5 reasons why a kitten is not growing - what to do

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Usually, a furry baby that appears in the house develops quickly, which certainly pleases its owners. But quite often it happens that it does not reach the required size at a certain age. An attentive owner will immediately notice this and think about why the kitten is not growing and how to fix it.

In this situation, only a veterinarian can give a complete, and most importantly, correct answer after an individual examination of the animal. After all, the topic of poor growth of pets is relevant and requires certain knowledge to correct the situation.

© shutterstock

Why doesn't the cat grow?

Usually, a furry baby that appears in the house develops quickly, which certainly pleases its owners.
But quite often it happens that it does not reach the required size at a certain age. An attentive owner will immediately notice this and think about why the kitten is not growing and how to fix it. In this situation, only a veterinarian can give a complete, and most importantly, correct answer after an individual examination of the animal. After all, the topic of poor growth of pets is relevant and requires certain knowledge to correct the situation.

Why is the cat so small? Should I be worried?

Who doesn't love kittens? The kitten will never be as small and energetic as in the first months of life. Some may want their kitten to remain a tiny, playful ball of fluff, but a healthy cat will grow quite a bit during its first year of life.

If you find that your kitten is not developing as you expected, you may become concerned about why your cat is so small. Read on to find out what to do if you discover your kitten is too small for his age.

The main reasons for stopping or stunting a kitten's growth

If a kitten has problems, their consequences will become noticeable in the first month of life.

The main reasons why a kitten does not grow are::

1. Poor, insufficient nutrition. In the first month of life, a kitten may suffer from a lack of milk from its mother cat. In older age, nutrition is most often simply inadequate; it lacks either nutrients or calories.
2. Unbalanced diet and regimen. When a kitten does not eat well or the normal feeding regime is disrupted, then it gains little weight. In particularly advanced cases, it does not grow at all.
3. Heredity or genetic abnormalities. When getting a purebred kitten, you need to know exactly what diseases it can get from its parents. This will significantly save time when identifying the reasons for poor development and will allow you to quickly decide what to do in the current situation. In addition, it is worth considering what size the pet’s parents were at the same age. It is quite possible that if the kitten is in good health, it does not grow and remains quite small, because its parents were not large either.
4. Viral and infectious diseases. Often, being underweight is a consequence of past illnesses. Infections, affecting the kitten’s fragile body, lead to disruption of the gastrointestinal tract, which impairs the absorption of nutrients. Accordingly, their level in the blood decreases sharply, the organs do not receive enough of the materials they need, and the kitten grows slowly or stops gaining weight altogether.
5. Infection with worms. If a kitten gets worms, this inevitably leads to sad consequences. Whatever the age of the pet, helminthic infestations will always be dangerous to its health and even life. Because of them, the kitten not only grows poorly, but can also die.

Thin kitten does not gain weight due to helminths

The remaining reasons why a kitten is thin lie in the area of ​​diseases introduced from outside.
Here, the first place is taken by helminth infection, which occurs in almost all kittens whose mothers have not undergone appropriate treatment or the treatment has not been completed. Such a kitten eats a lot, but is still thin, while its tummy can be dense and enlarged, and indigestion often occurs. Clusters of worms clog the small intestines, and intoxication due to their waste products can kill the baby.

Infectious causes of thinness

The second common cause is infectious diseases. The antibodies of the vaccinated mother are able to protect the kitten, transmitted through milk, and at 2.5 months he himself should receive the first vaccination. But the vaccination schedule may go wrong, immunity may not be fully formed, and there are not vaccines for all diseases. Viral and bacterial infections are a very common cause of thinness and death of kittens.

Characteristic symptoms of diseases

Exhaustion is only a concomitant symptom that is common to many diseases. In addition to malnutrition and internal malformations, weight loss in kittens occurs very quickly and can be caused directly by:

• frequent vomiting;
• diarrhea;
• refusal of food;
• general intoxication of the body.

