Kitten age: solving the mystery

Bringing a kitten home is an exciting journey full of endless cuddles and playful moments. But it can be a bit of a puzzle to figure out when a kitten is growing at each stage. From little furballs to inquisitive adventurers, every age group has different needs and behaviors.

We will solve the puzzle of kitten ages in this piece. You’ll learn how to identify the critical developmental stages and what to anticipate as your little friend gets bigger. Knowing your kitten’s age will help you provide them with the best care and attention, whether you’re an experienced feline enthusiast or a first-time cat owner.

Come along as we explore the exciting world of kittens, including their developmental milestones and the implications for both you and your furry companion. We can maximize this unique period of their lives together!

Kitten Age	Description
0-2 weeks	Eyes and ears are closed; they rely on their mother.
2-4 weeks	Eyes and ears open; begin to explore.
4-8 weeks	Playful behavior; start eating solid food.
8-12 weeks	More independent; learning social skills.
3-6 months	Rapid growth; developing personality traits.

Knowing a kitten’s age is crucial to giving them the proper attention and direction as they develop. This post will examine the different phases of a kitten’s growth, from birth to puberty, in order to assist pet owners in recognizing significant turning points and making sure their animals flourish during this crucial period. Cats’ health and well-being can be better supported if the mystery surrounding their age is resolved.

Why do you need to know the age of a kitten

It is hard to think of a circumstance in which accurately determining a pet’s age makes any sense. The date of birth of breeding animals is indicated by the breeder in the accompanying documents (the veterinary passport and pedigree), and if the kitten was picked up on the street, its age does not matter. The dosage of food or medication for cats (and people) is determined by weight.

It is unlikely that figuring out a homeless kitten’s exact age will be useful.

Our first cat came into the house exactly like this. My father brought him, warming him from the bitter cold on his chest. The little creature had not yet learned to walk and was rocking comically on his weak paws. The unfortunate child also did not know how to eat on his own, and we took turns feeding him with milk formula from a pipette, completely not thinking about the age of our new pet. Somehow, imperceptibly, a tiny lump grew into an adult robber, who amused himself by closing the latch in the bathroom from the inside with his paw, scaring the life out of all the household members (we thought a thief had broken into our home), in a word, the question of how many weeks old the baby was initially lost its relevance very quickly.

There are times when not knowing what kittens should look like at a specific age can lead to quite specific annoyances, but this is mainly with pricey purebred pets.

When a prospective buyer was discussing the conditions of buying an Abyssinian boy with the author, he asked to send him a video so he could see the kittens. After watching the recording, the buyer hesitantly inquired as to whether the babies were actually only three months old because they appeared to be six months old.

Kittens that are three months old are only larger than their parents.

Experts are aware that by the time a kitten reaches three months of age, the only difference between it and an adult animal is size; however, even this difference is only noticeable in the presence of a nearby "sample" for comparison. It is strongly discouraged by the World Cat Federation (WCF), an association of felinological clubs, for kittens to be taken from their moms before three months of age. Due to this requirement—which is entirely justified, by the way—you may frequently run into situations where the buyer thinks they are trying to sell him an adult animal when, in reality, they are just trying to sell him a small cat.

Let me give you another specific example of how being able to tell a kitten’s age from its outward signs can help you avoid falling victim to scammers.

When it comes to moving animals across state lines, there are clear regulations. We won’t get into specifics; suffice it to say that adhering to all established guidelines essentially precludes the legal importation of a kitten younger than five months into the nation.

But sometimes you can encounter intermediaries offering (for a high fee, of course) services for delivering an animal to any European country bypassing the required procedures. This leads to an important conclusion: if you are offered to buy a breeding kitten that looks no more than three months old, and at the same time they claim that the animal was brought from abroad, this is either fraud or contraband, and unsafe for the cat"s health. Perhaps, contrary to the note in the accompanying documents, the baby does not have the required rabies vaccination or the vaccination was carried out earlier than the established deadlines. It is not known which is worse, especially considering that most likely no one will tell you the truth.

