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It's no issue if he grows up to be big, I adore the little stray I took in.

I found him four weeks ago and now he is 8 weeks old (according to the vets). The vets say that for his body he is a perfectly healthy weight and he doesn't look fat at all. He weighs 1.5kg (about 3.5 pounds) which is near enough twice what an 'average' kitten his age is said to be.

I don't know what breed he is, he was listed by the vet as just 'domestic shorthair', he looks a lot like a brownish black tabby with a white stomach and chest and a pretty wide face, and yet his weight is what you might expect of a kitten from a breed like Maine Coon.

Is it normal for a kitten to be so big so young? As I said, I don't care how big he might be, I'm just curious.

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  • I have to admit that I love how both you and your cat are dressed in these photos ^.^ his bowtie makes him look really dignified and elegant, and bowtie's colors are matching the the colors of his fur, also your stylish collared shirt with its modest and formal color palette gives similarly dignified and elegant impression. It's like you've made these photos just a few minutes before going to a theatre with your cat! ^.^
    – lila
    Jul 26, 2020 at 22:07
  • He might be bigger, he might not be. One of my cats was a large kitten, and now weighs in about 12-13 lbs (he's also fat, in spite of my best efforts). The other that was a large kitten is only about 8-9 lbs. So there's really no telling how he'll end up, but he won't be a 20 lb monster unless you drastically overfeed. ;)
    – Allison C
    Jul 27, 2020 at 17:31

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Your cat will not grow up to be a monster when it comes to size; there is some natural variation in the size of cats. Females are often smaller than males.

Female cats that get small litters do often get bigger kittens, so it might simply be that he has a head start when it comes to size.

The normal birth weight of kittens is 80-170 grams (about 3-6 ounces), and larger kittens will gain weight faster than smaller kittens will do. The normal weight for kittens at 8 weeks old is 650-900 grams (about 1.4-2 pounds), and male kittens can be up to 40% heavier than female kittens at the same age.

More information could be found in relevant articles, which were my references for this answer, about kittens' weight:

Kittens grow fast, so it is not unlikely that your kitten is about 8 weeks old. I personally think the kitten is closer to ten weeks old, but this is not important; he looks healthy and beautiful.

To see how big your cat will be as an adult, you need to look at how big the parents are; the kittens will be about the same size as the parents when they grow up with some natural variation in size.

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