All these problems are typical for almost any infectious disease. Moreover, not only is the kitten very thin and not getting better, but other symptoms are added to this. If you observe lethargy, fever, purulent discharge from the eyes and nose of the animal, vomiting, diarrhea, ulcerations on the mucous membranes - most likely this is an acute viral or bacterial infection.

This explains why the kitten eats poorly or refuses to eat at all. Lack of appetite is accompanied by a rapid deterioration of the condition - the baby stops playing, and his body temperature approaches 39°C and higher. Unfortunately, in this case there is a very high probability of death.

Chronic form

If the kitten is very thin - does not grow, lags behind its healthy peers in development, but the above symptoms manifest themselves weakly (the eyes are a little watery, slight discharge from the nose, etc.), then perhaps the disease is chronic.

The most dangerous cat disease with similar manifestations is coronavirus infection, especially when it causes infectious peritonitis. In its wet form, the kitten has a large belly and is thin when viewed from above or touches the spine. The abdominal cavity is soft, slightly painful, and fills with fluid due to the inflammatory process.

What to do if the kitten does not grow.

As soon as it becomes noticeable that his kitten is no longer growing, you should urgently contact a veterinarian, because each case is unique and requires an individual examination. Most often, the diagnosis will be one or more of the above reasons. They are eliminated like this :

• The kitten's diet and diet are being reviewed. If tests confirm a lack of vitamins, macro and microelements, then a course of vitamin complexes is prescribed, after taking which the pet quickly grows and develops again.
• Hereditary and genetic diseases, in most families, cannot be treated. But you can always slow down their progression with medication, blunt the development of consequences and improve the kitten’s condition.
• Infectious diseases are treated with medications. Afterwards, you need to adhere to a certain diet for some time, after which the kitten grows normally again and gains weight.
• Worms are also treated with medications. But it’s better not to wait for them to appear, but to do preventive measures two or three times a year.

Thus, to find out exactly why a kitten is not growing, it is best to consult with a specialist who will identify the cause and prescribe the correct treatment for your pet.

How do you know if a cat is an adult?

The age at which a cat stops growing depends on the breed and their expected final size. For most cats this will be about a year. Larger breeds, such as the Maine Coon or Ragdoll, may take several years to grow to their adult size. You can get some clues about your own kitten's expected final weight by asking the breeder about the height of her siblings and parents.

© shutterstock

Kittens' growth slows down significantly at around 6 months of age or after neutering. While this isn't exactly their final weight, it will be close. At this stage, your cat will begin to gain excess weight in the form of fat rather than longer bones and muscles, so you will need to carefully monitor her diet. Your veterinary team will be able to help you determine when your kitten will reach adult body weight and discuss his diet.

What to do if the cat is not growing?

What should an owner do if he notices signs of slow growth or cessation in his pet? People who are interested in cats and their lives have probably heard more than once that kittens sometimes do not want to grow up. Indeed, cases where kittens grow very slowly or suddenly stop growing are not so rare.

For the development of a kitten and its growth, first of all, proper and balanced nutrition is important.

It must contain a sufficient amount of nutrients, as well as all the vitamins and minerals necessary for the growth and development of a young body.

It's no secret that animals - just like children - grow quite quickly.

How do I know if my kitten is growing?

The growing period is an important part of a cat's development. You can buy a baby scale and weigh her every day to track her growth on a graph. The curve connecting each point should be steep at first and then gradually level off as she reaches six months of age. As a guide, most kittens gain 100 grams of body weight per week until they are 6 months old.

Your veterinarian can also provide you with a kitten growth chart, which works like a baby growth chart. You can chart your kitten's growth and make sure he is within two percentiles of where he started. In other words, a small kitten should grow proportionately at the same rate as a large kitten, but it will eventually turn into a small cat. Likewise, a large kitten will follow the same growth curve and will eventually become a larger cat than an adult.

The average weight of a kitten usually follows the rule: about 450 grams for each month until 10 months of age. Keep in mind that males are usually larger than females. Other signs that your cat is growing properly are that she is interested in food, active during the day, and playful with other family members.

