Are you considering adopting a kitten? Or, maybe you’ve already got one, but you’re not entirely sure about the best food and care to give them. In either case, it’s important to know how old your kitten is. In this post, we’ll help you figure out how old your kitten is and how to discover the secret to staying on top of your ever-growing kitten’s health.
Signs For Determining A Kitten’s Age
Eyes
The easiest way to determine whether or not a kitten is still quite young is by looking at its eyes. Kittens don’t open their eyes for the first 10 days of their life. If you’re looking to adopt a kitten but aren’t sure of their age, a quick check of their eyes will help you know if it’s too soon for them to leave their family.
Umbilical Cord Stump
Does your kitten—or the kitten you’re interested in adopting—still have their umbilical cord stump? If so, then you’re looking at a kitten that’s pretty new to the world and likely less than a week old. Kittens typically lose their umbilical cord around seven days old.
Ears
You might be wondering how a kitten’s ears could help you to determine how old they are. While it might sound strange, a kitten’s ears tell us quite a bit. A kitten that’s only a few days old can be identified by folded ears. As they get older, you’ll start to see their ears, “open” and look more cat-like. However, some cats, like the Scottish Fold, keep their folded ears for life!
Weight
Weight is also helpful for telling a kitten’s age. As kittens get older, they grow. According to the ASPCA, for kittens that are in good body condition, a 1-pound kitten is typically about 4 weeks old and a 3-pound kitten is about 12 weeks old. This is because their weight in pounds is associated with their age in months, with weight gain occurring at a relatively predictable weight until the kitten reaches 5 months of age.
Teeth
We can learn a lot from a kitten’s teeth. They start out with baby teeth and then get permanent teeth, just like humans do as they age. Baby teeth are recognizable by their pointed tips, whereas permanent teeth have flatter edges and are a bit bigger or wider. A kitten’s baby teeth will start to come in around 3 weeks of age, but you’ll start to see their permanent teeth come in around 3-4 months.
Behavior
Newborn kittens generally need lots of sleep. Even the most adventurous kittens lack full coordination, and as a result, their walking is a bit awkward. By 3 weeks of age, a kitten should be walking normally and start playing with (and pouncing on) their family members.
How To Tell A Kitten’s Age Week By Week
Newborn
- Eyes: Newborn kittens’ eyes are closed. Because they can’t see, they rely on other senses such as smell.
- Teeth: Pink gums without teeth.
- Weight: 50-150 grams.
- Behavior: A newborn kitten needs to sleep and that’s what it will do for most of the day. Newborns will crawl rather than walk. A healthy newborn will also “speak” when it’s picked up.
Care needed: It’s important to keep a newborn close to its mother. In the first 2 days of a kitten’s life, its nursing mother will provide it with colostrum, which enables the kitten to fight disease. What if the kitten is an orphan? You’ll have to take over the role of its mother through bottle or syringe feeding. A newborn kitten needs to receive food every 2 hours.
