Determining the age of kittens. How to determine the age of a kitten by weight and teeth

If you think that only a specialist can determine the true age of a kitten, then you are mistaken. With some information about the animal and free time, any owner of a small pet can easily answer this question.

So, let's say you adopted a pet from the street and want to learn more about it. How to determine the age of a kitten at home? Most often, five features are distinguished:

• the size of the animal and its physique;
• ears and eye color;
• teeth;
• the way he behaves.

It is necessary to consider in detail all of the above signs in order to understand how to determine the age of a kitten.

Dimensions

Each cat has its own characteristics. However, kittens of almost all breeds from birth to three weeks have a relatively small body and a large head with a wide forehead.

When the baby is fifteen days old, it acquires a size slightly smaller than the human palm.

The torso of a monthly kitten gradually becomes more proportional.

At two months, it stretches and begins to look like the body of an adult. The limbs become long and strong.

At the age of three and a half to five months, the animal develops muscles.

In six months, the size of the pet will be equal to three-quarters of the size of an adult cat.

At nine months, the formation is completed, growth ends, and the pet turns into a sexually mature animal.

Ears and eye tint

Kittens are born blind, and their eyes open two weeks after birth, although in some individuals this happens as early as ten days.

Some owners are unaware that newborn kittens have hazy blue eyes.

After about the second month of life, the iris of the eye begins to change color, but animals of some breeds still remain blue-eyed.

If the eyes are already open, and they have a light gray-blue color, then the pet is less than eight weeks old.

Ears are also a defining feature. In newborn kittens, they are pressed to the head, since until five to eight days old, the ear canals do not open.

Hearing locators do not expand as quickly as the eyes open, so they will not fully open until two to three weeks later.

Ears begin to lengthen closer to one month.

The weight

After birth, the animal grows very quickly and gains mass, so it also becomes a defining feature.

Naturally, if you brought a new pet from the street, it will weigh less than a pet, so initially it must be fed strictly on time and in the prescribed portions. Eating normally, he will gain weight by 10-30 grams daily.

Several factors affect weight:

• maternal nutrition during pregnancy;
• the number of kittens in the litter;
• genetic factors;
• gender of the animal.

How to determine the age of a kitten by weight:

1. Week - 80-125 grams.
2. 15 days - 120-170 grams.
3. Three weeks - up to 260 grams.
4. Month - 350-550 grams.
5. Five to seven weeks - 480-760 grams.
6. More than two months - 800-1300 grams.
7. 12 weeks - 1300-1500 grams.
8. Three months - 1800-2300 grams.
9. An adult animal is 4-5 kilograms.

Teeth

A newborn baby has no teeth, and the first ones appear only at the age after some time. First, these are incisors, and after three weeks - fangs. If there are already small molars, the pet is five or six weeks old. In total, cats have 26 teeth: 4 canines, 12 incisors, 10 small molars.

At four months of age, milk teeth begin to fall out. They are completely replaced by the age of seven months.

Behavior

If the baby crawls and does not respond to environmental stimuli - he is no more than three weeks old. At this age, he is already on his feet, he is interested in everything that happens around.

Monthly pet walks absolutely everywhere and begins to be interested in games.

Five weeks is the right age to start running.

Upon reaching the seventh or eighth week, he becomes bolder and begins to get to know everyone who lives next to him.

At five months, the animal begins to meow heart-rendingly and try to get out into the street. These are signs of puberty. At six to seven months, his appearance and behavior change, the pet may even start biting.

Seven months is the age of puberty.

Who can help

If you are not a specialist and have not previously had close contact with cats, you can refer to:

1. To the breeder or former owner, who will definitely advise you on this issue.
2. A veterinarian - an experienced specialist will determine the age without difficulty, especially those doctors who deal with small animals are competent in this matter.

In addition, if you have never kept cats at home, consulting a veterinarian definitely does not hurt.

How to determine the age of a kitten by teeth. A photo

You have a foundling in your house

If a fluffy baby was born to your cat or you took him from a breeder, of course, you know exactly how many months or years he is. However, it is not uncommon for a kitten to be picked up on the street or taken into the house already grown up from other owners who have no idea what his age is.

In such circumstances, of course, you will never know exactly how long your pet has already lived in the world. However, there are some ways to determine the approximate age of a kitten. Of course, all these methods will not give one hundred percent certainty, however, they will help you navigate. It can be done:

• in appearance - according to the totality of the exterior (external signs);
• by behavior;
• by the teeth.

