Home Analyzes Development of kittens by weeks and months. The age of the kitten and its characteristics. When can a kitten be given to a new home? At what age is a kitten the most playful?

Development of kittens by weeks and months. The age of the kitten and its characteristics. When can a kitten be given to a new home? At what age is a kitten the most playful?

Many people want to take a small kitten into their home - an 8-week-old, or even a 6-week-old. In this case, as a rule, they refer to a successful own experience or the experience of friends. There is nothing strange in such a desire - little kittens are adorable, everyone wants to play with them and see how they develop every day. However, not everyone thinks about taking a kitten from a cat at such a time. early age dangerous for health and even life, not to mention the stress that the baby will receive. It is at that age when many kittens are adopted that immunity is established and changes occur in mental and physical development animal.

At what age can kittens be given away?

Only by 12 weeks is the kitten more or less ready to leave its mother cat and begin an independent life with its owner. At this time, the immunity that the baby receives from mother's milk declines. Immunity begins to develop after vaccinations, which means that the baby can now do without the mother’s breast and is somewhat stronger. Earlier weaning risks diseases, including such common ones for kittens as diarrhea and diseases respiratory tract accompanied by frequent sneezing.

If the kitten has already been vaccinated (the first vaccinations are against panleukopenia, calcivirus and rhinotracheitis), this does not mean that the kitten will now not succumb to these diseases. There is no immunity yet until repeated vaccination. And some cats also need later vaccination - at 16 weeks, and not at 12, as usual. In addition, the kitten must be well physically developed and gain weight - then it will be easier to bear separation from its mother and moving to new home.

There are also problems that arise if you take a kitten too early. An important stage in the life of a cat cub is weaning from the mother's breast. No one will do this as correctly, carefully and firmly as the cat mother herself. If weaning is not done correctly, serious behavioral problems can be expected in the future. Abrupt change nutrition also negatively affects the baby’s body - the resulting diarrhea (diarrhea) is a consequence poor nutrition and the cause of dehydration that comes with it real threat life.

Among other things, the kitten also learns how to use the litter box from its mother. It is not easy for a person to accustom him to this, but the kitten happily copies the mother’s behavior.

The kitten's behavior emotional state can be severely disrupted when the kitten is separated from its mother early. It is the mother who teaches her cub to communicate with other animals, to “talk” in cat language. If you deprive a kitten of these first lessons, he may become intimidated, timid, insecure, even cowardly or, conversely, inexplicably aggressive. In a word, the psyche will be upset. Older kittens adapt much better to a new environment, and they experience curiosity rather than fear towards their owner, since they have already received their first lessons from their mother and feel some self-confidence.

In the company of its mother, the kitten is not afraid to meet a person. He sees that the mother is not afraid of people and also does not feel afraid of them. If new people appear in a kitten’s life without a mother, while he has not yet had time to fully get used to them, he may be afraid of them all his life. Something like a phobia develops - a person wearing a tie or sunglasses It may seem very scary to the animal if such people have never appeared with the mother.

So, the optimal age when you can take a kitten from a cat to a new home is about three months. Occasionally - earlier, if the kitten is developed, active, playful and has no health problems.

What is he like, a kitten at three months old?

Firstly, he is most likely weaned from his mother's breast. This means there are no problems with feeding, he can eat solid food.
Secondly, immune system the kitten is ok. The necessary vaccinations are behind us, and the risk of various diseases is sharply reduced.
Thirdly, the kitten is ready to communicate with people and other animals (this is very important if there are already cats and dogs in the house).

Of course, everyone wants to see the development of a baby kitten literally from the first steps, to observe this defenselessness and the formation of character. But over time, the kitten will turn into a cat, whose behavior and health will largely depend on what happened to it at an early age. Therefore, it is better to overcome the desire to take a very small kitten into your home. Let a couple extra months he will stay with his mother, where he is warm, calm and comfortable. In this case, there is a greater chance that the cat and the owner will not have any particular problems. She will be cheerful, healthy, playful, confident and always ready to give a person joy and her friendship.

Therefore, the future owner needs to be patient - a month or two of waiting is not such an expensive price to pay for a dozen happy years.

