I’m getting a little confused about how big Poe is going to be. He’s a Maine Coon kitten, and will be five months old tomorrow.
This picture is 3 weeks old - I mostly have blurry more recent photos because he’s an active guy. At the time of the picture he was already over 8lbs according to the scale at the vet’s office. He’s heavier now, of course.
At present he’s 16" long from nose to butt, and his tail is another 12" long.
He’s got to be more than half grown in length, right? Right? He’s not a lot smaller than my parents’ MC Shamus, though Shamus was admittedly the runt of his litter. I knew Poe would be bigger, but I never expected him to grow this fast.
I joked to friends last week that I need to move before he gets too big for this 1k/sf house…
Usually not even close to full grown at that age. We adopted our two cats last year (ginger tabby boy littermate), when they were about 4 1/2 months old. At that time, they were both about 6 or 7 pounds, and were very clearly still kittens; when they finished growing, at about 9 or 10 months, they were both around 13 pounds.
I know Maine Coons are big. But the biggest Maine Coon on record wasn’t twice Poe’s length, hence my supposition that he must be more than half the length he’ll be when he’s full grown.
He may not double in length/height from where he is now; kittens in that age range tend to be skinny and leggy, and he may well already be well over 50% of his adult height. Part of the transition from kitten to adult cat is filling out, and it would not surprise me if his adult weight winds up double where he is now.
Weight-wise I wouldn’t be surprise if it’s more than double. His dad’s over 20lbs if I correctly recall what the breeder said. Unfortunately, with the pandemic and all and that breeder being more cautious, I didn’t get to see Poe’s parents in person, unlike Linden’s.
My vet won’t do it until they’re six months old, but both boys are already booked for mid-January. Fortunately they’re indoors only, so they won’t meet any girls between now and then.
Data point, agreeing with what others have said. My cats were approximately 5 months old when they were neutered and were weighed for the occasion. One weighed 9 lbs and the other weighed 7 lbs. At their approximate 1 year checkup the 7-pounder was 14 lbs and the 9-pounder was 17 pounds. They were somewhat longer/taller but mostly just filled out and their weights had doubled, or almost. They are not Maine coon cats–they are alley cats. (I think the fat one is 20 lbs now and he’s on a diet because apparently orange cats are more likely to develop feline diabetes. Of course this has to mean they are both on a diet.)