What to do if the kitten is not growing? Why the kitten is not growing: indicators of kitten development

Domestic cats usually boast a stable appetite and approximately the same weight within ten kilograms. Why is the kitten not growing, and is it possible that the problem arose due to genetic problems in the baby’s parents?

How much should a cat or kitten weigh?

Although cats don't vary in weight as much as dogs, they still have a wide range of "normal" weights. While the "average" cat weighs around 5kg at adult weight, cats can range from 2kg to 10kg and still be fit and healthy. This option mainly depends on the breed. However, among the "mixed breed" or "domestic shorthair" cats, they can still easily range from being thin but holding 2kg to being big-boned 7kg!

In other words, every cat is unique! So how can you tell if your kitten is growing normally or if your cat is just such a small problem?

Causes of delayed development

Why a cat is not growing is a serious question that must be resolved based on the well-being of the pet, its age and genetic indicators of the species. Growth problems in a baby may arise due to similar abnormalities in the parents. If the baby’s father or mother is not of decent size, then he could inherit this feature at the genetic level. These kids grow much slower than their peers, but at the same time they play actively and eat a lot.

Another problem that can explain what is happening is the presence of worms in the kitten. These parasites negatively affect the animal's body, preventing it from developing normally. As a result, the baby grows extremely slowly, and his immune system is always under threat.

Why doesn't the kitten that was the smallest in the litter grow? Here we can talk about insufficient nutrition from the first days of life. Those babies who are the weakest in the litter usually receive little milk. As a result, their stomach is narrowed, and in the future, even with a normal diet, the pet will consume very little food. Poor appetite will lead to the fact that the kitten will develop very slowly, and various diseases will overcome it on a regular basis.

It is difficult to make a diagnosis on your own, but you should not ignore the problem. The veterinarian will be able to assess the situation and find out why the kitten is growing so slowly.

Sometimes growth problems occur in a kitten due to problems with the digestive system. In such a situation, the cat eats a lot and consistently, but the food is poorly digested, and slow digestion negatively affects natural growth.

Non-infectious factors

Thinness can appear from the first days of a baby’s life, or it can develop during the first months. The reasons can be exogenous (external), which include insufficient supply of nutrients (the mother does not have enough milk, little food, poor quality food) and endogenous (internal).

Newborn kittens may have congenital malformations, including insufficient production of enzymes that digest milk - such babies need special artificial feeding, because in this case, exhaustion develops from the first days and very quickly.

If a baby is born weaker than his brothers and sisters, especially with a large litter, he may simply not get enough food. Sometimes a difficult birth results in the kitten simply not being able to suckle milk normally. In the absence of timely help from their owners, such babies quickly die.

Ways to combat stunted growth

Why a kitten grows poorly is a natural question, and methods of dealing with the problem should be tailored to the cause of its occurrence. For example, a kitten may suddenly stop growing due to the development of infectious diseases. In such cases, babies lose their appetite, their activity decreases, and, on the contrary, their temperature increases. Infectious diseases should be treated only with special medications and only after careful consultation with a veterinarian.

If the baby has a decreased appetite, then veterinarians advise introducing special vitamins into the diet or using little tricks. 10-15 minutes before food is served to the cat, you need to lubricate its nose with milk. By licking the milk, the pet, without realizing it, will awaken its appetite, and the entire portion of the food provided will be eaten.

An unbalanced diet is a common problem that can cause a kitten to grow very slowly. It is necessary to ensure that the animal’s food contains meat, milk, and plant products. Protein is especially important for babies, as it affects growth and strengthens bones. That is why dairy products become the basis of the diet for kittens under six months of age. It is also not recommended to suddenly change the animal’s diet, otherwise its appetite may decrease, which will immediately affect the pet’s natural growth.

Sometimes developmental and growth problems occur due to the development of chronic diseases in a pet. In such cases, you have to regularly undergo medical examinations and purchase preventive medications for the cat.

