Kitten Is Much Bigger Than Her Siblings?

[kara701]

I've fostered a lot of kittens and they've been close in weight aside from the occasional runt. However, I got a litter of four recently and one of them is SO much bigger than the others! She's 2 lbs and 4 oz and her siblings range from 1 lb 5 oz to 1 lb 9 oz. Just curious, what causes this??

Still trying to learn as much as I can so thanks for any input.

 

[Willowy]

How old are they? Maybe there wasn't enough food to go around and she's the toughest, so she got enough and the others didn't .

 

[kara701]

How old are they? Maybe there wasn't enough food to go around and she's the toughest, so she got enough and the others didn't .

That could be it! I don't know where they came from but it was either from a shelter or outside. They are 7 weeks old.

 

[Willowy]

Yeah, the kittens should be around 2 pounds at 8 weeks (a general guideline) so at 7 weeks 1 pound 12 ounces would be average. So she is big and the others are a little small, but nothing too alarming. I think they'll even out as long as you make sure everybody gets enough to eat. Or she might just be a big girl!

 

[kashmir64]

Could be different fathers. I have two sisters, one is a short hair normal size, the other is a long haired lion cub. Same litter.

 

[Dave226]

Yes I've wondered if a kitten bigger than normal may have a underlying health problem

 

[jcat]

Could be different fathers. I have two sisters, one is a short hair normal size, the other is a long haired lion cub. Same litter.

We had a litter at the shelter with two very large long-haired kittens and three small short-haired ones. None of them looked like their mother, and we assumed they had different fathers.

 

[Kieka]

Could also be that she was a few days older in the womb, came out slightly bigger and had an advantage at the milk bar.