They’re playful, inquisitive, and undeniably cute, but there’s more to kittens than just fluff and fun.
As Cats Protection Central Veterinary Officer Sarah Elliott explains, a kitten’s first few weeks are packed with important developmental milestones which will influence their entire lives.
How many kittens can a cat have?
After a pregnancy of around nine weeks, a female cat will give birth to a litter containing anything from one to nine kittens – most commonly four to six.
When do kittens start to suckle?
Healthy kittens should start to suckle almost immediately, and it’s important they take in the ‘first milk’ – known as colostrum – as this contains vital antibodies to help fight disease.
Newborn kittens are vulnerable to cold, so they will keep warm by snuggling closely to their mum and litter mates.
When do kittens open their eyes?
Their eyes will remain tightly closed until they’re around ten days old. When kittens first open their eyes, their vision will be blurred until the muscles in the pupil develop, normally by around three weeks. During this time, it’s important to protect kittens from bright light, which could damage their eyesight.
All kittens start off with blue-grey eyes.
How often should kittens be feeding?
By week two, healthy kittens should be feeding well – about every two hours – and will be growing fast. From an ideal initial weight of between 90g-110g, kittens should gain around 10-15g a day, doubling their birth weight by two weeks old.
When can kittens socialise?
Two weeks is a particularly important milestone as it marks the start of the ‘socialisation period’ that runs until kittens are around seven weeks old. It’s during this time that kittens will learn what is normal and is vital to them becoming confident pets.
If kittens have lots of positive experiences with different people, sights, sounds, and other animals, they’re likely to thrive in a domestic home.
On the flip side, they’ll grow up to be scared of anything they didn’t come across, or which was a bad experience, during these early weeks. Kittens that have been born to feral or stray mums – and have had no positive human interactions during this socialisation period – will grow up to be feral and cannot be tamed in later life.
When do kittens start walking?
After starting to crawl, at around 14 days, kittens should be able to walk at three weeks old.
When do kittens stop drinking milk from their mothers?
As kittens start to walk they’ll be getting stronger and all that growing means they’ll still need lots of sleep.
As energy levels increase, they’ll soon be ready to start weaning onto solid food. It’s a gradual process which will take a few weeks, and kittens will still need their mother’s milk for a few more weeks.
When do kittens start to play?
Now the fun really begins! It’s around four weeks old that kittens will start to play with their litter mates. Over the next few weeks, they’ll begin to pounce, hide and stalk each other, and all this teaches them the hunting skills that they’d rely on if they were living in the wild.
Look closely and you’ll see how much their play resembles big cats like lions and tigers hunting their prey.
You can help with socialisation by gently joining in play – but remember, the games you play now will stay with a kitten into adulthood. So it’s important that you don’t encourage kittens to scratch and bite during a game, as they’ll continue to do so as adults when their aim will be better and their teeth and claws sharper.
Here are some ideas for homemade cat toys that will entertain felines for hours
- Why do cats play with their prey? And why do they then kill but not eat their prey?
- How can I stop my cat hunting wildlife?
When do kittens first poop and start using a litter tray?
For the first few weeks, the kittens’ mum will oversee their toileting – licking their bottom to help them poo and eating their waste.
By around four weeks, they are ready to start using a litter tray and thanks to their natural instinct to bury their poo, they normally don’t need any training.
Litter trays should have low sides for kittens, and should be in a quiet, private place. Keep the area clean at all times – cats don’t like to use a dirty tray, and kittens are vulnerable to picking up infections.
At around five weeks’ old, kittens will start to learn more important life skills, like grooming themselves. It’s tiring work, so they’ll still need to sleep between 16 and 20 hours a day, which will give their immune system a boost and the energy they need to grow.
When can you worm kittens?
Kittens will be ready for their first worming treatment at around five weeks too, and they can be given their first taste of independence by spending short periods of time away from their mum.
As the socialisation period will soon be coming to an end, it’s important for kittens to continue to have plenty of positive experiences with people. Gentle handling, grooming with a brush and exposing kittens to household sounds like the vacuum and washing machine are great for socialisation.
The Cats Protection have put together a downloadable list of sounds to play to your kitten to help them get used to common noises like thunder, fireworks and a vacuum cleaner.
What happens to kittens when they are six weeks old?
Kittens will now have developed their own characteristics, with some being bolder and others more reserved. They’ll continue to learn lots of new skills through play and will get a taste of independence as their mum begins to spend less time with them.
But remember - however confident they may appear, it’s vital for their health and development that kittens remain living with their mum for now. While she may be enjoying a bit of ‘me time’ herself, she’ll still be keeping a close eye and the kittens will need to be with her overnight.
Another exciting development is the appearance of their ‘true’ eye colour around this time. Due to a lack of pigment in the iris at birth, all kittens will have blue eyes until they’re around six weeks old, when the pigment called melanin will develop enough to prompt a colour change.
When should kittens get their first vaccinations and flea treatments?
By week seven, the kittens are getting ready to be parted from their mum. The protection they gain from their mum’s milk will begin to wear off, so it’s important to make an appointment with the vet for their first vaccination, flea and worming treatment and to be microchipped.
Microchipping is essential for all cats, even those which live indoors. Kittens are full of curiosity and a sense of adventure, so having them microchipped is particularly important when they start to venture outdoors.
Their mum should also get a vet check and now is the ideal time for her to neutered before she becomes pregnant again.
Here are some tips for keeping your vet visit stress-free
More cat advice
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When can kittens be weaned and leave their mum?
Eight weeks is another important milestone in the life of a kitten – marking the point at which, provided they’re fit and healthy, they can leave their mum. It’s a big step, but at eight weeks old, kittens are still vulnerable and will need lots of care and attention in their new home.
They’ll be a lot of changes still to come – over the next few months they will lose all 26 of their kitten teeth, to be replaced with 30 adult teeth by six months. By the time they reach four months of age, kittens should be neutered, which will help them lead happier and healthier lives.
Can kittens become pregnant?
Don’t assume your kitten may be too young to get pregnant – cats can start to breed from just four months old, and this can put a huge strain on their young bodies.
To find out more about caring for kittens and cats, visit cats.org.uk
Love cats? Check out our pets section for advice on cat care, from how to stop cats scratching furniture to how to get rid of fleas and even how to stop cats pooping in your garden
Cats Protection is the UK's largest cat welfare charity and have experts in all aspects of feline welfare. They help around 200,000 cats and kittens every year thanks in no small part to their network of over 230 volunteer-run branches and over 30 centres.