Slow growth of a kitten is always an alarming symptom and should never be ignored. The faster the owner finds out the cause of such a problem, the greater the chance that it will be possible to get rid of it in time without consequences for the health of the animal.

Factors influencing growth

Gender also affects the size of the animal, for example, the muzzles of females are almost always narrower and more elongated than those of cats. If the cat's face stops growing, it means that the skeleton is formed, the head and shoulder width will remain at this level and will not grow any further. As a rule, this occurs by 2 years.

Internal factors

The age at which cats grow is not the only factor in an animal’s growth. There are external and internal factors influencing the development of an animal. The main internal factor is breed. Representatives of large breeds grow longer than miniature ones.

Table: average sizes for different breeds

Munchkin cats have short legs, which makes them appear short.

Heredity can also affect the size of the animal. Kittens, like all children, look like their parents. Slender and miniature cats rarely give birth to “chubby” kittens. Such cubs mature slowly. Conversely, the offspring of large females grow rapidly, regularly gaining weight.

In fact, she looks funny - her head is small, her pug-like features are small, and her body is just very big. Somehow disproportionate from the outside. But we saw her parents - her dad is the same - a big belly and a small head.

queenan, owner of a “fat” kitten

https://eva.ru/static/forums/30/2005_9/423431.html

Another internal factor is endocrine imbalance, which affects how old cats grow. Most often it occurs after the use of hormonal drugs (for example, there was treatment with hormones). In addition, hormonal imbalance can occur due to improper functioning of the endocrine system (disturbances in the functioning of the adrenal glands, reproductive system, thyroid gland, etc.). Sometimes an active pet of a medium-sized breed grows very large, despite the fact that the parents were miniature.

In Queensland (Australia) there lived a cat named Himmi. The cat's owner was Thomas Wise. Himmi lived a little over 10 years and reached a weight of 21 kg. The cat's abdominal circumference was 84 cm. Himmi was about 100 cm long (from his nose to the tip of his tail). Himmi was recognized as the fattest cat in the world. It was difficult for the cat to walk due to his height and size, and Thomas had to carry him in a special wheelbarrow. Himmi died in 1968.

Some cats grow so big that it is difficult for humans to hold them in their hands.

External factors

In addition to internal factors influencing growth, there are also external ones. The most significant external factor is the animal’s nutrition. If a cat is fed high-quality, balanced food, then it grows up to be active, athletic and moderately well-fed. With improper nutrition, a cat's growth can slow down or speed up. Nutrition affects not only the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, but also the growth of the musculoskeletal system.

I feed my cat homemade food, but I also try to make sure she gets all the vitamins and nutrients she needs. Cats love fish very much (it is healthy due to its phosphorus content), so for them I buy fish separately (so that it is not too fatty). It is also important that your pet receives calcium. A lot of calcium is found in dairy and fermented milk products.

In addition, the following living conditions contribute to the proper growth and development of the animal:

1. First, the space for the animal must be appropriate for the size of the animal. After all, a kitten will not grow into a big cat if it lives in a shoebox.

   Living conditions are important for the growth of a cat: you need to choose a place of suitable size for him

2. Secondly, you need to monitor sanitary and hygienic conditions. Your pet can get sick if it eats from unwashed dishes, goes into a dirty litter box, etc. And any disease will certainly affect the development of the animal’s body. Unsuitable living conditions can lead to helminthiasis or other types of parasitic diseases. If the coat is not properly cared for, the animal may be attacked by fleas. Such a cat will suffer, constantly itch and may get sick. An animal tormented by worms and fleas cannot develop normally.

Sterilization can also lead to changes. Everyone knows that sterilized cats gain weight and become lazy. Some owners even like it. But, if the fluffy gains weight, then he suffers due to hormonal changes. Indeed, in addition to weight gain, the cat can continue to increase in size (for example, bones). In addition, growth impairment can occur due to stress. So, if a cat’s body begins to produce hormones that it is not used to, this can lead to changes in development.

