When Do Cats Reach Full Size?

A kitten owner may ask, “When does a cat reach full size?” There is no standard answer for that question since kittens grow at different rates. The rate at which kittens grow varies by cat breed. When does a cat reach full size depends on the cat breed.

Most domestic shorthair cats are full grown within the first three years. This can be used as a general guideline for domestic shorthairs. Kitten owners should know that there can be slight variations in how fast kittens grow even if they are the same breed. Just as not all humans grow at the same rate, kittens vary too. If the breed of the kitten is known, the cat owner may want to consult information on the kitten growth rate of that cat breed.

Several cat breeds take longer for the kittens to reach full size. Kittens of the Chartreux cat breed can take approximately three years to reach their adult size of seven to ten pounds. Faster than many cat breeds, the Singapura takes fifteen to twenty-four months to reach full size. Part of the reason could be that an adult Singapura weighs only five to eight pounds.

Kittens of some cat breeds are slower to mature. Ragdoll cats are slow to mature and typically take three to four years to reach full size, though some sources say it can take as long as five years. Norwegian Forrest cats often take five years to reach full size. Turkish Van kittens take three to five years to grow to adult size.

A kitten owner should not necessarily wait until the kitten is full grown to have it spayed or neutered. The veterinarian can give advice on when this is done. Spaying and neutering should not be done too early, but waiting too long has been linked to increased risk of some cat diseases. Delayed spaying and neutering can also cause undesirable behavior such as cat spraying in males and loud mewing from being in heat in females. In addition to growing to full size, the texture, thickness, curl, and coloring of the coat of a kitten may change depending on the breed.