When we dream of a kitten, we imagine a little fluffy ball that has barely opened its eyes and has just learned to walk. However, there is no need to rush into purchasing a pet. Moreover, a competent breeder will never offer you a baby under the age of 12 weeks, and there are good reasons for this.

Of course, when we're talking about about saving a life, many rules have to be sacrificed, and if you take a kitten from the street, then the situation is completely different. But in other cases, purchasing a kitten that is not yet 2 months old is not recommended. The optimal age for moving a kitten to a new home: 2.5 – 3.5 months. But why? It would seem that after a month from birth the kitten is completely independent and can eat its own food. Kittens, indeed, grow very quickly, but this does not mean that it is good for them to be separated from their mother as soon as they get a little stronger. And here's why.

In the first weeks of life, the kitten has not yet developed its own immunity. The baby receives immunity through mother's milk (colostral immunity), and his body cannot resist pathogens alone. Therefore, premature separation from the mother poses a serious risk to the kitten's health. Diarrhea, respiratory tract diseases and various infections- these are some of the consequences of early separation of a kitten from its mother.

The first vaccinations are given to a kitten at about 2 months of age. At this time, the immunity absorbed with mother's milk is gradually replaced by its own. After 2-3 weeks, the vaccine is reintroduced, since residual colostral immunity prevents the body from independently resisting the disease. A couple of weeks after the re-vaccination, the health of the stronger kitten will no longer depend on the mother. This is the right time to move your baby to a new home.

Little kittens play mainly with each other, and the cat practically does not interfere with their games. However, from the first month of life, kittens often begin to bite their mother, trying to involve her in their games, and then the real educational process. It is important to understand that in the first months of life, no one can raise a kitten better than its mother cat. In cat society, a strict hierarchy is built, and adult cat introduces her cubs to her, marking their place for the kittens. Often, kittens bite and scratch their owners precisely because they were separated from their mother early, without having time to learn the first norms of behavior.

The lessons learned from the mother cat are also of great importance in the communication of kittens with people and the world around them in general. Babies carefully observe their mother’s behavior and diligently copy it. If a mother cat is not afraid of people, then there is no need for kittens to be afraid of them. If a mother cat goes to the litter box and uses a scratching post, the kittens will also follow her example.

When you get a kitten at 3 months of age, you will find that he already has basic useful skills. This means you don’t have to raise your pet from scratch.

There is an opinion that kittens that come to their owner almost in infancy become much more attached to him than older children. However, there is no reason to think so. A kitten aged 2 months or more is better prepared to meet the outside world. He enjoys studying it, absorbing information, learning to communicate with people and understanding who his real family is. The owner will certainly be at the center of this baby’s universe - and very soon you will see this!

Enjoy meeting you!

When deciding to adopt a kitten, most owners give preference to the smallest animals. Many people want to see how a kitten grows from the first days of life. It is a mistaken opinion that the sooner you adopt a small pet, the faster it will adapt to new conditions and will be more obedient to its owners. To find out at what age it is better to adopt a cat, you should first learn about natural changes, occurring in the life of a small animal in the first three months after birth.

Just like human children, little kittens have very poor vision in the first days of their lives. However, by the end of the first week, many changes occur: the first undercoat appears, the kittens make their first hesitant movements, and sometimes they can crawl 30 or even 50 cm towards their mother.

By the end of the second week, kittens are still sleeping a lot, but they are starting to have periods of wakefulness. The animals still walk very unsteadily, but they train every day. During this period, babies are not ready to switch to other foods, and therefore mother’s milk remains their only nutritional option. The number of meals decreases, but the need for milk volume increases.

Owners need to monitor the mother cat’s quality nutrition so that all her kittens have enough milk. Approximately on the 14-16th day after birth, the cat’s eyes open well. In addition, his hearing improves significantly. The animal can hear and respond to the purring of its mother and respond to her call.

At 3 weeks, kittens can already hear and see very well, in fact, the same as adults. Their weight is approximately 350-450 g, and the first milk teeth begin to appear. Their activity is increasing. About a third of the day is waking time. They try to jump and run, but their orientation in space is still quite poor and they can get lost if they are placed in an unknown place.

