Does The Breeder Usually Know..............

[John Popp]

Louie has always been a strikingly handsome cat and kitten. Holly is slight and diminutive so it exaggerates the appeared size of their cats and kittens. They have been nothing less than straight forward and honest with me, even when it was something they knew I didn't want to hear. Their staff is great, the kittens are wonderful and they provide a top notch facility for their breeding cats.

That said, I do think the digestive issues Chongo had (much like Louie) somewhat thwarted his growth. He's still a pretty big boy at 15lbs and 15 months but hardly likes to eat and unlike our other cats food is at the very bottom of his priority list.

There was also a huge difference in appetite and digestive health between the Chongo who was picked up at a little over 8 weeks of age and the still unnamed little guy at just over 10 weeks. Not sure if there is any substance to it, but the little ones growth rate has far exceeded what we witnessed with Chongo. Solid stools, eats like he is starving consuming better than a half pound of food a day and always foraging through the other cats dishes to see if there are any scraps.

At the end of the day, I am just happy that our cats and kittens are healthy and happy. From what I know and the data I've collected your best shot at a large cat comes from an F2, although a bigger spread than F1s. After our first week with Chongo, none of his physical attributes mattered anymore as he had captured our hearts and entertained us every moment our eyes were open.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

How old is Louie now? I hate to mention this, but most F1s will be social for the first year or two, just like a Serval kitten will be. It is when they reach more of their adult years that they become more disturbed by change and strangers. Some DO remain very social, with humans if not other animals. But much of what you read about F1s not liking strangers etc is when they are three or more years old...

 

[Louie'sDad]

How old is Louie now? I hate to mention this, but most F1s will be social for the first year or two, just like a Serval kitten will be. It is when they reach more of their adult years that they become more disturbed by change and strangers. Some DO remain very social, with humans if not other animals. But much of what you read about F1s not liking strangers etc is when they are three or more years old...

He's 10.5 MO now. I'd not be disappointed if he lost his affinity for non-household members (me). I only hope that he keeps his tolerance/affection for my 86 YO mother, who loves to come visit to see Louie (not me). He's great therapy for my elderly mother.....just like you see in nursing facilities. I DO stress to her NOT to overstimulate him, which happens quite easily. I keep a watchful eye out for anything indicative of the F1s propensity for hair-trigger/erratic behavior.

 

[Wyldthingz]

Yes, you would expect an F1 to be big and serval looking, right?
As a breeder, I don't guarantee size nor do I even bother with people that request it. I have come to the point that when they pose the size question- I give them a doc I wrote to explain it all to save time in the conversation. I have better thing to do with my time.

 

[Louie'sDad]

Louie has always been a strikingly handsome cat and kitten. Holly is slight and diminutive so it exaggerates the appeared size of their cats and kittens. They have been nothing less than straight forward and honest with me, even when it was something they knew I didn't want to hear. Their staff is great, the kittens are wonderful and they provide a top notch facility for their breeding cats.

That said, I do think the digestive issues Chongo had (much like Louie) somewhat thwarted his growth. He's still a pretty big boy at 15lbs and 15 months but hardly likes to eat and unlike our other cats food is at the very bottom of his priority list.

There was also a huge difference in appetite and digestive health between the Chongo who was picked up at a little over 8 weeks of age and the still unnamed little guy at just over 10 weeks. Not sure if there is any substance to it, but the little ones growth rate has far exceeded what we witnessed with Chongo. Solid stools, eats like he is starving consuming better than a half pound of food a day and always foraging through the other cats dishes to see if there are any scraps.

At the end of the day, I am just happy that our cats and kittens are healthy and happy. From what I know and the data I've collected your best shot at a large cat comes from an F2, although a bigger spread than F1s. After our first week with Chongo, none of his physical attributes mattered anymore as he had captured our hearts and entertained us every moment our eyes were open.

Shooting from the hip on this, I'd say that any animal's appetite should normally be commensurate with his natural, genetically determined growth rate, and activity level. I would think that, digestive issues aside, if Chongo displays energy and appears healthy, then he probably got as much nutrient as his body demanded as he was growing.

In Louie's case, I noticed that the more he ate, the softer his stools got. The situation is much more stable now; just about "normal". The Royal Canin "Special 33" seems to have done the trick.

For fear of starting a firestorm/flaming contest, I feel that a good HIGH QUALITY kibble diet is completely balanced and provides all of the nutrients your cat needs, and in the proper proportions. I was feeding "super-high protein content" food for awhile. While feeding this (40 per-cent protein, and zero grain) diet, it seemed that all of that extra nutrient was not being assimilated, and came out the old poop chute.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I think that individuals can make us make general conclusions. I have personally found that the stools in my household are way better formed and smelling when fed a raw diet with no kibble. Taking the kibble away a couple years ago seemed to mean we don't see loose stools here.

I do know that there are cats with IBD issues that need fiber in which case a kibble is going to deliver that, although one could simply add psyllium husk or some fiber to the raw diet. Undetected infection with something like tritrich often shows as a cat doing better with kibble with higher fiber content too.

So one has to consider what works for an individual cat. Or a household of cats in my case, as I removed kibble from a household of eight for the health needs of one cat! LOL!

 

[John Popp]

Take a newborn key deer, put them on regular land with a regular water supply and the diet of other whitetail deer and they grow to the same size as a standard whitetail. While in the Florida Keys they are a fraction of the size and aren't any bigger than a medium sized dog. Certainly this is a different case than most animals, but what an animal eats and what they absorb will have an influence on their adult size.