Methods for determining ageyourpussy

How to determine the age of a kitten by appearance? Cats, like any other animals, have certain external features that are characteristic of each age. So, in very young children, up to about 20 days old, a disproportionate body - a very large head, tiny ears, short legs. In babies of one month old, the body is proportional, harmonious, however, the ears still look relatively small. Up to about a month and a half, kittens have blue eyes, then they change shade. At two months, babies have a rather long body compared to their paws. At three or four months, their ears seem to be long, the legs also lengthen, the kitten looks as if “ankle-legged”. At six months, the proportions of the body are aligned, the movements are sharp and fast, if the baby does not sleep, he always does something.

Of course, this way of determining the age of a kitten is complicated. It is difficult for an inexperienced owner to understand the proportions of a cat's body. In addition, do not forget that the structure of the body is determined by the breed of the cat and will be different for different representatives. If the animal was malnourished before getting to you, this will also affect how it looks. How to find out the age of a kitten by its behavior? If your baby came into the house when he was younger than a year, then you can set the approximate age at the onset of puberty. It occurs in cats at 7-9 months. That is, when your pet shows interest in the opposite sex, you will know how old he is approximately. The difficulty with this method is that some cats mature early, around six months of age. So the error can be up to 3 months.

The most complex, but the most accurate technique

How to determine the age of a kitten by the structure of the dental system? In babies, milk teeth initially grow by 1 month, which begin to change to permanent ones at 3-4 months, and are completely replaced at six months. At one year of age, the teeth of the animal are white, usually no tartar is detected. On the lower jaw of a cat, the teeth on the incisors are erased: internal - at 1.5 years old, medium - at 2.5 years old, at the same age the enamel turns yellow. On the upper jaw, similarly at 3.5 and 4.5 years. Canines begin to wear down at the age of 5 years.

On the external incisors of the upper jaw, teeth are erased at 6 years. It should not be forgotten that although this method is considered the most accurate, nevertheless, when it comes to an adult animal, the method of determining age is based on the degree of tooth abrasion. And it very much depends on how and what the cat ate. How to find out the age of a cat more precisely if you know that it is approximately 10 years old? A pet at this age loses teeth. At 10-12 years old, this happens with the central ones, and at 12-15 years old - with all incisors. After 15 years, fangs also fall out. In an elderly pet, the coat is coarser, gray hair appears - white or gray hairs. The eyes may become cloudy, pigmentation of the iris is possible.

It is good when the exact date of birth is in the pet's passport. But it happens that a kitten is not purchased from a caring breeder, but simply picked up on the street. Then it is necessary to determine its age at least approximately. This will allow you to choose the right nutrition and care, set the date for the first treatment for worms and vaccinations, and calculate the age in the future.

In adult cats, it is very difficult to determine the age, even experienced veterinarians cannot name exact numbers. But in young animals up to 6-8 months old, there are external signs by which you can determine the approximate age.

Newborns: up to 7 days

3 weeks - 1 month

The first milk teeth (incisors) usually erupt just in the 3rd week of life. Milk fangs (these sharp teeth are easy to spot) appear in about a month. The kitten is already firmly on its feet, walks confidently, deftly turns over. Toddlers, who previously only ate and slept, become curious and actively explore space, begin.

At the age of 5-6 weeks

Kittens develop very quickly. By one and a half months they have:

• milk premolars (chewing teeth behind fangs) are cut through;
• the eyes change their color (the infantile blue of the iris goes away).

Such a cub weighs at least 250 g and already knows how to run. The ability to move quickly is a sure sign that the pet is more than 5 weeks old. At this age, kittens look quite self-confident, coordination improves markedly. Kittens begin to lick themselves.

You can switch from cat's milk replacer to. The most convenient industrial diets are “babycat”, “kitten”, allowed from 1 month. Kittens willingly eat canned food, but if finances are limited, dry food can also be offered. Small granules are easily soaked in water, and some kittens chew and swallow them in their original form.

During this period it is possible to

Pets are often given to people as gifts or picked up from the street, so it's hard to tell how many weeks or months a kitten or puppy is. Knowing this is necessary for the correct selection of nutrition, so you should remember how to find out the age of a kitten. Two-month-old and six-week-old babies are different, so you can determine the age yourself.

How to find out the age of a kitten

Every owner should know how old his pet is. It is easy to see the difference in how a kitten looks at 1 month old or 1 week old in appearance. It develops at a rapid pace, at each specific stage there are characteristic signs that indicate an approximate date (only a veterinarian can tell for sure). There are certain ways that will help you find out how much your home "predator" is. The time of birth can be determined by the following criteria:

• the size;
• teeth;
• eye color;
• appearance;
• behavior.

