Is my kitten gonna stay small

[pnegrete13]

My cat had 3 kitten 2 months ago. She had 1 and it died, my cat pepper did not cry at labor, so I had no idea she had gave birth til she brought the dead kitten to me while I was in the kitchen. It wasn't breathing it was dead. I stayed by her side all day because I thought she was going to have more kittens. I had already looked all around the house just to make sure there were no more kittens around, there wasn't. 2 days passed and nothing so I figured she only hade 1 kitten it happens I was told so that was that. On the third day I woke up at 5 in the morning, to a crying kitten my cat had just giving birth to another kitten I was freaking out, because it was 3 days later. I got the kitten and put her and her mom in a bed I had bought her, so she cleaned up her kitten but she wouldn't feed her so I figured she was gonna have another kitten. so once again I waited about an hour later, then she started  was having another one. I waited til the kitten came out and notice that the 3rd kitten was not even half the size of the first too, And once again the kitten was not breathing, so I coverd the mouth and nose and gently started blowing into his mouth after about 3 attempts the kiitten started gasping, so I laid it on the floor it kept gasping for air every gasp stronger than the next, then he was full on breathing, and finally crying the mom came running straight to him and started cleaning him right away. For the first 2 weeks I had to keep putting him on the moms tit, and then he started doing it by himself. The sister kitten is big now and he still is less than half her size, but he runs around and play with his sister. I would just like to know if he is going to stay small.  He climbs up my bed every night, slowly but surley he gets up there, and evry mornig he is curled up on my pillow right next to my head, this has been going on for about 2 weeks. I have also noticed that the mom pays more attention to the regular size kitten, is that normal.

 

[p3 and the king]

It sounds like your cat had a spontaneous abortion aka miscarriage with the first kitten.  It can happen sometimes and often they don't cry because it happens so fast.  As for the 3rd kitten, he should be OK if he's eating regularly and putting on weight.  My Tyrion is very small for his age too but perfectly healthy.  Just keep an eye on him.  He could be sickly and mom's will often not waste energy on a sickly kitten.  But that doesn't mean he can't pull through.  You just need to step up and help him out.  But as long as he eats, uses the restroom OK and puts on weight, he should be fine.  Also take him to a vet as soon as you can to have him looked over. You do plan on having the momma spayed, right?  She doesn't need to be having babies with this litter being the way it is.  And the kittens need to be fixed, too. 

 

[StefanZ]

Agree with above.

The little one may make it into happy adulthood with some luck. Will probably stay a smaller cat than average.

But there is a risk he will crash down and die at some point.   So hope for the best and fight on, but be prepared he may get a short life never growing into adulthood.

Good luck!

 

[rad65]

I think the mother sensed that the kitten was runty and not likely to survive (in a normal environment. Obviously you can keep the kitten alive much better in your home than the mother would be able to in the wild) so she focused most of her attention on the healthy kitten that would have a higher chance of surviving until adulthood in normal circumstances.

I do think the kitten will always be on the small side because of what made him the runt in the first place. Sometimes the runt grows up to normal size, but the severe size difference you mention makes it sound like the runt will be petite even as an adult. He will also likely have more health problems than his sister.

 

[Willowy]

I had a litter of malnourished kittens, and the 2 survivors are normal-sized cats. So if he's small because he's not a good eater, he may catch up once he starts eating well, but if he's small for some other reason he might stay small. Have they been to the vet yet? They should have their first shots and should have been de-wormed a few times by now. Worms can also stunt a kittten's growth.

 

[p3 and the king]

I think the mother sensed that the kitten was runty and not likely to survive (in a normal environment. Obviously you can keep the kitten alive much better in your home than the mother would be able to in the wild) so she focused most of her attention on the healthy kitten that would have a higher chance of surviving until adulthood in normal circumstances.

I do think the kitten will always be on the small side because of what made him the runt in the first place. Sometimes the runt grows up to normal size, but the severe size difference you mention makes it sound like the runt will be petite even as an adult. He will also likely have more health problems than his sister.

I am going to have to disagree with the statement that he will likely have more health problems because of his runt status.  This is not always the case.  I have dealt with many runts in my lifetime and the majority, I would say as much as 90% of the time, they are just as perfectly normal and healthy as any other cat.  They just need a little more TLC early on.  But he could always be on the small side but still be perfectly healthy.  Just try to get him to the vet asap to have him checked out and cleared and get shots. 

 

[rad65]

This is not always the case.

That is why I chose my words carefully and said "likely." I have seen many sick runts, so I was going off of my personal experience. If you have experienced the opposite, then that is great for you and the runt cats who were in good health, but what harm can it do to have someone pay particularly close attention to the health of a cat? That is the only consequence to me warning about possible health issues.

 

[p3 and the king]

I understand that, but my point is that someone reading this interested in getting a kitty may steer away from a "runt" fearing it would have problems because of such statements.  When in reality, they may be smaller but just as strong (even stronger in the cases like my Phoebe) and healthy (just like in the case of my King Arthur.  He was a runt but now he's the largest cat from his litter.)  Phoebe is still small but very strong and fiesty and healthy herself. 

 

[missymotus]

 I have seen many sick runts

Most people incorrectly use the term runt just for the smallest kitten, many true runts are weak and sickly, abnormally small not just the smallest of it's siblings - after all someone has to be the smallest. 

A kitten half the size of another could have any number of issues, heart problems for instance can stunt growth.

 

[Meowandthen]

I may be quite late in the uptake, but I have a cat who was the runt of the litter and she's a lil' bitch

 

[sabrinah]

My cat, Cookie, was the runt of the litter and she was tiny. After the first week or two Mama kitty (we didn't know she wasn't spayed when she was given to me when I was like 6) tried to leave Cookie behind a couple times by moving the litter to another spot in my bedroom and ignoring Cookie's cries. Like any 7-year-old would, I just kept moving Cookie wherever the rest of the litter went until the mother admitted defeat and started giving her just as much attention as the rest. I did have a habit of moving the largest kitten and putting Cookie in that spot to nurse, so that may have also helped her. I also brought canned food into my room pretty early on because I didn't want the mama to have to leave the kittens to eat, but it ended up with the kittens all inhaling canned food at what may have been a slightly too early age. Maybe this also helped? If my memory is correct, the largest kittens would be chowing down on the wet food while the smaller ones got to nurse all by themselves. Cookie is 15 now and certainly not a small cat at 12.5 pounds. She's always been incredibly strong and healthy despite having a bit of a rough start. Being the runt doesn't have to mean they'll be frail sickly creatures.