We found a cat near the dumpster at a fast food place in town. It was very small so we assumed it was a kitten but have had it for a year now and it is not much bigger. Cat weighs 3 lbs. female solid grey with orangish eyes, stands 6 inches tall at the shoulder, ten inches long, fifteen if you add the tail. Is it a midget or something? No worms or bugs, seems well muscled but the head does appear larger in proportion to the body compared with our other cats. Does not look dwarfed or stunted, just small and delicate. An exotic mix of some kind? :)(We do have a zoo in our town)

Like all animals and people, Cats can are not all the same. It could be the breed or just a small cat. If it appears to be healthy, then don't worry about her size. :)

Oh I should have said, it's just a DSH, regular type of alley cat like all of ours are, we did have one persian/exotic years ago in the bunch at home.

If she was living on the streets she probably wasn't getting proper nutrition. If she WAS a kitten at the time it would have stunted her growth.
She also could have contracted some cat illness, so did you get her vaccinated? Did you check her for worms?
All these things, plus: some breeds are smaller, and females are usually smaller.
I have a Burma female. They look like a Siamese but have shorter legs. Burmas are a "smaller breed". She has a small head
And is shorter than most cats.

But 3 lbs. is pretty small, isn't it, I mean most of ours are about 10 lbs, we have one squishy bean bag of a cat that weighs 15.

Some cats are just small. If you are worried, then take her to the vet and ask them.

Good luck

The orange eyes are like an uneven stain in the iris color part of the eye. Could it be something like hemachromatosis, or a copper metabolism problem? I can't find anything on this disorder in cats, but it can cause dwarfism in other animals.

Very small cats like you described is most often a sign of inbreeding. Many years ago in New England, a litter of very small cats was found. It was thought to be a new breed due to a genetic flaw, but with further investigation it was determined that they were just inbreed barn cats. 3lbs is very tiny. She sound healthy, and you probably have nothing to worry about. Just take her to the vet and get her checked out. I'd love if you could post a picture.

Oh she is ever so cute. The vet says she seems healthy. She is light as a feather--when she jumps in the bed at night you don't realize she is sitting on you, then you pull back the blankets to get up, and she goes flying!

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Originally Posted by wildandblue

oh she is ever so cute.

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I would love to see a picture posted! I have recently given a cat to my mother. It was a DSH without a tail, all black with green eyes. It was from a litter of cats that were of average size, though she stood just 8 inches at the shoulder, and to guess about 4 or 5 pounds when I gave her to my mom. She was obviously the "runt of the litter", but wow what a beautiful, petite feline, especially with no tail (and we are MOST fond of those around here.) Her mom was a long-haired calico, dad was a tuxedo bobtail (deformity, I'm sure), and both of them were in the 8-10 pound range. So small cats do happen, and if she's healthy, then it's like winning kitty lottery, she'll never grow up!

We have named her Lilly, and tell her stories about "the old country," Lilliput, where she was adopted from.
She still goes nuts over Big Macs and fries or any kind of bread, we have to hide our bread in the cupboard or she will rip the loaf up.

I have heard that the Manx cat breed, those tailless cats, actually do have a percentage born with tails or stub tails but those particular animals are not listed by the registry for pedigree purposes.

My sister-in law has a small calico female that is about that same size same size. Even though she is three years old, looking st her most would only guess she that she was a six month old kitten. She came from a heavily inbred wild cat colony.

What's most important is that the vet says she's healthy. He or she might also have an idea or two regarding her various breed characteristics and her small size.

I'm guessing that she may have been the runt of the litter, and as was suggested, severe malnutrition as a kitten and/or a genetic mutation could certainly have played their part.

I had a runt with copper colored eyes who was about half the size of his sister when they were 14 weeks old. He was always on the smaller side, but he lived a good life and made it to the age of 15. Keep her happy and healthy and your kitty could very well live to a ripe old cat age.

Smaller cats can be very, very cute. I'm glad to hear how much you treasure yours!

Yes you guys are right, the vet says malnutrition, too little protein at a young age can stunt their growth. I know nothing of her background, no other cats around there, so I suspect she was just dumped, or attracted by the food smells.

Hello, 3 years ago some of my friends found a stray kitten, and she is about 5 pounds now and the smallest thing. The vet said she is fine, she just didn't get the right nuitrience when she was little.

This sounds very much like a breed of cat called the Havana Brown. I first encountered them in Maryland years ago, around the fishing docks, small cats that weren't afraid of the water, would grab for fish scraps when you were cleaning them They ARE inbred, every one in America can be traced to apair brought from Cuba in 1950, then a few more in 1955 but then since the trade embargo between US and Cuba there are no more coming. It's basically like a Siamese cat that is all one dark color, like chocolate or lilac. We have 4 lilac ones, three with absolutely glow in the dark green eyes, one with orange. It's a short haired cat, think of a Siamese with those blue eyes they have crossed with a DSH with yellow or amber eye color, this explains the green or orange eye color. They have rose colored paw pads and noses, not the more usual white or pink or black of a DSH.