It is illegal to bring a kitten into the nation if it is less than five months old.

To put it briefly, if the ability to ascertain a Murka’s age is merely a matter of curiosity for the owner of a regular yard Murka, then those who plan to purchase a breeding kitten and are willing to part with a substantial amount of money for the future pet require this skill as a genuine safeguard against dishonest vendors of "live goods."

"Whiskers, paws, tail – these are my documents"

Kittens that are newborns resemble tiny worms. Their body is only 10 centimeters long, with soft fur that is noticeably different in color. They lack sight, hearing, and ability to move. Tiny lumps only eat and sleep during the first few days, cuddling and pushing against each other with their thin paws. Kittens that are four to five days old are still blind, but they can hear and even respond to certain stimuli.

Newborn kittens are defenseless, deaf, and blind.

You will be shocked to see how a kitten as young as a few days old tries to hiss angrily, almost like an adult predator, when you put your finger to its face.

While the children of other people grow up quite quickly, cats grow up quite quickly. As previously mentioned, a kitten develops from a defenseless tadpole to a fully grown small predator in just three months, but this is still not a miraculous metamorphosis—rather, it is a steady change. And you can tell an animal’s age quite clearly by looking at how its appearance and behavior change over time.

Age and size

Although a kitten’s birth weight is a relative measurement based on a variety of factors, we’re generally talking about 100 grams, with a range of error of 10–20% in both directions.

The babies gain weight rapidly in the days and weeks that follow, leading one to believe that weight is a reliable indicator of a kitten’s age. Even though there are specifically prepared tables showing the relationship between these two parameters, it is still possible to see how much they differ simply by comparing the data from various sources. This isn’t a coincidence either, as the animal’s current weight serves as a highly personalized indicator. It would be as ridiculous to try to estimate a kitten’s age from its weight as it would be to infer the same information about a human cub.

Numerous factors influence a cat’s weight.

It is evident that there are two significant differences between the kittens of a miniature Kao Manee and a heavy Maine Coon: while at birth their weight categories are fairly comparable, the large cats’ growth is significantly more intense, making the difference noticeable by the end of the first month. However, there are numerous other factors that affect an animal’s weight in addition to its breed, including:

• the number of kittens in the litter (the more there are, the less milk each one gets and the slower the weight gain);
• the mother"s diet during pregnancy and lactation;
• the kitten"s health;
• gender (at birth, the weight of boys and girls is the same, but as they grow, male cats begin to gain weight a little faster than female cats).

We will continue to offer some general statistics regarding the rate at which a kitten gains weight, but these are not required to establish the animal’s age but rather to address the question of whether or not everything is in order. Similar to people, animals in this situation should gain weight normally if they are healthy and not malnourished.

When a baby is not gaining weight well, supplements must be given.

Kittens should gain 7 to 15 grams of weight per day during their first few days of life, and by the end of the second week, they typically doubled their starting weight. The animal continues to gain weight, but at a slower rate, gaining approximately 100 g per week for the first six months.

The kitten’s growth is usually finished after six months; any slight weight gain in the following time frame can only be attributed to the muscles’ continued development and strengthening. A cat’s final development, including sexual maturity, concludes at one and a half to two years of age.

Table: average indicators of normal weight of kittens of different breeds as they grow older

Kitten"s age	Bengal cat, weight in grams	Maine Coon, weight in grams	British cat, weight in grams	Abyssinian cat, weight in grams
Moment of birth*	70–120	120–160	60–140	85–110
1 week	170–200	180–260	110–260	100–200
2 weeks	150–280	280–360	150–400	170–220
3 weeks	200–350	420–600	210–630	200–280
4 weeks	400–500	560–750	250–740	300–370
2 months	500–1000	1100–1500	450–1700	750–1000
3 months	1000–2700	1700–2300	1000–2500	1200–1500
4 months	2700–3600	2700–3800	1700–3900	1700–2200
5 months	2900–3900	2900–5500	2200–4300	1900–2800
6 months	3900–4000	3200–6000	2300–5400	2100–3000
Adult cat (for comparison)	3000–8000	4500–10000	2500–7000	3500–5500

*The kitten’s weight may drop a little by the end of the first day; this is normal.

