How to determine the age of a kitten: useful tips

If a kitten got into your house, you must determine its age. On this depends the care of the animal and its nutrition. To determine the age of the baby just will not work, but some signs will help give the kitten at least an approximate date of birth. This is necessary if you picked up a kitten on the street. If you took an animal from a shelter, you can try to find out about its age from workers - they usually enter the data about the cat in its passport. A more accurate age can be determined by a veterinarian. If the campaign to the doctor is postponed, it is important to be able to independently determine the age of the kitten. To do this, just watch him.

How to determine the age of a kitten in appearance

1. Eyes. The eyes can be accurately determine the age of a kitten, if he is a few weeks. In the first 10 days of the baby's eyes are closed or are just starting to open. If your kitten has a narrow eye section, it means that they have not fully opened yet, the baby does not have even a month.Eye color is also important. When the eyes open, they have a light blue color. And only then, to the second month of life, they change color to the one that they will wear all their life. However, be careful, some breeds of cats (for example, Siamese) have blue eyes, regardless of age.
2. Ears. In very small kittens ears are pressed to the back and not straightened. Only in the second or third week of life, the ears finish and become “adults”.
3. Teeth. This is another important indicator that will help to more accurately determine the age of the baby. The first two weeks the kitten grows toothless. The first teeth get out in 2-3 weeks of age. Even if you do not see the teeth, try to gently touch the gums. If the teeth are already ready, it will be felt. The first are the incisors, usually they are already by the four-week age. By six weeks, there are side teeth, and by eight weeks of life canines appear. In total, the kitten has 26 milk teeth. By the age of six months, molars grow in an animal, and after a year the milk teeth change to permanent ones.
4. Weight. To determine the exact age of the baby by weight is quite problematic, because the weight can depend on heredity, nutrition, and even the sex of the kitten.Usually at birth, the weight of the animal is about 100 grams and in the first weeks of life 70 grams is added (with sufficient nutrition). As it grows, weight gains more slowly. When weighing it is necessary to take into account that males weigh more females. Here is the approximate weight of a kitten for months. In two weeks the kitten weighs 160 grams, in 4 weeks - 200 grams and 700 grams in 8 weeks. In three months the animal will weigh about 1.4 kg, and in 4 months - 1.7 kg. The weight of an adult animal is 3-5 kg.
5. The size. This is a fairly accurate indicator of the age of the animal. Newborn kitten is 10-12 cm in length without tail. If the length of your baby is 13-15 cm, then he is about a month. Two-month-old kittens have a length of 16-18 cm. At three months, its length is 19-20 cm. And at five months the length of the animal will be about 23-25 ​​cm. Keep in mind that the data of the males are 3-5 cm longer from the second week of life.

Experienced breeders can determine the age of a kitten by eye. If you have a newborn kitten a few days old, it will have a navel. Usually the babies of the first weeks of life have a disproportionately large head, small ears and paws. In the month of a kitten becomes like an adult animal, its body is proportional to the head, but the ears are still quite small.And only in half a year it becomes absolutely similar to an adult animal, only in a reduced size.

Kitten behavior

A kitten, like a human child, grows and develops. Different period of his life corresponds to his different behavior.

If the baby got into the house with her mom-cat, you can pay attention if she feeds her brood with milk. Usually the period of breastfeeding in a cat is 5-6 weeks. By 8 weeks she stops feeding her kittens, no matter how much they ask. Pay attention to the behavior of kids. If they lie down near the cat and want to suck, but she gets up and does not allow it - probably the babies are about 6-8 weeks old. And closer to 9 weeks, they stop torturing the cat themselves and spend more time separately, away from the mother.

You can pay attention to how the baby walks. In the first two weeks, the kittens spend around the mother, they practically do not walk. If they need to move closer to the mother, they just crawl on the belly. In two weeks, babies begin to master the difficult skill of walking. Up to three weeks they walk awkwardly and uncertainly, stagger.Closer to the month, the kittens acquire one of their most interesting skills - turning over in the air and landing on the legs. At this time, the kids already have a decent reserve of curiosity, they start to play and often move around. By one and a half months, the kittens learn to run, their coordination improves, they become bold and agile.

At an older age, you can determine the age of a kitten by the level of its maturity. At 6 months, the kitten begins to produce hormones. He meows at night and wants to leave the house. By 7-9 months, hormonal changes are in full swing - males can begin to mark the territory, looking for a female. At the female during this period the first estrus can begin. If you want to sterilize the female, you need to do it before the first heat. However, this method of determining the age of a kitten is not very effective, because an animal can have early maturation at 6 months. When a cat becomes a fully mature animal, it grows in size and even changes the appearance of its face.

Determining the age of the animal is very important. If you know how many weeks or months a kitten is, you will be able to accurately pick up his food,provide proper care and hygiene. Now you do not need the help of a veterinarian - you can determine the age of the kitten yourself.