How to determine at home how many weeks or months a kitten is, up to what age a cat is not considered an adult?

It’s critical to ascertain a kitten’s age in order to provide the appropriate feeding, medical care, and attention. Knowing the age of your kitten will help you provide for its needs as it gets older, whether you picked it up on the street or adopted it from a shelter.

A kitten’s age can be determined in a number of ways at home based on its physical attributes, such as size, weight, and tooth development. Given that kittens go through distinct stages of growth in their first few months of life, observing its behavior can also provide clues.

To find out how many weeks or months your kitten is, follow these simple steps in this guide. Additionally, you’ll discover when a cat formally becomes an adult and up until what point it is still regarded as a kitten.

Why you need to know the age of a kitten?

It would seem that providing a small pet found on the street with warmth and care is more important than trying to figure out exactly how old the pet is. It is better to know how many months old your pet is, though, if you want them to grow up to be healthy and happy. The animal is castrated, its diet is chosen, and it receives vaccinations according to its age.

How to determine how many weeks (months) a baby is if it was taken from the street?

A found kitten’s age can be ascertained using a number of physiological development-related factors. When a kitten is found rather than purchased, its eyes, teeth, and even ears can tell its owner how many days or months old the animal is. Kittens grow quickly, and they undergo noticeable physical changes every week. You can ascertain the baby’s birth time with considerable accuracy if you examine it closely.

While street kittens experience various delays in development, domestic kittens grow normally. Variations spanning multiple days or a week may be linked to the baby’s challenging living circumstances. He might have been malnourished, in which case his weight would be considerably off average.

Diseases, parasite infestation, and other unfavorable circumstances the infant experiences on the street all have an impact on the difference with the standard proportions. When estimating the age of the foundling, this should be considered.

Eyes: are they open and what color are they?

The eyes are one of the primary markers of the developmental stage. Babies are born blind and can stay that way for up to two weeks. The iris of every newborn kitten is blue; color changes happen later. Typical wording

• eyes are closed – the baby is less than 7 days old;
• slightly open, but are narrow slits – 2-3 weeks;
• the color of the iris has changed from blue to any other – the kitten is about 6-7 weeks old.

Although there is little chance of finding a purebred kitten, you shouldn’t rule it out. If the definition of age makes no sense for purebred animals, it does matter a great deal for members of rare and expensive breeds. Certain cat breeds have eyes that remain the same color from birth, these being:

• Siamese;
• Angora;
• British;
• Canadian Sphynx;
• Polynesian and Thai.

A lot of people find it fascinating to watch a kitten gain "insight." The babies’ eyes are fully open at 12 to 14 days, but their vision is still hazy. It is not until the kitten is between the ages of 15 and 17 that he bravely starts to explore, having already developed perfect vision and the ability to distinguish between all objects. Naturally, these crumbs don’t usually wind up on the streets because they can’t withstand hazardous environments.

Size, weight, body proportions

Based on its physical development, a foundling can tell you how many weeks or years it is. Very crumbs could easily fit in an adult’s palm because they haven’t gone past the 10-day mark. Their body is about 12 cm long (without the tail). These kittens’ bodies are out of proportion—you can see it in the photo—with a big head and a small body. The kitten reaches a height of 15 centimeters by the time it is one month old. The baby stretches to a length of 18.5–20.5 cm at the third stage, and an additional 3–4 cm at the second stage.

The proportion of the body varies with growth. Its length is already three-quarters that of an adult cat at six months. To be clear, the pet can be weighed:

• up to 1 week – weight 120 g;
• 2 weeks – 120–170 g;
• 3 – about 260 g;
• 1 month – 350-550 g;
• 1.5 months – 700–760 g;
• 2 – 1.3 kg, but no more;
• 2.5-1.5 kg, and by 3 months the weight reaches 2.3 kg.

A baby’s age can also be determined by its ears. They are incredibly small and closely packed into the head of newborns. Cats have closed ear canals for the first five to eight days. After two to three weeks, the ears fully straighten, the channels open, and they take on their typical shape. By the fourth month, the auricle has finished its final formation. This indicator is only considered in the early stages of life for breeds with high birth rates.

Teeth: are there and what?

A kitten’s teeth can also be used as an indicator to determine its age. An adult animal consists of 12 incisors, 10 premolars, and 4 canines and molars. Kittens begin to erupt teeth between two and three weeks. Premolars develop behind canines as they grow, which takes three to four weeks. The baby is approximately two months old if it has its first molars in its mouth. Four molars are fully formed at seven months.

Also read: Why does a cat or kitten act so aggressively, bite, and attack its owner without cause?

Baby teeth are retained by kittens for a maximum of six months. After that, permanent teeth gradually replace them; this process takes nine to ten months to complete. Usually, the incisors fall out first, then the canines, and after six months, the molars are replaced. The fourth premolar in the lower jaw and the third premolar in the upper jaw are the last baby teeth to erupt. It is notable that the lower jaw’s teeth regrowth occurs 1-2 weeks sooner than the upper jaw’s.

It’s important to look at your pet’s whiskers in addition to its teeth. They will provide an approximate date but not the precise one. The kittens’ whiskers are actually bit by the cat to prevent them from being able to navigate through space and from crawling too far from the "nest." The whiskers have a bitten appearance for three to four months before growing to their regular length and staying that way for many years.

A kitten’s age can be ascertained at home by observing important behavioral and physical cues. The eyes of a kitten usually open at one week, followed by the appearance of baby teeth at two to three weeks and the introduction of solid food at four weeks. At eight weeks, the majority of kittens are playful and energetic. A cat may reach full size and sexual maturity slightly earlier, but generally speaking, they are not regarded as adults until they are one year old. A kitten’s age in weeks or months can be estimated with the aid of these observations.

When a kitten is considered an adult?

Kittens up to five months old are "kindergarten" babies; they are completely unprepared for adulthood and just require healthy food, warmth, and entertainment. Kittens reach puberty at the age of five to six months, turning into teenagers. Male cats undergo a behavioral change during their first heat, during which they actively mark their territory, request walks, and occasionally display aggression. Female cats may also go through their first heat.

However, all the indicated development parameters are averaged. Animals develop differently, some mature faster, some – more slowly. How long does a baby remain a kitten, when does maturity occur? Psychologically and physiologically, a cat is fully formed by 1.5 years. At this age, a cat or a cat is already fully formed, has its own character and habits.

Representatives of specific cat breeds reach adulthood later. Maine Coons, for instance, are deemed fully adult after two years. Because "Easterners," like Thais, Sphynxes, and Siamese, mature earlier, this should also be considered when estimating a baby’s age. For a foundling, love and care are the most important things, regardless of how old he is in weeks or years.

As a kitten grows, knowing their age will help you give them the proper care. You can determine how many weeks or months old a child is by looking at their physical development, including the size of their body, teeth, and eyes. Playfulness and independence are two behavioral cues that reveal a person’s age.

A kitten is not deemed fully matured until approximately one year of age. They go through several significant growth and socialization phases up until this point. At six months, they may look like young adults, but they are still going through physical and emotional development.

You can better promote your kitten’s health and development and make sure they develop into content, well-adjusted cats by being aware of their age and the stages they go through. Knowing these milestones helps direct the care of your kitten, whether you’re raising a young one or taking care of an older one.

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