slow growth ?

[Joleen]

well, i have been a bit worried the past two weeks .. Eliot is almost 9 weeks old now
and we have noticed he is really small . we do see a big change since the first time we got him but he is not the normal size of a typical 8 week old kitten
and i have raised quite a lot of kittens his age, they usually are able to start jumping on the bed on their own and jumping off of things on their own
we have a pretty low bed and he can not get on and off of it on his own
we bulit him stairs so he can come and go whenever he likes
now i have seen a couple of full grown sphynx cats but have never seen one next to a regular cat i do remember them being quite small so is this why he is small compared to other cats his age ?
i asked the vet and she says he looks and acts totally fine and he is healthy but he is small but she couldnt tell me why she just said to let him be
but i don't know how much i have trusted her since shes a new vet and has only seen a sphynx once never at his age
do you think he is ok ? is it just a small breed ?

 

[Boonecat]

Yes, Sphynx are a small breed. Adult males (if not overweight) are approximately 10 lbs, & females, 8 lbs. My Boone will be 1 year old in about 2 weeks, & he's the size of your average 6 month old furry kitten. Also, if you're keeping his claws well trimmed, it adds to his difficulty in climbing. I've noticed after I've trimmed Boone's claws, sometimes he can't get a grip on things.

 

[ElGatoLoco]

9 weeks? Wow, that's young. Most breeders won't even give them up until 12 weeks. All I can say is Butternuts weighed 3 pounds at 12 weeks. He was so tiny. Now he's a beast. He's up to at least 12 pounds. I think you should wait until 6 months before worrying. Just track his weight.

I believe the standard description of a sphynx lists them as being a medium to large breed. Not sure though, my memory isn't what it used to be.

 

[Joleen]

his nails are pretty sharp and long we trimmed them maybe once or twice since we hadn't have any problems with him scratching or anything
the only time i got him to jump on the bed is when i tempted him with food he somehow managed to grab something and climb his way up same thing as for getting off
but he won't do it on his own if he can't get on or off the bed with the stairs he will not try anything else he will just cry until he is picked up lol

 

[Inflamed]

The first time we met Lucifer he was 9 weeks old and he (brothers & sister too) was so tiny he fit in the palm of my hand:



When he came home at 13 weeks he was still very small (we were actually afraid he would be past his kitten cuteness absurd thought) as you can see in this picture:



By now (9 1/2 months) he's up to just over 4kg (that's about 8 pounds I think) and he's still growing! His father is really big; a 6kg monster (12 pounds!).
So I don't think you have anything to worry about, 9 weeks is very young. But he could be left behind a little because he left his mother a bit early. How much do you feed him? We saw a huge change in Lucifer after we started feeding him a bit more (were afraid of overfeeding at the start, but their metabolism is so high that a lot of people free feed them).
I would just give him some more time & if he stays small he'll be cute forever

 

[Jamiecrn]

My Wednesday is 8 months olds and she weighs a whole 4 3/4 pounds.

 

[Joleen]

wow they really are a tiny breed ! the thing is when comparing him to other sphynx cats his age as well he is also smaller then them and he is also the biggest of the litter his brothers & sisters were a lot smaller then him and he was the only one active and noisy
he eats quite alot he has kibble all day long and eats whenever he wants and he eats wet food 2 times a day
his stools also look normal he doesn't have any problem with that

 

[SphynxKid]

My Fluffy just turned 6 and she is just over 6 lbs. She was rescued from a kitten mill nd had 3 litters of kitten at barely one 1 year of age, so that stunted her growth a little bit. When I bring her places, people still think she is a kitten. And my Moses, at 10lbs, looks like a monster compared to her. I have a picture of Moses sitting on my shoulder at 14 weeks, and he looks so TINY too, so at 9 weeks, I can only imagine how small he must have been!

P.S. I LOVE how his tail is wrapped around his foot in these pics.

 

[Joleen]

My Fluffy just turned 6 and she is just over 6 lbs. She was rescued from a kitten mill nd had 3 litters of kitten at barely one 1 year of age, so that stunted her growth a little bit. When I bring her places, people still think she is a kitten. And my Moses, at 10lbs, looks like a monster compared to her. I have a picture of Moses sitting on my shoulder at 14 weeks, and he looks so TINY too, so at 9 weeks, I can only imagine how small he must have been!

P.S. I LOVE how his tail is wrapped around his foot in these pics.

he is about the size of moses a bit smaller
haha i like how they like to sit on peoples shoulders and head !
and yeah his tail is always like that it gets straught only when he is angry or scared

 

[Gryffindor]

I worried like this in the beginning too as I was used to having domestic cats all of my life. I even spoke with my breeder about it, who mentioned that all of his males average about 12 lbs. and females around 10 lbs. or so. Gryff is 6 months old and weighs just under 7 lbs. which is right on the money per his expertise. He also added that in his experience, they'll undergo spurts of growth and then level off over the first year or so.

 

[dgoetsch]

I am no professional, but I have observed through this forum that our cats can very in size quite a lot. My Sphynx, Warren, is 13 months old and weighs close to 15 pounds, but is not "fat" or overweight. He's just a really big cat. He's about 18 inches long from the base of his neck to the base of his tail, and he's over a foot tall from the floor to the top of his lower back! I do agree with that others have said, that 9 weeks seems very young to have your kitty home. Maybe he has some catching up to do!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

My Fluffy just turned 6 and she is just over 6 lbs. She was rescued from a kitten mill nd had 3 litters of kitten at barely one 1 year of age, so that stunted her growth a little bit. When I bring her places, people still think she is a kitten. And my Moses, at 10lbs, looks like a monster compared to her. I have a picture of Moses sitting on my shoulder at 14 weeks, and he looks so TINY too, so at 9 weeks, I can only imagine how small he must have been!

P.S. I LOVE how his tail is wrapped around his foot in these pics.

adorable pics

 

[Maua_Peterbald]

My mum was catsitting the other day and first she got scared sth bad happend to Frodo because he didn`t show up for quite a long time so she dragged him from under the blanket, then when he started his stretching yoga she called me and said "you are starving this one-meter-long cat of yours ! " So I am sure he forgave her the waking up quickly when she generously fed him.
BTW he is perfectly fit with 4 kg

 

[Big Hoss]

My Bells is kind of small also...He's just over 6mo and he's 5lbs 4oz...He's got a pot tummy and eats like a horse, just not the biggest guy on the block....Now my big Hoss is 1 1/2 and 12.9lbs and not fat or over weight at all, he's just a big guy.... I just think they are all different......