How do kittens grow

The surest way to determine the age of a kitten is to observe it. There are certain periods in the development of an organism that indicate the date of its birth. The older the pet, the more difficult it is to know exactly how old it is. The easiest way to do this is up to 1 month, when the main stages of the formation of all systems of the animal's body take place:

• the umbilical cord disappears;
• the baby begins to stand on its paws;
• body weight increases;
• eyes open, their color changes;
• teeth appear and grow.

When do kittens open their eyes?

It is useful to know at what age kittens open their eyes, not only to determine their date of birth, but also to control the correct development of the organs of vision. They begin to open on the 7th day, they are more like slits, the eyelids do not fully open. After a couple of days, they are already more like "beads" of pale blue or gray. It is recommended to keep babies in semi-dark conditions during this period, because bright light will be an unnecessary irritant for them.

The eyes open fully by the 14th day from their date of birth. If this does not happen, then you will need to help: wipe them with a weak solution of boric alcohol or strong tea. After that, try to glue the pet's eyelids. It should be borne in mind that the speed of opening the eyes depends on how much the cat has carried them. For example, those pets that have been hatched for 68 days will reveal them faster. This process also occurs earlier in short-haired breeds.

When do kittens change eye color?

Another method to determine the age of a kitten is the color of their eyes. When they first open, they are gray-blue in all breeds. Over time, a process begins to occur that forms the natural color of the pet's iris. This happens at the end of 3 months of life. However, it should be borne in mind that there are specific breeds in which the shade of the eyes does not change, for example:

• British;
• Thai;
• Polynesian;
• angora;
• Canadian sphinxes;
• Siamese.

When do kittens get teeth?

One of the important indicators of the development of a cat will be the growth of teeth. In order to relatively accurately determine the age of a small hunter, they should be counted. It is important to consider that there is a period when kittens' teeth change. There are such periods of growth:

1. 1-2 weeks - the baby still has a completely empty mouth.
2. 2-3 weeks - the first teeth begin to appear.
3. After a month, you may notice the appearance of milk fangs.
4. After 1.5-2 premolars erupt.
5. By 4, a pet should have 26 teeth.

When does a kitten change teeth?

As in humans, in cats, milk teeth are replaced by permanent (molars). If you can determine that the change has already occurred, you can roughly tell how old the animal is. You can do this in the following way:

• if the loss began with you, then your pet is 3-4 months old;
• molars (the longest canines) indicate a complete change of milk to molars, this happens by 7 months of the animal's life.

If an adult cat has already fallen into your hands, but you would like to determine how old it is, then you can also do it in the teeth. Cats often get food that they have to chew on, so over time, the enamel begins to wear down. Veterinarians recommend paying attention to the lower jaw, where the reduction is most noticeable. There is a special schedule for changing appearance, by which you can determine the time of birth.

When does a kitten start walking?

The only way to accurately determine the age of a kitten is to take it to the veterinarian, but the approximate period of birth can be determined even by the behavior of the animal. Each stage of the development of the cat's body corresponds to certain characteristics of its movements, which indicate the time of birth. You can use the following signs to determine the age of the animal:

• up to 5 days - they crawl on their tummy, do not stand on their paws, their eyes are closed;
• up to 10 days - they begin to recognize odors, the activity of the front paws increases;
• 10-14 days - they open their eyes, they are already trying to stand on their legs, but they are still not able to hold them, the hind limbs are intensively developing.
• 14-20 days - the development of the musculoskeletal system occurs, the joints become stronger, the cubs already move independently, activity increases, the eyes become the "correct" color.

Kitten development by week

When using immediately all the signs that indicate the age of the animal, you can find out the date of birth of the pet as accurately as possible. The data may differ depending on the characteristics of the development of a particular breed, for example, some cats are much larger than others. To simplify the comparison task, below is a table with average baby development parameters in the first weeks:

Video: kitten development by day

Usually the owner, buying a kitten, knows exactly how many weeks the future pet is. After all, the breeder will try to give complete information for his maintenance and care for him. In other cases, to learn how to determine the age of a kitten, you need to use proven tips.

Why is it important to know the age of a kitten?

The full development of a small kitten is possible if the pet is not just loved and protected. It needs to be properly fed and treated, if the need arises.

Sometimes new owners ask: why do you need to find out the age of a pet? The fact is that at a certain stage of development, the baby must receive appropriate nutrition. The correct age is important for vaccinating or prescribing treatment for a kitten.

The owner will be able to understand the cat's character and behavior if he knows about the development of the kitten's psyche at the next stage of growing up. And from such an understanding, contact and friendship with a pet will depend. How to determine the age of a kitten at home?

Self-determining the age of your pet

Do not be afraid of the task facing the owner. In reality, the animal is not difficult at all. Every owner of a fluffy is quite capable of doing it himself.

