Kitten isn't growing

Lorrs33

A stray cat gave birth to three kittens in the garden next to us months ago. My family and I used to watch them from the top floor until they were old enough to climb over. They've become accustomed to us throwing out food for them, it used to be for the birds, now it's for them. We gradually gave them names based on their appearance and behaviour: Mammy (the mother obviously), Smudge, Hissy and the Little One. The reason the last one is called the Little One is because he's still tiny, his siblings are the same size as their mother, but the Little One isn't. Is there any explanation for this?

anniehoo

There could be a number of medical reasons behind stunted growth but the most likely is hes just the runt of the litter..theres nearly always one. He probably just didnt get as much feeding time as the others and should catch up on the others now that theres an alternate food source ie.yourself!

DenMan

I always hated that term, "runt of the litter". Poor little guy. OP do your best to look after him and hopefully he will grow big.

anniehoo

DenMan wrote: »

I always hated that term, "runt of the litter". Poor little guy.

I know me too unfortunately its the "survival of the fittest rule" if they were left to fend for themselves. The little ones were always the ones id fall in love with first though so theres some good being the little fella!:p

Lorrs33

If I could just get them all to trust me, I could give them away to loving homes. I don't want to call the DSPCA, it'd break my heart putting them into a shelter.

Harris

It might be worth considering catching them one by one to have neutered and spayed or the problem could just escalate. The Bluecross might be able to help.

The Sweeper

You say the mother cat gave birth 'months ago' and the larger kittens are nearly her size. If you don't do something with them, depending how many of those kittens are female, you could go from having four cats to having 16 cats within the next four months.

A female cat can have her first season as early as just over four months, and then theres the 42 day gestation period, and voila: at six months of age she gives birth to her first litter of kittens. Their mother may even be pregnant already again, especially if they're over eight weeks of age, so she could be setting herself up to have another three or four kittens as we speak.

By feeding them, you're facilitating their reproduction - a source of good food and the shelter provided by an enclosed garden is plenty to assist a stray cat in having a litter of kittens.

Cats breed like rabbits.

You need to start phoning around the animal protection agencies, see if you can get a trap and capture these cats. The smaller the kittens are, the higher the chance of rehoming if they go to a pound or shelter, so every week you leave them you reduce their chances of a new home.

Every week you leave them and feed them, you're increasing the chances of this becoming a far bigger problem out in your garden.

Penny1624

With regard to the size of the cat, we had a kitten for years that never grew. It had stunted growth and always looked like a kitten for the 10 or so years we had it. I don't think it's all that rare

sorella

Many ferals are inbred and this is why they stay small. We fed some like this way back in Mayo. Dwarfed.