Video: how to properly feed a neutered cat

Malnutrition

One of the most common reasons why a kitten is not growing or gaining weight is a lack of food. The smallest babies may simply not have enough mother's milk. In this case, you will have to feed the kittens manually. At an older age, the kitten does not grow due to the too meager rations that it receives. Normally, a one and a half month old baby is fed up to 5 times a day. At this age, his stomach is small and cannot accommodate large volumes, so he is fed often, in small portions.

Features of alopecia areata in men

In most cases, men do not pay attention to increased hair loss due to short haircuts. Therefore, for a long time they arrive in confidence that everything is normal with their hairstyle, missing the first signs of alopecia areata. Only when it is impossible not to notice the disease - bald spots appear on the head - do they begin to sound the alarm.

Doctors have not yet figured out the exact reasons for the occurrence of the nesting form. Different chronic diseases and pathological conditions lead to hair loss in different patients. But the result is the same - hairless areas of round or oval shape appear on the head. Along the edges of the bald spots, the hair is shortened, with broken ends. The skin in such places is reddish and appears inflamed.

The basis of the disease is damage to the hair follicles. Sometimes pathology is also observed on the nails. In addition to the scalp, other areas of the body are also affected. Eyebrows and eyelashes may noticeably thin, and hair on the chest or back may disappear.

Alopecia areata develops rapidly. Sometimes a week is enough for a completely hairless area to appear. It proceeds unevenly - stages of remission may alternate with relapse periods.

Doctors note that alopecia areata is the most complex form of baldness. It is difficult to treat as it is associated with chronic diseases. Often the only treatment option is hair transplantation. But this path is not a guarantee that new outbreaks will not appear in the future.

Men of different age groups are susceptible to pathology. There are 4 types of nested forms of baldness:

• in men from 20 to 40 years old.
  The most common type. With treatment, hair is restored within 6 months. Complete baldness rarely occurs;
• in children
  . Occurs in 10% of patients. The disease progresses for a long time and can take up to 10 years. Hair return is slow and difficult, taking more than a year. The result of the pathology can be complete baldness;
• age up to 20 years
  . The rarest type. It is developing rapidly. In half of the cases it threatens complete hair loss;
• in men over 40 years of age
  . Develops slowly. Complete baldness occurs extremely rarely.

A connection has been noted between the appearance of the nesting form and hair color - brunettes suffer from it more often than blondes.

Unbalanced diet

An unbalanced diet is the second most common reason that a kitten does not grow or gain weight. Delay in development occurs as a result of feeding food that does not contain the substances necessary for its growth - proteins, fats, vitamins and microelements. If the animal is not fed properly, it may show signs of rickets and anemia. The kitten is not growing, the weight gain is very insignificant, it is lethargic and sits near the bowl for a long time, waiting for more nutritious food. If these signs appear, you should review your pet’s diet and adjust it according to its age.

Rickets

In some cases, differential diagnosis with rickets-like diseases (primary tubulopathies) is necessary. These include renal tubular acidosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, Fanconi syndrome, hydrocephalus, chondrodystrophy, and cerebral palsy. Which doctors should I contact?

First you need to contact.

The doctor’s task is to prescribe a dose of vitamin D appropriate for the child’s age and condition and refer the child to an appointment with specialized pediatric specialists.
Treatment of rickets
First of all, it is necessary to adjust the regimen: walking in the fresh air for at least 2-3 hours a day, observing periods of wakefulness and sleep during the day, organizing deep sleep at night.

In infants with rickets, natural feeding is considered optimal. If the baby is on mixed or artificial feeding, then an alternative to breast milk is adapted milk formulas, which include vitamin D in a prophylactic dose (400 IU per 1 liter), a complex of other vitamins and microelements. It is important to timely introduce fruit and vegetable juices, purees, poultry, and fish into the diet.

2 weeks after the start of drug therapy, complex treatment includes physical therapy and massage for 1.5-2 months.

Therapeutic baths (coniferous and sodium chloride), applications of paraffin and therapeutic mud, ultraviolet irradiation are used, which are prescribed after the end of drug treatment.