There are several signs that will show how to determine the age of a kitten:

• are the eyes open;
• whether the ears straightened;
• its size, weight;
• overall appearance;
• the number of teeth, at what stage of growth they are, their condition;
• child's age behavior.

A simple close inspection will already give enough information about the pet. From it you can easily understand how mature the kitten is, formed.

visual inspection

The easiest way to determine the age of a kitten is a visual detailed examination. Of course, the age will be approximate, because the development of a particular baby depends on several factors. But the older the animal, the more accurately you can determine its age at a glance. It is worth starting with an external examination:

• The very first thing you need to examine the kitten's tummy. Perhaps the umbilical cord will be found on it, then this baby is a newborn. He is no more than three days old. Just during this period, the umbilical cord heals and gradually dries, after which it disappears completely painlessly.
• Not erupted eyes speak of a recent birth. The first ten days the kittens do not see. After seven days, the very edges open. Therefore, if the eyes are tightly closed, we can say for sure that the baby is no more than a week old. The kitten will begin to see fully at the end of the second week. The color of the eyes speaks of a young age. All kittens are blue-eyed at first. But after a month and a half, the color will begin to change.
• You need to pay attention to the ears of the animal. The first six to eight days of life, the ear canals are not open. They open gradually. The ears are semicircular and close to the head. They settle down for about twenty days. Fully extended, triangular ears in a kitten - at three weeks.
• Size also helps determine the age of the kitten. From the photo, you can try to independently guess when the baby was born. A newly born kitten is about 12 cm tall (do not include the tail). For about a month, the body of the animal is approximately 15 cm. Two-month-olds grow to 18 cm. A month later, the kitten grows to 20 cm. A five-month-old animal reaches 25 cm.

• Veterinarians know how to determine the age of a kitten by the teeth. Kittens are toothless up to fifteen days. After three to four weeks, the first fangs erupt. At four months, the kitten already has all the milk teeth. After six months, dairy ones change to indigenous ones, which are stronger and much larger. If the baby's teeth have changed, then he is at least seven months old.

Live weight

An additional sign that is taken into account during a visual inspection is the weight of a pet. How to determine the age of a kitten by weight:

• a healthy kitten, living no more than a week, weighs about 150 g;
• in three weeks, the weight reaches 250 g;
• further gains accelerate, in two months the weight can reach 900 g;
• starting from three months, a monthly weight gain of at least 500 g is considered the norm.

Thus, an adult cat gains up to four and a half kilograms, and a cat - about four.

At about a year and a half, large monthly weight gains end. It is only approximately possible to determine the age of a kitten by weight. It must be remembered that weight gain occurs at a rate depending on the breed, as well as the sex of the kitten.

Scottish kitten example

Normal six months is about three kilograms. The optimal weight allowable for an adult cat is six and a half kilograms. Usually an adult cat weighs four and a half kilograms. If the weight is greater, this means that the pet is overfed. Scottish cats should not be allowed to overeat. This is very harmful to the health of the pet.

From the age of four months, a Scottish kitten overtakes kittens of the same age from other breeds in terms of weight. Already at seven months, cats turn into five-kilogram animals. And at nine months, even cats gain more than four kilograms in weight.

Animals may constantly ask for treats, but frivolous indulgence of an irrepressible appetite is dangerous to their health.

weight gain chart

Using the table, you can determine the age of a Scottish kitten in different months.

The table shows the monthly change in the weight of Scottish kittens. A two-month-old kitten weighs about a kilogram!

Now they have a wonderful appetite. Babies grow up, so they eat everything that they are offered.

Features of behavior will tell age

How to determine the age of a kitten using its behavioral signs? You need to take a closer look:

• If the kitten is with a cat, he has enough milk to feed her for a month and a half. The cat will wean him from such feeding. This happens when the baby is almost seven weeks old. Therefore, the kitten begins to actively explore the world around it, try new food, and these are the main conditions for the qualitative development of the animal.
• The approximate time of the birth of the baby can be assumed by how he reacts to touch, light, noise. Up to three weeks, he almost does not respond to extraneous stimuli.

• When a kitten is a month old, he may show interest, perhaps fear, when he is stroked, reacts to noise, he wants to play with a cat and kittens.
• When a kitten moves with pleasure, runs a lot, plays willingly, it can be assumed that the fluffy is about six weeks old.
• At two months, the baby already has good coordination. He is very interested in studying everything he sees around him.

Determining the age of a kitten is very important. Knowing how old the baby is, the owner will be able to accurately choose food for him, ensure proper maintenance and care. If necessary, you can always visit a veterinarian. He will help determine the age of the pet and recommend appropriate care for him.