How to learn to determine the age of a kitten: the main signs and criteria

If a family decides to get a kitten, then most likely it will be purchased from breeders or taken from other people, or maybe simply picked up on the street. In order to give your new pet proper care and attention, you need to know how to properly care for him. Proper nutrition, visits to the vet, vaccinations, and possibly treatment – this is just an incomplete list of what should be provided for a small pet. To do this, you first need to know his age. Many people have difficulty at this stage. Here are some rules on how to determine the age of a kitten yourself.

Any age is significant in the development of a kitten, and therefore it has its own characteristics and principles of care. kittens grow and develop rapidly, precisely because of this, many people find it difficult to determine their age by eye. In fact, there is nothing complicated about this. It is enough to know some rules for determining the age of an animal.

Principles for determining the age of a kitten

It should be noted right away that to determine the age of a kitten, if it was picked up on the street, it will turn out only approximately according to some signs. Age can be determined by the following features:

• to size;
• by weight;
• in appearance;
• by eye color;
• by the teeth;
• by behavior.

Watch the baby. Is his body proportional, what are his ears and eye color? The fact is that the smallest kittens, who are not yet a month old, have a disproportionate body. The head, in comparison with the body, looks too big, the ears and paws, on the contrary, seem very small. Having reached one month, it has more proportional forms, although the ears still seem small.

All kittens under the age of one and a half months have pure blue eyes, after which the shade changes. When the baby reaches two months, it body starts to look longer, the forms reach their proportionality. At 3-4 months, the kitten’s ears lengthen. Of course, this method of determination is not ideal, especially for inexperienced owners. Therefore, after a detailed study of the appearance of the baby, you should take a closer look at his behavior.

How to determine the age of a kitten by behavior?

Up to three weeks, the baby has practically no cat reflexes – they appear closer to four weeks. After four weeks, he will begin to respond well to sudden sounds and movements. Closer to a month, the baby begins to actively take an interest in the world around him. Do not be afraid if the baby begins to scratch during this period, this is typical for most cats at this age.

If a kitten is one and a half to two months old, he will behave very confidently and actively. Kittens at this age are very playful, their movements are sharp, and sometimes clumsy. Only closer to 2,5 months will your pet acquire all the movements of an adult cat. At 3-4 months in a kitten walking abilities will begin to appearI’m on narrow shelves and ledges. Movements will become more graceful and soft.

The disadvantage of this method of determination is that all cats have an individual character, their birth characteristics and living conditions before they were taken into the family. In addition, the cub may have any diseases that may affect his behavior.

Determination of age by other signs

The most accurate method of determining the age is the determination of the teeth. Up to 3 weeks baby has no teeth at all, they will begin to appear after this period. Teething order:

• 3-4 weeks – front incisors;
• 5-6 weeks – teeth on both lateral jaws;
• 7-8 weeks – canines following the front incisors.

Kittens have 26 milk teeth. Only after 6 months will the crumbs begin to cut four molars. From 1,2 years old, milk teeth will begin to be replaced by permanent ones.

Age can also be determined by weight, however, this method is not accurate, but rather approximate. As a rule, the weight of the crumbs at birth ranges from 90 to 120 grams. If the baby is fully nourished, it weight will increase every week about 100 grams. After a month, weight gain slows down. Females, unlike males, gain weight more slowly.

Height is a good indicator for determining age. The principle of growth is no different from the principle of weight gain. A newborn kitten has a length of approximately 9-12 cm, not counting the tail.

To make measurements easier, you can compare the growth of your crumbs with the following data:

• 1 month old – height is 13-15 cm;
• 2 months – 15-18 cm;
• 3 months – 19-21 cm;
• 4 months – 22-24 cm;
• 5 months – 24-25 cm;
• 6 months – 25-27 cm.

As you know, the color of the eyes of kittens has a habit of changing. So, all newborn kittens have blue or gray eyes. Although, in newborns, they are, of course, closed. The eyes open about 2 weeks after birth. At 2-3 months of age eyes change color to permanent. If your kitten has wide open blue eyes, then most likely he is not yet 3 months old.

Although this principle has exceptions. In some breeds, the blue color of the eyes remains unchanged throughout life. These include Siamese, Thai, White Angora, Neva Masquerade, British and some other breeds.