You cannot rely on the animal’s size for the reasons mentioned above. Officially recognized standards permit considerable variances in "dimensions" even among breeding cats (as the final line of the above weight limit table makes abundantly evident), and yard Murkas need not even be mentioned. It is impossible to estimate how many weeks or months the kitten intends to grow to without knowing what parameters it intends to grow to.

A cat may be genetically predisposed to being large-sized.

The author was fortunate enough to meet a regular street cat that was incredibly large. He was simply large—not fat! Maybe his grandma made a mistake by marrying Karakal, but the Kotyar was forty centimeters tall at the withers and resembled an English cocker in general. To put it mildly, the outcome would be erroneous if someone tried to estimate the age of such a cat by looking at its size.

The kitten’s weight and height are not the ideal starting points for estimating its age.

Formation of teeth

Since the newborn kittens lack teeth, their existence and level of development can indicate the baby’s age.

Similar to humans, cats grow their teeth in two stages: first, as milk grows, and then, eventually, native teeth take their place. The reason for this intricate system is that during an animal’s early development, every organ and body part is still forming, including the jaw, which experiences a significant growth spurt in its first year of life. Teeth are required from an early age to ensure that the animal can normally grasp and chew food, but they cannot develop in tandem with the jaw’s growth. With the development of temporary teeth and their eventual replacement, nature has cleverly escaped this predicament.

The incisors grow first in a kitten, but by the end of the first month, fangs show up.

With a few exceptions, most mammals undergo the so-called diphyodontia, or change of the teeth. Whales and edentate animals, such as sloths, armadillos, and anteaters, only get one row of teeth during their lifetime. Rodents merely grow their incisors throughout their lives, wearing them down gradually as they go. They do not alter their incisors.

Cats only have 26 baby teeth and 30 permanent teeth as adults. In contrast to the weight situation, the dependence on the age of the kitten is clear and direct in this case since they all grow in a precisely defined sequence and at the appropriate time.

Table: the number and condition of a kitten"s teeth as it grows

Age of a kitten	Condition of teeth
1–2 weeks	Teeth are completely missing
2-3 weeks	The appearance of small front teeth (incisors)
3–4 weeks	Beginning of growth of four canines, two on top and two on the bottom
5–7 weeks	Beginning of growth of milk molars (lateral teeth on the right and left sides)
8 weeks	26 milk teeth (full set) are formed
5–6 months	The replacement of milk teeth with molars in the same sequence: first incisors, then canines, then premolars and lastly four more large molars
8 months	30 permanent teeth are formed: 16 on top and 14 on the bottom

It’s interesting that experts can fairly accurately estimate an adult cat’s age based on the state of its teeth, but if we focus on a kitten’s specific tooth count, these vital organs in a "seasoned" animal start to wear down, turn yellow, and eventually fall out in a strictly defined order.

It should be understood that the teeth are the most accurate way to determine an animal’s age, and that only an expert can accurately "read this book." Of course, it’s not too difficult to catch a kitten and examine its mouth to count its canines and incisors (though try it!). However, figuring out if the teeth are milk or molars can present its own set of challenges.

The best way to estimate a kitten’s age is to look at its teeth, both in terms of quantity and quality.

You could spend a lifetime discussing the outward distinctions between permanent and temporary teeth, but let’s face it: unless you are a professional breeder, you shouldn’t look to your tail-tailed pet’s mouth for clear answers.

Other external "markers"

Each cat breed’s standard outlines a number of requirements that the pet must fulfill. However, as all of them are developed gradually—as any expert in the field is well aware of—respectable professionals never assess kittens before they are three months old. However, there is another way to look at this rule: you can determine an animal’s age based on how developed it is. Here, everything can serve as a marker, including the eyes, ears, fur, proportions, etc.

