Between day 14 and day 28 a kitten should add 10 to 15 g a day, which is 70 to 105 g a week, and by day 28 most kittens sit between 350 and 450 g. Weigh at the same time every day, on a scale that reads to 1 g, and judge the trend over 3 days rather than 1 reading. A single flat day is normal; 3 flat days is a signal that needs a call, not another week of waiting.
The band is tight enough to be useful: if a kitten gains 6 g a day for 4 days, it has lost about 30 g against the expected curve by day 28, which is the difference between a 380 g kitten and a 350 g one.
Why days 14 to 28 decide the litter
Birth weight is 90 to 110 g in most domestic litters, and a healthy kitten doubles that by day 7 to 10. From day 14 the curve steepens: eyes are open, the kitten is mobile, and demand on the dam rises while her milk output plateaus around day 21. That 7-day plateau is where litters split into 2 groups, and where a 10 g daily gap compounds into a 70 g weekly gap. A litter weighed on day 14, 21, and 28 gives you 3 points on the curve; a litter weighed only at birth and at weaning hides every stall in between.
Daily gain: the 10 to 15 g band
Treat 10 g a day as the floor and 15 g a day as the ceiling for weeks 2 to 4. Above 18 g a day, check that 1 kitten is not monopolizing 1 teat while a littermate loses ground; below 8 g a day for 2 days, weigh twice a day and look at the whole litter, not just the small one. A kitten at 4 weeks that weighs 300 g instead of 380 g has a 21 percent deficit, which is the point where most breeders stop adjusting at home and book a check.
Weekly totals: 100 g, with a 3-day average
One hundred grams a week is the round number, and it is accurate for a kitten gaining 14 g a day over 7 days. Daily readings swing by 5 to 10 g from gut fill alone, so average 3 consecutive days before you change anything: 3 days at 9, 11, and 10 g average 10 g, which is on the floor, while 3 days at 8, 7, and 6 g average 7 g, which is a 43 percent shortfall against 12 g and needs action. Record the average, not just the raw weight, or the noise will drive the decisions.
Weigh the same way every time
Use a digital kitchen scale with 1 g resolution, place a shallow box on it, tare the box, and weigh before the first feed at the same hour each day. A 2 g scale error on a 250 g kitten is 0.8 percent, which is tolerable once but not 7 times. Keep the room at 24 to 27 C during weighing so a kitten does not lose heat in the 60 seconds it is out of the nest, and put it back with the littermates immediately. Weigh the whole litter in 1 pass, smallest first, and write the numbers down before you pick up the next kitten.
| Day | Expected weight | Daily gain | Weekly gain | Weighings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 14 | 200 to 250 g | 10 to 15 g | 70 to 105 g | 7 per week |
| Day 21 | 280 to 350 g | 10 to 15 g | 70 to 105 g | 7 per week |
| Day 28 | 350 to 450 g | 10 to 15 g | 70 to 105 g | 7 per week |
| Day 35 | 450 to 550 g | 12 to 18 g | 85 to 125 g | 3 per week |
Three patterns that flag a problem
Pattern 1 is the stall: the same weight to within 2 g for 3 days. Pattern 2 is the drop: a loss of 10 percent or more from the highest reading in the past 7 days. Pattern 3 is the split: 1 kitten 20 percent or more below the litter average at day 21, which usually means a teat, a temperature, or a congenital issue rather than a feeding schedule. Any 1 of the 3 is a same-week call; 2 of the 3 together, or a kitten under 180 g at day 21, is a same-day call. Litters from a first-time dam and litters of 6 or more are the 2 groups where these patterns show up most often.
| Check | Normal | Alert | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily gain | 10 to 15 g | Under 8 g for 2 days | Weigh twice a day |
| Weekly gain | 70 to 105 g | Under 60 g | Check the dam, book a visit |
| 3-day average | 10 g or more | Under 7 g | Same-week vet call |
Record fields that make the numbers usable
Six fields per kitten per day: date, time, weight in grams, gain since yesterday, which dam or which bottle, and 1 note on behavior. Add a 7th column for the 3-day average, because that is the number you will actually act on. Photograph the sheet at day 28: 4 weeks of daily entries is the single most useful document when a vet asks whether a kitten was thriving at 3 weeks. Pair it with the litter totals you logged in week 1, and keep both in the same folder.
Scale choice and the 2 g question
A 1 g kitchen scale costs 15 to 30 dollars and covers a kitten from 80 g to 2 kg, which is enough until about week 10. If you weigh more than 2 litters a year, a 0.1 g scale with a tare function pays for itself in fewer repeats; the workflow and the tolerance bands are in kitten weighing scale. Check calibration quarterly with a 100 g reference weight, and replace the battery at the first sign of a 3 g drift, because a drifting scale turns a 12 g gain into a 9 g gain and sends you chasing a problem that is not there.
When the numbers say call a vet
Call the same day for a kitten that is 10 percent below its highest weight, feels cool to the touch, or has not passed stool in 48 hours. Call within 24 hours for a litter average that drops 2 days in a row, or a kitten that gains under 5 g a day for 3 days. Do not start home supplements or split feeds on your own; the vet needs the weights, the dam's health history, and the room temperature before deciding anything. The cost of a check is small next to a litter that stalls for 10 days; a rough budget sits in the kitten cost sheet.
Five steps for this week
- Weigh all kittens today at the same hour, smallest first, and start 6 fields.
- Add the 3-day average column and fill it from day 3 onward.
- Mark day 21 and day 28 on the calendar as the 2 review points.
- Set 1 alert: 3 days within 2 g, or a 10 percent drop, means a call.
- Photograph the sheet at day 28 and file it with the week 1 totals.
Frequently asked
Is 10 g a day enough for a 3-week-old kitten?
Yes, 10 g a day is the floor for weeks 2 to 4, and 15 g a day is the ceiling. Judge it over 3 days, because gut fill alone moves a reading by 5 to 10 g. A 3-week-old at 300 g gaining 10 g a day reaches about 370 g by day 28, which sits inside the 350 to 450 g band, so steady floor-level gains are fine as long as they do not flatten.
What if only one kitten in the litter stalls?
Weigh that kitten twice a day for 2 days and compare it with the litter average. A single kitten 20 percent below the average at day 21 usually points to a teat, a temperature, or a congenital issue, not to the schedule. Book a check the same week, and keep weighing the rest daily so you can show the vet 3 columns of numbers instead of describing the litter.
Which scale resolution do I actually need?
1 g for a kitchen scale up to about week 10, since daily gains of 10 to 15 g need that resolution to be visible. A 0.1 g scale with tare helps if you weigh more than 2 litters a year, but calibration matters more than resolution: check quarterly with a 100 g reference weight and replace the battery at the first 3 g drift.