Kitten Development

Week 1 

Kittens are born blind and deaf. Their eyes are closed and their ears folded down.

In the first week of life kittens basically sleep and eat. When they are awake, they stay close to the mother.

Newborn kittens are unable to regulate their body temperature and rely on mum to keep warm. The kitten's environment must be kept at a constant temperature to avoid either hypothermia or hyperthermia.

The umbilical cord remains attached for the first 3 days. At birth they usually weigh between 90 - 100 grams.

Toileting is stimulated by the mother. After her kittens have fed, she will lick their belly and genital area, eating any faeces and urine.

Week 2 

By the second week their eyes are beginning to open although their vision is not very good at this stage. Do not force their eyes open as it could result in damage. Young kittens are vulnerable to eye infections, so keep a watch for any signs of infection such as crustiness or white/yellow secretion. All kittens have blue eyes at this stage.

Weight gain is around 7-10 grams a day, and by the end of the second week the kitten should have doubled it's weight.

The sense of smell is developing. They will often have a preference for a particular nipple.

Week 3 

By three weeks the kitten is becoming more aware of his litter-mates. Their sense of smell is continuing to develop. It is around the three week mark that kittens begin to shakily move about. Some kittens will try to walk and explore.

By three weeks their ears will be erect. Their baby teeth begin to show. The sense of smell is well developed.

They can now purr. 

Week 4 

The sense of smell is fully mature.

The kittens are becoming more and more active and will be interacting with their litter-mates.

The mother is still grooming her offspring, but they are also able to groom themselves.

Their eyesight is improving, although it will be a few more weeks before it is fully developed.  The sense of hearing is now well developed.

It is at this time that the mother will begin to leave her kittens for short periods of time.

At this stage, you can provide a small bowl of water for kittens to drink from.

Week 5 

The sight is fully developed at 5 weeks.

The weaning process can begin around 5 weeks of age. Not all kittens will take to food immediately, so patience is important. Introduce a small amount initially. You can introduce solids either by placing a small amount of food on your finger  or in a cat bowl.

Kittens are much more graceful on their feet at this stage and are exploring a lot more. Stalking and pouncing their litter-mates.

They may start to use the litter tray, although you will likely find some accidents still.  Provide them with a small litter tray, make sure it has litter which is safe for young kittens to use (and possibly eat).

Weeks 6 - 8  

The kittens are extremely active. The mother will have longer periods on her own.

The role of the human is to take an active part in the socialisation process without intruding, especially in the very early days. Take the time to not only play with your kitten, but also offer plenty of cuddles and familiarise it with being handled in general. This includes the paws, ears and mouth...which will make basic health checks by a vet, medicating and claw trimming easier as the kitten has been brought up to accept this.

At this stage, kittens should be eating four small meals a day and by 8 weeks should be eating mostly solids. They should have almost all of their baby teeth by now. At 8 weeks kittens can be micro-chipped.

Weeks 9 - 12

Kittens can have their 1st vaccination and health check by the vet. At 12 weeks old kittens can have their 2nd vaccination. Once the vaccination course is complete they will be covered for a whole year. The vaccination protects them against feline panleukopenia

and feline leukaemia and against respiratory diseases caused by feline rhinotracheitis virus, feline calicivirus and feline Chlamydophila felis. At this stage kittens are independent from their mother and ready to be re-homed.