From kitten to cat

Your kitten will grow up faster than you think so here are a few pointers to what lies ahead on his road from birth to maturity.

Newborn

Cats can give birth throughout the year, but most births occur during spring and summer. When the mother feels that the birth is imminent, usually after about 65 days, she’ll look for a calm and secluded spot to give birth to about four kittens, although the number can vary greatly.

Blind, deaf and weighing only 70 to 100 grams, a newborn kitten is truly helpless. The mother even has to lick him as soon as he’s born to get his breathing going. He does, however, have an extraordinary sense of smell and touch which he uses to find his way to his mother’s teats. As soon as he begins to suck, he will start kicking the teats rhythmically with his forepaws to stimulate the flow of milk. Adult cats will sometimes exhibit the same kicking behaviour when they’re lying on your lap and it’s a sign of real affection. A kitten's mother doesn’t only give him nutrition; she also provides vital warmth. Kittens can’t regulate their own body temperature and, if the mother leaves them briefly, they will huddle together with their siblings for warmth.

At this stage, a kitten can do little more than sleep and eat but he will make rapid progress, gaining about 15 grams in weight every day. Between the eighth and twelfth day, his eyes will open, a baby-blue colour like every other kitten’s at this stage, although they are unable to see for another ten days. His hearing will develop at the same time and his teeth will begin to grow from as early as two weeks. Within two months, his first set of 26 sharp milk teeth will have completely developed, to be replaced by an adult set of 30 at about six months old.

Standing on his own four paws

In the middle of the third week, a kitten will begin cautiously exploring his surroundings, learning easily from his mother by copying everything she does from climbing to opening doors or using the litter tray. From the fourth week, she will let him do more on his own.

As he gets older, he will start playing with his brothers and sisters, learning how to attack and defend, to pursue and escape, to recognise the calls and signals that warn of dangers as well as the gentler art of caressing others to get what he wants. Within five weeks, his senses will be fully developed and within six, he will be cleaning himself.

His energy requirements will also have increased so much that mother’s milk is no longer enough. This is the time to wean him onto solid food as well as milk. He’ll be curious to taste anything new but he needs a special diet balanced to fulfill a kitten’s specific requirements.

Towards adulthood

From this point in time onwards, your kitten will quickly put on weight. When he’s six months old, he will probably weigh upwards of two kilograms, and will reach his full height at about a year old.

A kitten really begins to mature between his fourth and sixth month. Stalking and hunting skills become fully developed, and deciduous teeth are replaced with permanent ones. Sexual maturity follows soon after, with females coming into heat between the seventh and twelfth months and toms between the ninth and twelfth. The toms begin to spray their environment as soon as they reach sexual maturity. If you don’t want your cat to have kittens, this is the time to have him neutered. It’s only a minor operation, and he’ll soon recover.