Kitten Stages of Growth

Kittens go through specific stages of growth when they are born. As so many of them are found each year I thought it important to outline what those stages are as the growth stages of every different breed of cat   (except when it comes to eye color) is the same.

On average a newborn kitten weighs about three ounces. Each day it gains about a half an ounce muscle, bone and other tissues to do with the development of organs and body systems. Like human babies, kittens are born with blue eyes that change color. However unlike human babies they are born with their eyes closed. The kittens eyes open around 7th to 14th day of the month. Don’t be distressed if one of the cat’s eye’s opens before another. One eye can be open for as long as a week before another.

Usually both of the kitten’s eyes are fully wide opening by the time the cat is two weeks old. It is normal for the kitten’s ears to look odd as soon as it is born.

The ears might look as if they are pinned flat against the cat’s had. In the second or third week, the kitten’s outer ears perk up and adopt the pert triangular shape.

 By the third week, the kitten starts to crawl. He or she should be walking and running around by the fourth or fifth week. At this stage, the mother cat usually teaches her kittens how to use the litter box. The cat will also be very naturally curious and clown like.

 By the sixth week, a kitten’s retractable claws are in good working order. They are born with the claws extended. A six-week-old kitten will already have keen sense of smell and sight. At this time, the kitten will display an ability to groom itself and no longer need the mother to keep him or her clean. The sixth week is also the week when the kitten’s baby teeth grow in. This is a clear cue that the kitten is ready to eat solid food.

At 8 weeks of age, kittens will start to lose the natural immunities they have received from suckling their mother’s milk. This is the best time to begin vaccinating them, and will allow their own immune systems to mount a proper response to the vaccinations.

At around 10 to 12 weeks of age, kitten’s blue eyes begin to turn to the color they are meant to be , usually yellow or amber. However, eye color can vary tremendously from breed to breed. In some breeds full eye color pigmentation may not be achieved until the cat is a one or two years old. At four months of age, the kitten loses baby teeth and may begin teething. For the next eight months the teeth will grow in.

The kitten can officially be called an adolescent from the age of 6 months to 1 year, and by the eighth month, this teenager will develop sexual behaviors such as calling, mounting and possibly. This is why it is very important that to have your female spayed or your male neutered at around four months.

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Finding A Vet for a Pedigree Cat

If you own a pedigree cat the best way to find a great veterinarian   is to phone your local rescue organization for your breed. They usually have the best recommendations regarding veterinary care because they know about all about the medical vulnerabilities .

 Otherwise you should make plans for find a ,regular doctor, for your cat. You should always be prepeared as there is nothing worse than having a medical emergency to do with your pet and no veterinarian to turn to for help.  

The best way to approach looking for a veterinarian for your cat is to treat it as if you were looking for a personal doctor for yourself. Here are some questions you should ask when you are checking out a vet for the first tiem.  Is the place clean or does it smell like a feces or urine?Are the people friendly as well as knowledgeable or do they act like they have no time for you. Do the medical equipment and other technology seem up to date? Is there any medical equipment missing such as a weight scale? Can you hear animals howling or in distress? Would my cat be comfortable in the “kennel room”? Does this look like a safe place for my pet to have to spend the night or longer if need be? Do my gut instincts tell me this is not a place that I can trust with the care of my pet or do I feel like I can trust the staff?  

In essence you are looking for a vet that can easily refer you to an emergency service if needed or that has an emergency service it can provide in-house. It might also be important to find an experienced doctor for your cat, especially if it is older. Veterinarians that send out reminders by email or snail mail about when your pet’s shots are due, diseases going around and other important information are preferable to ones that seem to be too busy to be involved in their community.  One way to get feedback about vets is to simply ask your neighbours and freinds. When it comes to pets very few people lie about the credibility of their doctors. Ask friends, neighbors, family members, animal shelters, and local cat breeders about who the best vet in your area is.    

Once you have found a few prospects to be your pet’s doctor you should then write down some pertinent questions to be answered by an employee at the clinic. Usually an employee, not the busy vet, is the one who will be instructed to deal with general questions. I

f the vet is a really good vet and you have a particular question about your cat breed or a specific question the clinic will immediately book you and your pet an appointment for a consultation.   An excellent vet will call you back right away, no charge to see how your pet is and if everything is okay. However this gentle   and attentive old style vet is becoming rarer and rarer especially in the big cities.

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