Skip to content
PawScales

Cat Weight Chart

A healthy domestic shorthair kitten weighs roughly 1 lb per month of age for the first few months: about 2 lb at 2 months, 4–5 lb at 4 months and 6–7 lb at 6 months, with males a little heavier than females. Most reach their adult weight by about 10 to 12 months. Enter your kitten’s sex, age and weight to see where it sits.

By Sikander Malik · Updated October 15, 2026 · Sources

Sex

months
lb

For kittens 2–18 months old. This compares weight only. Ask your vet to check body condition.

Enter your kitten’s age and weight to compare it with the typical range.

Estimates only, not veterinary advice. Ask your vet about your cat’s health.

Kitten weight by month

These tables show the weight of healthy domestic shorthair cats, by month, for females and males. They come from research on more than 8,000 neutered cats in good body condition, measured at US vet clinics (Salt et al. 2023). Most kittens reach their adult weight between about 10 and 12 months, then settle.

Female cat weight by age (lb)
Female kittens (lb)
AgeLow (25th)Typical (median)High (75th)
2 mo1.62.12.5
3 mo2.83.33.8
4 mo3.84.34.8
5 mo4.65.25.7
6 mo5.25.76.4
7 mo5.66.26.8
8 mo6.06.77.6
9 mo6.47.28.3
10 mo6.77.78.8
11 mo7.08.09.0
12 mo7.08.09.1
18 mo7.48.69.8
Low / Typical / High = 25th percentile / median / 75th percentile of bodyweight. Values are lightly smoothed so they never decrease with age; small month-to-month dips in the raw data come from sampling.
Domestic shorthair cats that were neutered (weights from before and after neutering), healthy body condition, USA (Salt et al. 2023). Data: Liverpool DataCat 1459 (CC BY 3.0).
Male cat weight by age (lb)
Male kittens (lb)
AgeLow (25th)Typical (median)High (75th)
2 mo1.72.22.8
3 mo3.13.64.4
4 mo4.45.15.8
5 mo5.56.47.1
6 mo6.57.38.1
7 mo7.38.18.9
8 mo8.18.89.7
9 mo8.59.310.3
10 mo8.79.710.6
11 mo8.99.910.9
12 mo8.99.910.9
18 mo9.410.411.8
Low / Typical / High = 25th percentile / median / 75th percentile of bodyweight. Values are lightly smoothed so they never decrease with age; small month-to-month dips in the raw data come from sampling.
Domestic shorthair cats that were neutered (weights from before and after neutering), healthy body condition, USA (Salt et al. 2023). Data: Liverpool DataCat 1459 (CC BY 3.0).

The first 8 weeks (0–2 months)

The growth tables above start at 2 months, because the research data begins there. For the newborn stage, a rough guide from shelter and fostering sources is that a kitten weighs about 3.5 oz (100 g) at birth and gains roughly 100 g (about 3.5 oz) a week, reaching close to 1 lb per month of age for the first few months. Our kitten age chart covers this week-by-week with teeth, eyes and ears as well as weight.

Is my cat a healthy weight?

Body condition, not just the scale

Healthy weight is judged by body condition, not a single number. On the 9-point body condition score, 5/9 is ideal: you can feel the ribs under a light layer of fat, there is a visible waist from above, and a slight tummy tuck from the side. The 2021 AAHA/AAFP Feline Life Stage Guidelines treat 6–7/9 as overweight and 8–9/9 as obese. See the WSAVA body condition score chart. A vet’s body condition check matters more than the number on the scale.

For context, by 18 months the cats in this study typically weighed about 8.6 lb (7.4–9.8) for females and 10.4 lb (9.4–11.8) for males. This is the typical weight for domestic shorthair cats in this study, not a healthy-weight target: a small cat can be lean at a lower weight and a large cat healthy above it. Pedigree breeds differ, so these figures are for domestic shorthairs.

Neutered vs intact

The main tables are neutered cats, because most pet cats are neutered. Intact (not neutered) cats tend to be a little lighter at the same age. For comparison, here are the median weights of intact domestic shorthairs from the companion growth standard (Salt et al. 2022), shown only at ages where that dataset has enough cats.

Intact domestic shorthair median weight (lb)
Intact cats, median weight (lb)
AgeFemale medianMale median
2 mo2.22.2
3 mo3.33.6
4 mo4.35.1
5 mo5.26.4
6 mo5.77.3
12 mo6.79.6
18 mo7.39.9
Data: Liverpool DataCat 1456 (CC BY 3.0), intact DSH, optimal body condition.

Questions owners ask

How much should a cat weigh?
It depends on the cat. In a large study of neutered domestic shorthairs in good body condition, females weighed about 8 to 9 pounds and males about 10 to 11 pounds by 18 months, but a small-framed cat can be lean at less and a large cat healthy at more. Pedigree breeds differ. Body condition matters more than a single target weight, so ask your vet to score your cat.
How much should a 6-month-old kitten weigh?
On our chart, a female domestic shorthair is typically around 5.7 pounds at 6 months and a male around 7.3 pounds, with a wide normal range. A rough rule of thumb is about 1 pound per month of age up to about 6 months. Kittens grow in spurts, so a single weight matters less than a steady upward trend.
When do cats stop growing?
Most domestic shorthair cats reach close to their adult weight by about 10 to 12 months, then fill out a little more into their second year. Some large cats and certain breeds keep growing for longer. After about a year, weight gain should be slow; a sharp rise in an adult usually means gaining fat, not growing.
Is my kitten underweight or overweight?
Our tool compares your kitten’s weight with the typical 25th to 75th centile range for its age and sex, but that is weight only. Whether a cat is truly underweight or overweight is a body condition judgement a vet makes by feeling the ribs, waist and tummy. If your kitten is well outside the range, or losing weight, see your vet.
Do neutered cats weigh more?
They tend to. Neutering lowers energy needs and can increase appetite, so neutered cats often gain weight more readily, which is why our main chart uses neutered cats as the realistic case for most pets. The fix is not to avoid neutering but to adjust food after the procedure and keep an eye on body condition.
How accurate is this chart?
It is a well-sourced estimate, not a guarantee. The figures come from research on more than 8,000 neutered domestic shorthair cats in good body condition, measured at US vet clinics. The typical range is wide on purpose, accuracy is best up to 6 months where the data is densest, and pedigree breeds fall outside it. Track your own kitten’s trend and body condition.

About the data

The main tables use anonymised vet records from Banfield hospitals in the USA, for domestic shorthair cats that were neutered and stayed in good body condition (Salt et al. 2023). We grouped every visit by the nearest whole month and took the median and 25th–75th centile for each sex, then lightly smoothed each column so it never dips with age. Sample sizes are large up to 6 months (thousands of weights a month) and smaller from 7 to 18 months (a few hundred a month). Weights can shift after neutering, and pedigree breeds fall outside this domestic-shorthair data, so use the chart as a guide alongside a body condition check.

Related tools

Close-up of a young tabby kitten against a light backdrop
Kitten age chart
Side profile of a calm green-eyed tabby cat
Cat years calculator
A grey cat eating from a green bowl on a tiled floor
Cat food calculator

Sources

Estimates only, not veterinary advice. Ask your vet about your cat’s health.