At 3 weeks, kittens begin to look outside their “house”, so they often fall out of the box. It is worth making sure that there are no dangerous objects nearby that could injure the baby.

At 4 weeks (1 month), cats need socialization. In order for an animal to grow up well-mannered, you need to be in constant contact with it: talk, stroke, play. During this period, cats put out their nails for the first time, trying to protect themselves from people or falling or unfamiliar objects. The animal becomes very curious and plays a lot. This is a great time to teach your baby to use the litter box.

Veterinarians strictly prohibit separating the kitten from its mother during this period. He still really needs breast milk, because it is the most balanced for him. of this period development. Separation from the mother causes a strong psychological shock for the animal, which in turn provokes various digestive disorders and a sharp decrease in the immune system. A one-month-old kitten, left without a mother, begins to suffer from viral diseases.

Second month

The animal is gaining strength, sleeping a lot and still consuming mother's milk. He will have to learn a lot of new things from his mother during this period. At approximately 6-7 weeks, kittens begin to wash themselves (until then they were licked by their mother). The skill of using a tray becomes an absolute achievement.

The kitten must learn to eat solid food. By the end of the 8th week, the cat depends less and less on mother’s milk and “sucks” more out of habit. The owners must take care of proper diet animal. From 2 months to six months, the kitten should eat 5-6 times a day. It is better that the food is selected by a veterinarian. At 2 months, the kitten should be vaccinated against major cat diseases.

Just like one-year-old children, animals aged 2 months really want to try everything, not realizing the danger of certain objects and actions. Therefore, it is important that all windows and balconies are closed, otherwise the kitten can easily fall out and break.

In addition, you should put away all needles and threads and small toys, since you should not forget that the kitten already knows how to chew and swallow solid objects, and is also able to swallow them. Often during this period, owners turn to veterinarians with a request to pull out digestive system foreign objects. At full 2 months the cat has sharp vision and clean open eyes. Depending on the breed, a healthy animal should gain approximately 750-1300 g in weight.

In addition to all the skills and habits that the cat mother instilled in the baby, owners can teach their own. Long-haired kittens need to be taught to brush themselves. You can also try buying an animal for the first time with the appropriate funds.

If you move a baby to a new home at 2 months, this will significantly harm the psyche and character of the animal. Typically, the kitten becomes very scared and vulnerable. It is difficult for new owners to find contact with the kitten, because he categorically refuses this. Sometimes the animal, on the contrary, becomes aggressive and wary.

The feeling of danger and insecurity quite often leads to diarrhea and refusal to eat. New owners who hastened the process of weaning the kitten from its mother often return the baby, but the cat is not always ready to accept her “baby” back again.

What is the best age to adopt a kitten?

Most optimal age Veterinarians call it a full 3 months for a cat to move to its new owners. During this period, the animal already hears and sees perfectly. Can eat only solid food. The cat is already well oriented in space. In any case, he will have no problem finding where his food or water bowl or tray is.

By this time, as a rule, cats have already developed all the social skills in order to live with a person. In most cases, fluffy babies at 12 weeks are already asking to be held and want to be played with and stroked. The character of the animal is clearly revealed. Owners and other people without special problems can distinguish the sex of a three-month-old cat.

The milk teeth are fully formed, and the animal itself can already weigh approximately 900-1500 g. At 3 months, kittens need additional vaccinations (booster vaccination). Of course, the baby's twelve-week age does not mean that adaptation to the new environment will be problem-free. There are many factors that influence the success of this process, in particular:

attitude of the new owners towards the kitten;
preparation for contact with people of previous owners;
comfort of new conditions;
the character of the kitten itself (after all, just like people, animals can be very different from each other).

Veterinarians point out several basic characteristics that will help new owners decide at what age to pick up a kitten.

Breast-feeding. The cat shouldn't feed mother's milk at least a few weeks before moving.
The animal must be able to take care of itself: lick itself, sharpen its claws, go to the tray.
The cat must have the necessary vaccinations.
The animal must be ready to contact people and not be afraid of them.

Of course, a pet will be able to get used to new conditions faster if it feels the love and care of its new owners. It is important that the cat has a sense of trust. Once convinced of the friendliness of the new owners, the kitten will become... true friend for the rest of my life.

