Exotic breeds of cats and cats force owners and breeders to carefully monitor their health status. Lack of weight or excess weight is a sign of health-related disorders: in the end, it can significantly reduce the life span of a cat or cat. In addition, it is easy to estimate what quality of the breed a pet will eventually grow.
General information
Scottish cats are not particularly large, this breed looks more elegant than the British. It doesn’t matter whether his ears are straight or drooping - the weight spread over the months of the first year of life will be the same.
The Scottish cat is distinguished by developed musculature: the muscles of the body are well developed, and the body length and weight are average. An adult cat or cat weighs 5-7 kg. It happens that the weight is noticeably more - from 8 kg, the answer to the question about the weight norm is ambiguous here.
How much does a newborn kitten weigh?
At birth, not only the norms for a single kitten are important, but also the total number of kittens, when there are more than one. If, for example, 5 kittens were born, then the weight of each will be significantly less than if only 3 of them were born. The womb of the cat, in which they formed before birth, is limited throughout life. There is no place for free space - there is a limit for every adult female. Nature came up with a way out, reducing the weight of each of the cubs born by this individual.
Subsequently, the weight of each kitten will approach the age norm of the first year of life, but it is worthwhile to provide all kittens with additional complementary foods when the mother-cat produces little milk. The typical weight of Scottish kittens at birth is 60-140 g. If the cat is provided with an adequate diet, rest and walks, then the kittens will not have a critical shortage of weight.
Weight dynamics in the first weeks of life
For the first 2 weeks, each Scottish kitten gains an average of 15 g per day. It is necessary to provide proper nutrition to the cat itself. Its complementary feeding with milk mixtures created for kittens is also suitable in case this cat, suppose, would die during childbirth. Some sorting of feeding will not harm the cat: subsequently she will give all the excess food to the kittens through all the same breast milk.
At the end of the "breast period" of kittens, she herself will adjust her normal weight. In the first week, the weight of each kitten will increase on average by an amount greater than 100 g. The total weight of the kitten after 2 weeks from birth will reach an average of 270 g. Small cats are lighter than cats by 1.5 times.
At 3 weeks, kittens are given additional complementary foods to accelerate weight gain (as necessary). The third week of the kitten’s life will bring its weight to an average of 400 g.
If the kitten continues to gain weight normally, then you can still rely on the cat-mother, but not for long. The day is coming when it is still necessary to feed the kitten with high-quality cat products so that subsequently a grown cat or cat does not encounter a number of diseases, including age-related ones.
Weight in the first months of life
By the end of the first month of life, kittens will gain an average of 0.5 kg of weight. By 2 months, weight approaches or exceeds a kilogram. After the 3rd month, the weight is set at 1.5 kg or more. 4 months after birth, each of the kittens “gets heavier” on average up to 2.8 kg.
The rate of weight gain is non-linear - by the end of the first year of life, growth slows down until it stops (an adult male or a female "Scot"). From the 5th month, weight gain begins to slow, and the kitten reaches 3.2 kg. When tracking the dynamics of weight gain, approximately 20% of the situation is predetermined by the genetic data of both parents. A six-month-old kitten weighs an average of about 2 kg.
Starting from six months, the weight table of a growing cat or cat is kept up to the following average values: by the end of the 7th month - 4.5 kg, in the 8th - 4.8, in the 9th - 5, in the 10th - 5.2, in the 11th - 5.3 kg. By the beginning of the next year of life, a young cat or cat should weigh approximately 5.4 kg. An adult cat is twice as heavy as the same cat: it can weigh 6 kg, it can weigh 3 kg. From now on, a cat or cat is considered an adult.
Crucial in the weight category are the amount of feed, weather conditions (if the animal goes into fresh air), the absence of acquired chronic diseases and genetics. Often it turned out when the cat was “fed”, giving him above the norm, which is why he gained the maximum weight - up to 7.5 kg. Further search or shortage - 100% is no longer the norm.
Feeding in the first year of life
Like kittens of other breeds, Scottish consume only mother's milk for up to 3 weeks. If a catastrophe happened, for example, a Scottish cat died in childbirth, from malignant diseases or accidentally poisoned, or ran into the roadway, refused to feed kittens and other accidents, then orphaned kittens will use milk mixes that are extremely close in composition to cat's milk.
Good products are produced, for example, by a company Royal Canin, specializing mainly in dog and cat food. Manufacturers of such products make sure that the fat content does not exceed 10%, and the vitamin content of the formulations is sufficient for a growing organism in dogs and cats.
If there is no specialized store or veterinary clinic nearby with a mini-store where you can pick up food for any kittens and puppies, act on your own. Village (farm) milk to reduce fat content bred in half with boiled water or clean it from cream and give a newborn kitten a try. They start to solder it, day by day, gradually reducing the number of meals per day, but increasing the amount of each feeding.
As a basis, you can take food of any average outbred kitten - all kittens consume approximately the same amount of milk. A specific breed - the very same Scottish cats - in the first days and weeks of life requires their own volume of food, but you can afford to save the life of your ward and let him grow up, adhering to the norm of "street" kittens.
The main thing is not to overfeed, not to overfeed, and not to forget about the regularity of feeding, otherwise the kitten will be late in gaining weight, will not develop correctly, which will lead to illness and his premature death afterwards.
What to give?
After about 20 days of life, the kitten can enter another lure. Be it industrial feed or boiled beef / chicken, try to stick to the same food line. If you do not have time to cook him a piece of meat every day or two, you will want to switch to dry food, but you need to do this gradually so that the kitten's body has time to adapt.
It is in the first months of life that a cat forms taste preferences, which he will adhere to. After a month, the kitten can be weaned from the consumption of only milk. An adult cat does not live long on milk alone - he needs other products.
In the very first days of complementary foods, do not try to immediately give, in addition to meat (or food), several other products, such as: boiled egg yolk, brown bread, broth. This is not an adult cat, and a kitten may have indigestion. The cat is not a person, he cannot stand such a variety on the very first day, he will simply vomit it, act gradually.
If the goal is to diversify the nutrition of a Scottish kitten, do not mix several foods in one meal. If a kitten rash forms under the tail, then this is already an allergy. In a timely manner, you exclude the product that caused it. In addition to the general dietary rules, each animal has its own “unloved” product.
Raw yolk is given according to the same recommendations as milk with cream. As for industrial feed, kittens that have just stepped one month old need to be pre-soaked. After 1.5 months, that is, already at 2.5 months of age, they will learn to eat it dry, but do not forget about regular pouring fresh water into the “drinker”.
Before the kittens turn 3 months old, do not give them canned food and raw minced meat - the digestion processes do not immediately adjust themselves to absorb such products. After three months of age, the kitten's diet approaches the menu of an adult cat or cat. A mother cat should be protected: feeding kittens too late with natural cat milk can lead to exhaustion and early aging of her body. Everything is good in moderation, and experienced breeders are clearly aware of this.
What threatens gross dietary disorders?
Overfeeding can lead to premature wear of the digestive tract, in particular, to problems with the liver and pancreas. The same applies to the use of cheap, low-quality feeds, since the cat is not a rooster, he cannot digest, for example, low-quality grain.
An attempt to transfer exotic cats raised on fodder, to bones and other products from the human table will bring only a negative result. Such an adventure often ends with the death of these animals - they flatly refuse to eat.
Breeders' tips on how to feed kittens properly are presented in the video below.
