Will cat fill out?

[forget-me-not]

My new adopted feral, Astrid, is a beautiful but small cat at 8 months. Because she has a pretty, medium length tabby coat, you can't really tell how thin she is until you pet her. The vet described her as "ribby". Since she is still under a year I am sure she has more growing to do.

I am feeding her good quality food and she is eating and drinking well. I was just wondering how soon she might start filling out and growing a little. I don't care if she is a small cat, but I want her to be a good weight with a shiny coat etc.

She still needs to be de-wormed for roundworms (she has first dose and will get her second next week) and I hope that helps. Anyone have experience with roundworms? It sounds yucky.

 

[yosemite]

You might want to try feeding her a good quality kitten food. That could help her to gain some weight.

 

[semiferal]

Most cats reach their full adult lengths around 7-9 months of age but continue to gain weight for 6-12 months after that. They're just like human teenagers - they go through a tall, gangly phase before they fill out to their adult body types.

 

[forget-me-not]

I am feeding her a combo of Pet Promise (which she was eating in foster and I didn't want to switch her too fast and upset her tummy) and Nutro Max Kitten. Gradually I am planning to just keep her on Nutro Kitten till she is one, then I am debating between Spa Select, Nutro, possibly Innova or Wellness, but I have to admit price is a factor at this point.

As for her length, we will see. She is a short legged, small thing, petite I guess. I had a friend who adopted two 6 month old tabbies together from the humane, and after they were not confined grew enormously. Of course, it could be genetics, but they tripled in size and weight in a year. They are both gorgeous big orange boys.

 

[yosemite]

They actually will eat less of the quality food to get the same nutrition as more of the cheaper food so the price works out to be about the same in the long-term.

 

[goldenkitty45]

If she has a lot of worms, that will cause the ribby feeling till she's clean. Also spaying her will help her fill out a little. Then it depends on her background; if she has more of an oriental/siamese background she will be a more slendar cat compared to a round bodied american shorthair type.

But in either case, even a slendar build will have muscle and a solid feel to the body - just not a round body.

Ling has siamese/oriental in the background - she's smaller build (year old) but starting to get a more solid feel to the body. In comparing her to a normal cat, she looks like a 6 month old. She weighs about 6-7 lbs last I weighed her but doesn't look like it

The average cat is usually about 10-12 lbs and at that weight, she'd be "fat".

 

[madpiano]

I got 2 cats - Gizmo will eat everything in sight... Bubbles never does. Don't worry, some cats are just naturally skinny, until they get older.

My ex kept my previous cat, and he has turned from skinny-minnie to fat old tom-cat. Nothing he did, just my old tom prefers to eat and sleep no, instead of fight and run....