Also watch the video at what age to buy a kitten:

Very often people ask, “At what age should I get a kitten?” or “When is it not too early to give away a kitten?”
There are those who are almost sacredly sure - the younger the kitten, the better and faster it gets used to the new environment, the stronger it becomes attached to the owner and in general. As a rule, these are people who adopted a kitten at its month (or even earlier), and everything is fine with them. They, these advisers, react to objections in precisely this vein: “I don’t know anything, I took mine for so many weeks, and we didn’t have any problems.”
Well what can I say? Someone crosses a red light, and everything is fine for them... but this does not mean that such actions are correct.
Let me make a reservation right away that the following text applies to the situation when you take a kitten into your home as planned. Those. you have some choice, time, etc. Because there are situations when you need to pick it up urgently now, because... (but the reasons can be very different, most often it is “rescue of drowning people”)

You can adopt a kitten when, firstly, it is able to feed itself, secondly, it confidently uses a tray and scratching post and takes care of its own hygiene, and thirdly, it is socially adapted. This is minimum requirements.
If everything is generally clear about the first two points, then what “socially adapted” means requires clarification.

According to my personal observations, from about a month and a half (sometimes, but rarely, earlier) a cat begins to raise kittens. Yes, it is the cat, and not the person, who prepares the kitten for life in a pride of people. A person can only help in this situation. A growing kitten begins to look for its place on the steps of the hierarchy. First he sorts things out with his brothers and sisters. During this period, the mother cat, as a rule, does not interfere in the life of her offspring. Then the kitten begins social games with its mother. This is when inexperienced breeders get scared. After all, a cat raises a presumptuous child quite harshly; sometimes it seems that she is harming the little one. unbearable pain- He’s even crying! A mother cat can bite the children's whiskers, can drive them away from their homes, and can hit the kitten (usually without claws). Having begun, the process of education ends either with the kitten moving to a new home, or with the end of its claims to the place that the cat occupies in the pride.
At the same time as sorting out the relationship with the cat, the baby can also test the owner’s teeth. What at first seems like a cute game (“he’s so funny hunting my feet!” and “Hooligan! You pet him, but he tries to bite, so funny!”) can lead to very, very serious consequences when in front of you is already a fully grown animal. The breeder must remember this. Yes, most likely, the grown-up cat-child will no longer terrorize you, but the new owners. But this is _your_ kitten, he was born in _your_ house. And you are responsible for his future fate. You don't want your cat to get rid of you because of inappropriate behavior, right? And an adult cat that bites and preys on its feet evokes a feeling of tenderness in few people.
Personally, I send the kitten from my lap to the floor at the first attempt to bite my finger. And then I don’t pick him up for at least half an hour. A kitten attacking my slippers will be lightly spanked on the ears and will hear my warning hiss addressed to him. The result becomes noticeable after 3-4 days. It should be noted that the educational process is always a “carrot and stick” method. Those. Along with fairly strict punitive measures, I spend a lot of time on kittens. I constantly pick them up, pet them, play with them, throw balls at them, etc.
By the way, if you brought a kitten into the house and it tries to behave in a similar way (bites, “funny” pulls your hands with its hind legs, hunts on your legs, etc.), begin the educational process (the method described above is quite suitable). Because this behavior is only “funny” for now, and then, seriously, it won’t be a laughing matter.

Around the age of two months, the kitten undergoes primary social adaptation, and, in principle, can move to a new house.

