for the help with the pix. It's a little more involved than what you said, but I got it to work.
 
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