Eyes

From birth to two weeks, a kitten’s age can be most easily determined by looking into its eyes. Though born blind, infants start to "see" in their first or second week of life, and by the time they are 15 days old, they are able to look around.

Therefore, everything seems very simple at first:

• if the eyes are tightly closed – the kitten is from one day to a week old;
• if the eyes begin to open (one by one, from the corner from the side of the bridge of the nose) – the baby is from a week to ten days old;
• if the eyes are completely open – the kitten is at least 10 days old.

The eyes of kittens open no earlier than ten days of age.

Then, though, the nuances start. Regardless of breed, all kittens have cloudy dark blue eyes at first.

The eyes’ current deep blue hue will soon undergo a dramatic change.

Children’s "looks" start to become more distinct around the third week, and by the end of the second month, the eye has taken on the "correct" color. While some breeds may experience variations in this process and shade changes lasting up to a year, this is the general trend.

It’s important to note that certain cat breeds, like Siamese, appear to never change color—their eyes are always blue. However, as anyone who has ever seen a two-week-old kitten’s enormous, dark eyes can attest, this shade is unlike any other.

Ears

Unlike adult cats, newborns have ears that resemble tiny rags and are almost on the sides of the head rather than on top.

Newborn kittens have ears on the sides of their heads.

They are soft, almost imperceptible, and positioned diagonally downward against the skull. The second week marks the start of the ear formation process. The ears grow larger and stretch outward, but they stay disproportionately small and much more rounded than they would be in an adult cat. The auricles also gradually open. The kitten’s ears begin to form by the end of the sixth week, but these organs take on their final shape during the infamous three months.

The kitten’s ears eventually straighten and assume their natural form.

Naturally, lop-eared cats are an exception to this rule; they have a unique past. The second to fourth week of life is when the bending of the ears in Scottish Folds occurs (the 18th to 20th day is particularly significant; it is usually decided at this point whether the lop-earedness will appear), but this is a very individual process. Like in a typical cat, the ear can rise, but over time, a bend that lowers the tip downward gradually forms.

The ears of kittens with lop ears fall instead of rising.

Ears on the sides indicate that the kitten is younger than three weeks, while ears on top indicate that the kitten is at least one and a half months old. This is the general rule that applies to all cats.

Wool

The condition of a kitten’s fur can reveal its age, a bold claim frequently found in popular articles, but no one ever explains how to do this. It’s true that kittens have fur on their bodies from birth. And take note that because it contains both guard and down hair, this is fur, not fluff.

Despite this, newborns have a noticeable difference in undercoat (fluff) between them and adult cats. The first molt occurs five to eight months before the animal’s body is fully covered in dense, straight, hard, and long hair.

Not every cat has fur.

Nonetheless, there are some cats whose fur condition varies so much with age that it can be identified both visually and by touch. Initially, we are discussing ticking, a unique color that is distinguished by the gradation of multiple tones down the length of each guard hair.

Ticking is evident in an Abyssinian puppy three months old.

The most visually striking types of ticked cats are Ethiopian cats. In the third month of a kitten’s life, ticking starts to develop; in newborns, the guard hairs are patternless.

Proportions

As was previously mentioned, a kitten’s appearance can change significantly in just three months. From an enormous head, slender paws, and an impressive tummy, the baby develops into a graceful predator with powerful muscles. It is also possible to determine the kitten’s age based on the stage of this transformation.

A kitten that is one month old has short paws and a big head.

Therefore, the baby’s limbs are already fairly strong at one month old, but they are still thick and short, and its head is still disproportionately large. The paws spread out, the body gets bigger all around, and the animal starts to resemble an adult.

While figuring out a kitten’s age can be confusing, it’s crucial for their growth and care. You can give them the proper environment and support by identifying the significant turning points in their development.

Every stage in a kitten’s life provides distinct insights into their needs, from their playful antics to their sleeping habits. By keeping an eye on these actions, you can make sure they flourish and make a smooth transition into adulthood.

In the end, each kitten is distinct. Your cat will be happier and healthier if you embrace their uniqueness while adhering to these age-appropriate guidelines.

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