Specific therapy for rickets requires the administration of vitamin D in therapeutic doses depending on the severity of the disease. After completing the main course, vitamin D is prescribed in a prophylactic dose. Since polyhypovitaminosis is often observed with rickets, children are advised to take multivitamin complexes, group B drugs, calcium, and phosphorus. The combination with vitamins B2 and C is especially important, since if they are deficient, the effect of treatment with vitamin D may be low.

To eliminate muscle hypotension and improve metabolic processes, carnitine hydrochloride is prescribed; calcium glycerophosphate is used to correct phosphorus metabolism.

A citrate mixture based on citric acid improves the absorption of calcium and phosphorus salts in the intestine.

If the disease is caused by disturbances in the functioning of internal organs, then therapy is first aimed at eliminating this pathology.

It is important to understand that such measures are effective only in the early stages. If rickets is detected at the stage of skeletal deformation, it will not go away without consequences - surgical intervention may be required.

Complications

Rickets is a dangerous disease that can leave a mark for life. If measures are not taken in time, the baby may develop serious pathologies of bone tissue. To prevent this, you need to be attentive to any changes in the child’s behavior and report them to the doctor.

The most severe consequences are associated with changes in the shape of the skeleton:

• curvature of the jaw and, as a result, difficulty chewing, malocclusion, caries and problems with diction;
• deformation of the pelvis, spine, flat feet;
• muscular dystrophy, impaired motility of the gastrointestinal tract, decreased rate of absorption of macro- and microelements;
• mental retardation.

Violation of the secretory activity of the stomach, intestines and pancreas is expressed in flatulence, unstable stools, enlargement of the liver and spleen.

During the acute course of rickets, children may be diagnosed with hypochromic anemia. In rare cases, a severe form of Yaksh Gayema ​​anemia develops.

Children who have had rickets are prone to frequent colds. Rickets causes narrowing of the pelvis in women, which makes normal childbirth difficult in the future.

Prevention of rickets

Prevention of rickets should begin already during pregnancy. The expectant mother should walk every day, eat right, take multivitamins, and follow a daily routine.

Preventive measures for infants include: breastfeeding, daily walks, regular exercise, massage, swimming, and timely introduction of complementary foods.

Children older than 6 months benefit from baths with sea salt.

To prevent rickets in healthy full-term infants, water-soluble vitamin D is used, 1-2 drops daily in the winter during the 3rd year of life.

It should be remembered that vitamin D is found in dairy products, butter, fish oil, egg yolk, and vegetable oil.

Sources:

1. Zakharova I.N., Dmitrieva Yu.A., Vasilyeva S.V., Evseeva E.A. What a pediatrician needs to know about vitamin D: new data on its role in the body (part 1). //Pediatrics, 2014, T. 93, No. 3. – P.111-117.
2. Prokoptseva N. L. Rickets in children. (Lecture) // Siberian Medical Review, 2013, No. 5. P. 88-98.
3. Clinical recommendations. Rickets in children in general medical practice. Moscow. 2014.

IMPORTANT!

The information in this section cannot be used for self-diagnosis and self-treatment. In case of pain or other exacerbation of the disease, diagnostic tests should be prescribed only by the attending physician. To make a diagnosis and properly prescribe treatment, you should contact your doctor.

Worm infestation

Worms can also lead to weight loss. In this case, the kitten does not grow or gain weight due to the fact that the parasites suck out all the nutrients from the food, leaving nothing for its owner. A characteristic sign of helminthic infestation is the animal’s good appetite with low body weight gain. The kitten is not growing or gaining weight, although it is eating well and its tummy feels firm to the touch. Constipation or diarrhea may occur. When examining stool, helminth eggs are found. How to deal with this disease is here.

Viral infection

Infectious diseases, colds or intestinal diseases are another common reason that a kitten is not growing or gaining weight. The mucous membrane through which nutrients are absorbed is affected. Even if the baby maintains a good appetite, the supply of proteins, fats and carbohydrates necessary for his growth and development slows down greatly or stops altogether. The kitten does not grow and does not gain weight, since its body simply has nothing to build its cells and tissues from.

