U Runt

How do you tell the difference between a dwarf kitten and a runt.?

I am looking to adopt an 8 week old kitten that weighs 8.5 oz. In July. He will be about 10 or 11 weeks by then The woman who has it rescued it from a friend cat who, along with the rest of the litter, rejected him and its brother (same age and weight). Do you think this is a dwarf kitten or just a runt?

Public Comments

1. Wait....theres such a thing as a dwarf kitten?
2. it is a smallish cat....just make sure it is healthy
3. Good question! First, to give you a run down on the appropriate weight for a kitten at a specific age: At birth, weight should be approx 3-3.4 ounces. At age 1 week weight should be approx. 4 ounces. At age 2 weeks, weight should be approx. 7 ounces. At age 3 weeks, weight should be approx. 10 ounces. At age 4 weeks weight should be approx. 13 ounces. At age 5 weeks, weight should be approximately 1 pound. By the end of the 8th week, kittens should weigh approximately 2.2 pounds. From the description of the situation, the kitten isn't a dwarf, he was simply undernourished. Now that he has been rescued, his weight will start to increase dramatically. However, because he was undernourished at a critical time in his life, he could suffer from stunted growth due to the lack of vital minerals and nutrients. A dwarf cat, otherwise known as a Munchkin, is a small cat that has a dwarf gene defect that gives them very, very short legs. I recently answered a question about the amount of food a kitten needs as it ages so I will give you the same response: At a very young age, up to three to four months, it's almost impossible to overfeed your kitty. At 10 weeks of age, he needs 250 kilocalories of energy per kilogram of body weight per day or about two and a half to three ounces of dry food, or eight to nine ounces of canned food. At four to six months of age, your kitten's daily requirement for energy is about 100 to 130 kilocalories per kilogram of body weight, closer to that of an adult cat (70 to 80 kcal/kg body weight), as growth of body tissues slows down. Between eight months to a year of age, most kittens reach adult body size and weight. The daily food requirement at adulthood is about 1 ounce of canned food or one half ounce of dry food per pound of body weight. Just be sure not to overfeed your kitten in an attempt to quickly bring up his weight to "normal". Overfeeding can cause serious health problems for your kitten. Kittens have small immature kidneys which cannot handle excessive amount of liquid. Overfeeding can cause diarrhea which can also cause dehydration. The kitten’s stool should be firm and yellowish in color. Good luck!
4. There are no such thing as dwarf kittens . . .there are munchkin cats which have stubby legs (like a dachshund). The kitten is most likely a runt. As long as he is healthy, eating, defecating, urinating normally with no neurological problems (walking in circles, head-pressing) I would say go for it. He needs a hero. Bring him for an inital vet visit within a few days of having him to make sure he is healthy. Good luck!