Kitten Weights

[klsylvester]

Sophias kittens are now 4 and 5 days.

I can sadly admit that I haven't been weighing them daily, because it took sometime to get somewhere the i could get a digital scale that weighed in grams/ounces.

But I did weigh them today.

#1 weighs 170g

#2 weighs 195g

#3 weighs 192g

#1 started out at about 99g, so averaging about 14.2g a day

#2 started out at about 113g, so averaging about 16.4g a day

#3 I didn't get a starting weight on but I am guessing that it's right on track with the other, but will be starting to weigh them daily from here on out.

But I know that they should be gaining between 10 to 15 grams a day, is it ok that they are gaining over 15grams?

And...

Is it normal that one weighs roughly 20gs less than the others? But I know that it started out alittle smaller than others at 99g when  #2 was 113g and I'm guess #3 was around 105g to 110g. I know there generally is a smaller one, and Sophia isn't ignoring it by any means or taking it away or moving the others from it.

I did by a bottle and some KMR for back up in case on of them starts to fall behind.

Honestly I am looking to make sure I am doing the right thing, I really just want to have some very healthy babies so they can grow big and strong!

I know that I should have gotten on the ball with getting a scale, but where I live we only have grocery store, and the nearest Wal-mart is 30 to 45 mins away and I just got a day off since the kittens were born to take a trip to get one, so I know that I was wrong for not doing that, but I wanted to get some advice and alittle reassurance!

 

[missymotus]

You want a minimum of 10g a day, if it's more that's great. 15-20g is the average gain for many kittens. 

It's fine for their to be a difference in sizes, so long as all are gaining each day it's fine. 

 

[orientalslave]

Don't rush to the bottle if one of them has a day where it gains less.  See what happens the next day, and possibly the day after that.  It's important to weight them at about the same time each day and where they are in the input/output cycle can give unusually high or low gains as well.

Bottle feeding has plenty of pitfalls, and also if one of the kittens is hardly gaining it suggests a problem with the kitten and a vet visit is probably in order.

 

[klsylvester]

I didn't get it to bottle feed, I got it as back up. I live 30- 45 mins away from where I can get it. So there would be no way I could get it fast if I needed to.

 

[orientalslave]

I realised that, was just saying that if a kitten doesn't gain well one day you should give it another day to see what happens before getting out the bottle.

 

[klsylvester]

OK. That's good to know! Thanks!

 

[eb24]

It's fine for their to be a difference in sizes, so long as all are gaining each day it's fine. 

I agree with this. You don't need to base their weights on the litter as a whole, but instead focus on each individual kitten's gains. They may have growth spurts at different times and some kittens are just bigger than others. So long as each makes it's own strides then it's all good. 

@OS: Because klsylvester does live so far from the store she and I were talking in a PM and I said it would be a good idea to have a bottle and formula on hand just in case. Other than that my advice was the same as yours (hopefully it came across that way): a low gain day is okay but if it lasts for more than a day or they start losing they need to see the vet ASAP. If they are losing and can't get to a vet reasonably quickly then bottle feeding is better than nothing (only after researching the proper method to feeding). Just trying to add some context. 

 

[klsylvester]

Today's weights were #1 180g, #2 213g, #3 211g.

I just hope everything stays good. I have been weighing them at the same time, and within a couple of days here I should have a good base of weight watching, where I only started yesterday with weighing them, I'm going to make sure they are at least gaining and no one is losing, because with growth spurts and days where they are going to eat less and sleep more, their weights are going to be hard to judge today, but so far everyone is gaining fine. I did notice #1 has a little issue with latching, you can hear the sucking noise when he eats and he is no where a nipple, then he will move around and stop and do it again, I don't known if he's just not finding it or what but he's gaining so I thin we are good, the other two are getting big fast. Sophia is doing great with them, she's not neglecting and Is with them a good amount of the day.

I need to post new pictures soon so everyone can see them! We should have open eyes here within the next few days.

 

[alicemama]

Way to go little growers! Can't wait for updated pics!