Sometimes a kitten does not grow or gain weight even some time after the illness due to deep organic damage to the intestines. In this case, the recovery period is delayed and the owners feel that the kitten is not growing. In this case, there is no need to panic. A few days of a gentle diet, a course of vitamin therapy and the weight quickly returns to normal.

Causes of acromegaly

When listing the main causes of a rare disease, doctors call the genetic predisposition of family forms that are inherited:

• Rosenthal-Klopfer syndrome (large folds on the occipital part, provoked by a combination of folded pachyderma, gigantism and acromegaly);
• acromegaloid face syndrome (thickening of the lips, eyelids, eyebrows, “potato” nose);
• Sotos syndrome (increased growth with obvious signs of illness);
• somatotrophin;
• gigantism caused by excess somatoliberin.

There is a list of ailments that can primarily cause death in patients with acromegaly:

• cardiac ischemia;
• hypertension;
• obstructive sleep apnea syndrome;
• hyperparathyroidism;
• polyps in the intestines;
• infectious diseases.

If acromegaly is not treated promptly, the patient's condition will rapidly deteriorate. A person will die in 3-4 years.

Genetic abnormality

Very rarely, the reason that a kitten does not grow and does not gain weight can be a genetic anomaly, which results in dwarfism of the animal. As a rule, these are babies abandoned in early childhood by their mother cat, who have visible defects in skeletal development. Such a kitten does not grow due to underdevelopment caused by the mutation.

Unfortunately, such animals have very little chance of survival, since internal organs and the musculoskeletal system are also affected. Such a kitten does not grow, does not gain weight, and often gets sick. Its lifespan is usually no more than a few months. There is no cure. Vitamin therapy, immunostimulants and a special diet can be used as supportive measures.

In conclusion, it only remains to add that, regardless of the cause of growth retardation, you should not self-medicate, especially if there is an infectious disease or the kitten is not growing due to pathology of the internal organs. At the first signs of illness, you should contact a veterinarian who will conduct a full examination and prescribe treatment.

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When do kittens stop growing?

While we need to be sensitive to any cause of growth failure in cats, we can only do so if we know what normal growth looks like. This means exploring the context of adoption in your family. It's important to know as much as you can about how to prepare for a cat entering your home. This means knowing specific information about the breed as well as their basic care needs.

Some of the reasons why a kitten may not be growing include:

1. Their breed
2. Nutrient deficiencies
3. Parasites
4. Disease
5. Dwarfism

It is possible to adopt a cat of an unknown breed. We may bring home strays or adopt them from a shelter, which may mean we don't necessarily know the breed. They may also be of mixed origin. Some breeds are larger than others, and some are smaller. For example, if you previously adopted a Maine Coon but then adopted a Persian kitten, you may think that the latter is not developing properly. In contrast, the breed is known to be smaller.

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Perhaps the smallest breed is the Munchkin cat. This is a breed that encourages the genetic trait of short legs. The result was a short-legged breed with a long body. If you have a munchkin kitten, he may stop growing, but his development is relatively normal. Even when they are grown, they look like adult cats that look like kittens.

Not all kittens in a litter will be uniform. They will likely vary in size and appearance. Some litters will have a kitten that is especially small and weak. They are called shorties. Runts are at a severe disadvantage because they are not as well developed and cannot compete for resources with their littermates. The mother may even reject them, although they are usually only eaten if they are too weak to survive.

Shorties may be poorly developed at first and grow more slowly than their littermates. This doesn't mean they can't grow up to be happy, healthy adult cats. This may require us to take over the responsibilities of feeding and raising them if the mother rejects them or they cannot feed enough.

For all of the above reasons, it is important to know when a kitten will stop growing. While different breeds will vary, so will individuals. However, if the cat is healthy, has been fed properly and does not have any specific medical conditions, it should naturally stop growing between 9 and 12 months.