5 Month Old Kitten Already 11 Lbs???

[mangyhalfbreed]

hello, all! I am a new poster and first time cat owner. My 5-ish month old kitten, Floki, was born March 21st 2019 (I was there to witness the birth so I know it’s accurate lol) and currently weighs 11 lbs even as of two days ago when he was neutered. It was rushed so I didn’t really have a chance to speak with the vet. But the tech did ask me if he was really only 5 months. He is also 33 inches long. He doesn’t seem overweight to me. I don’t know if pictures can do justice to his size. Does he look overfed, should I cut back his food? Or is he just going to be a big boy?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

He doesn't seem overweight to me. How big was mom and dad, if you saw him? That is double what I'd expect a kitten that age to be but he may just be a very large cat.

 

[mangyhalfbreed]

I am unsure about his father, but his mother was a stray and then a foster fail. She is roughly 8 lbs.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Hmm. Maybe you could call the clinic back and ask to speak with the vet briefly over the phone about his weight.

 

[mangyhalfbreed]

I think I’ll do that, thank you!

 

[stacydc83]

Wow, that's a big kitty!! Its really hard for a kitten to be overweight at such a young age. Does he play alot? What and how much are you feeding him? Definitely talk to the vet about it, but by the pictures alone, he does not look "fat" it looks like hes got massive back feet so he may very well be a very big cat. My cat, who is fat, is a big breed cat. I remember around 9 months I thought was getting fat, but she had alot of growing to do. At the time she was already about 10 lbs. Shes supposed to weigh in at a healthy weight at about 15 lbs. She's quite bigger than that but we're working on it!

 

[Kieka]

He's a big boy, not fat just big, for sure. Most cats will gain roughly half their weight at six months old. So you are likely looking at an adult weight of 17-20 pounds.... Maybe. Big for a domestic cat but not unheard of. Just be careful that you are paying attention to body condition because it is really easy for big cats to quietly get overweight. You don't need to worry until he is older though, usually bigger cats will slowly continue to grow up to 18 months. I like to do a top review of my cats monthly, meaning I take a photo of them from above. Then compare month to month to make sure no one is getting chunky. I find the photo from above is a little better since you want to see a slight pinch between the ribs and hip. From the side you sometimes can confuse the primordial pouch and misjudge.

My grandmother had a female stray give birth to a kitten on her patio. She kept both the mother and son; mother was 7 pounds, son was 15 pounds. So it does happen that a kitten ends up being bigger then their mom.

Edit: adding comparison photo.

 

[mangyhalfbreed]

He plays constantly! I have an 18 lbs dog and they play ROUGH, all throughout the day. There is not a moment when he isn’t leaping or sprinting around the house. My mother raised about 5 litters of kittens when she was young and said she’s never seen one with so much energy. I used to go by what the bag said but then I just started feeding him more based on how hungry he was acting. I feed him 1 & 1/2 cups of Diamond Naturals dry (spread throughout 3 times a day, so a half a cup at a time. Sometimes only 1 & 1/4 cups) but I plan to cut down a little when he hits the 6 month mark and am looking to switch him to a different brand and add some wet to his diet. (I actually put some water in his dry food and he seems to love it mixed together) but I know that canned food is a better substitute overall. I definitely plan to keep an eye on him!

 

[Kieka]

He plays constantly! I have an 18 lbs dog and they play ROUGH, all throughout the day. There is not a moment when he isn’t leaping or sprinting around the house. My mother raised about 5 litters of kittens when she was young and said she’s never seen one with so much energy. I used to go by what the bag said but then I just started feeding him more based on how hungry he was acting. I feed him 1 & 1/2 cups of Diamond Naturals dry (spread throughout 3 times a day, so a half a cup at a time. Sometimes only 1 & 1/4 cups) but I plan to cut down a little when he hits the 6 month mark and am looking to switch him to a different brand and add some wet to his diet. (I actually put some water in his dry food and he seems to love it mixed together) but I know that canned food is a better substitute overall. I definitely plan to keep an eye on him!

I wouldn't cut back until he stops growing. The risk of becoming overweight won't start until he's done growing. If he will allow, measure length and height to determine when he is done.

 

[mangyhalfbreed]

Gotcha! Thank you so much!

 

[Tik cat's mum]

He's a lovely cat doesn't look overweight to me, Your going to have a big handsome boy when he stops growing

 

[Uncled]

Our last cat that we named Jack, who unfortunately passed away at eight years old, was huge as your cat at that age. We adopted him from a shelter so I have no idea of his parentage but he was just a normal size kitten when we got him at a young age, he wound up weighing about 17 pounds

 

[Uncled]

Jack was also very similar in color and coat pattern to your cat

 

[stephanietx]

When I had my male cat neutered at 6 months, he was almost 9 pounds. We started decreasing his kitten food intake and started introducing him to adult food. We did a 25% adult to 75% kitten for a few weeks, then did 50-50 for a few months. As we got closer to 12 months, we decreased the kitten food. One other suggestion is to switch to mainly canned food and cut back on wet food.

 

[ArchyCat]

A rule of thumb I have encountered for feeding kittens: If there is no left over food, you art not feeding your kitten enough. Continue with kitten food until he is one year old. The grow fast and are, as you've observed, hyper active. Both growth and activity burn lots of calories. And growth takes protein and calcium.

Yo have a handsome cat. And he will probably be, as others have noted, will be a big adult cat!