But there are a number of other things that need to be taken into account. The following applies more to those who adopt a purebred animal, because I realize that a breeder of outbred kittens gives them away for free and is unlikely to vaccinate small kittens (there are exceptions, and this is very cool!)
So, we'll talk about the kitten's immune system.
With the mother's colostrum, in the first hours of life, the kitten receives a certain amount of antibodies. I note that this statement is valid only for those babies whose mothers were vaccinated in a timely manner and had active immunity at the time of birth.
These antibodies are in the baby’s blood for up to 2 months of his life and protect the body from viruses (those against which his mother was vaccinated). That is why it makes no sense to carry out primary vaccination of animals received from vaccinated mothers before 2 months.
Thus, at the age of approximately 8 weeks, the kitten requires the first vaccination (it protects against diseases such as rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, panleukopenia. Depending on the vaccine, it can also protect against chlamydia). This first vaccination requires re-vaccination after 3-4 weeks, because any vaccination carried out initially only “prepares” the body for the establishment and consolidation of immunity. It has been clinically proven that with a single primary vaccination, the proper intensity of immunity is not achieved even when it enters the body large quantity virus or a very pathogenic strain, the body may not be able to withstand the load, the immune system will not cope with the antigen and a disease will occur.
When re-vaccination, a new component is added - against rabies. During this period, the baby is very vulnerable, and the stress of moving to a new home can lead to extreme negative consequences. After re-vaccination, a quarantine of at least 14 days is required so that antibodies are developed in the required quantity.
Whether or not an animal needs vaccinations is a debate that I will not get into within the framework of this article. I believe that a responsible breeder is obliged to vaccinate a kitten. But this is my position, and if someone “has never given vaccinations to a cat, and the cat has never been sick with anything” - that’s his right and the luck of his animal.
The only thing I think is important to report on this topic. I myself live in St. Petersburg, but now I am addressing the residents of Moscow. Please keep in mind that Moscow is recognized as a rabies-prone region.

So, if you arm yourself with some residual knowledge of arithmetic, it is not difficult to calculate that the minimum age for giving away a kitten is 2 months. Optimal - no earlier than 15 weeks.

Finally, I want to return to the topic of social. adaptation and say two things.

I know families where the kitten was adopted immature (not socially adapted), and in these families everything is _really_ fine. But I also know families where there were big problems in a similar situation. You don’t have to go far, my neighbor, who adopted a cute plush one-month-old British cat, now suffers from daily attacks from an adult inadequate cat. Of course, if she had taken charge of her upbringing from the very beginning, these problems could have been avoided. But the trick is precisely that a person who brings into the house a small lump shaking with fear, as a rule, is not able to raise it if such a need arises. A breeder who has seen these kittens from birth is able to... stranger- No.

And second. I don’t know of cases where a three-month-old kitten taken into the home, socially adapted and educated, would not become attached to its new owner.

P.S. in the comments you can express your wishes, additions, corrections, etc. This text was typed at 6 am, so I simply could have missed something.

If a kitten comes into your home, you must determine its age. The care and nutrition of the animal depends on this. It will not be possible to accurately determine the baby’s age, but some signs will help give the kitten at least an approximate date of birth. This is necessary if you picked up a kitten on the street. If you adopted an animal from a shelter, you can try to find out its age from the workers - they usually enter information about the cat in its passport. A veterinarian can determine a more accurate age. If a trip to the doctor is postponed, it is important to be able to independently determine the age of the kitten. To do this, you just need to watch him.

How to determine the age of a kitten by appearance

Experienced breeders can determine the age of a kitten by eye. If you receive a newborn kitten a few days old, its navel will be visible. Typically, babies in the first weeks of life have a disproportionately large head, small ears and paws. At one month, the kitten becomes similar to an adult animal, its body is proportional to its head, but its ears are still quite small. And only at six months does it become absolutely similar to an adult animal, only in a reduced size.

Kitten, like human child, grows and develops. Different periods His life corresponds to his different behavior.

If the baby comes into the house with his mother cat, you can pay attention to whether she feeds her litter with milk. Usually period breastfeeding in a cat it is 5-6 weeks. By 8 weeks she stops feeding her kittens, no matter how much they ask for it. Pay attention to the kids' behavior. If they lie down next to the cat and want to suckle, but she gets up and won’t allow it, the babies are probably about 6-8 weeks old. And closer to 9 weeks, they themselves stop tormenting the cat and spend more time separately, away from their mother.

You can pay attention to how the baby walks. In the first two weeks, kittens spend near their mother; they practically do not walk. If they need to move closer to their mother, they simply crawl on their belly. At two weeks old, babies begin to master the difficult skill of walking. Up to three weeks they walk awkwardly and unsteadily, staggering. Closer to a month, kittens acquire one of their most interesting skills - turning over in the air and landing on their paws. At this time, babies already have a decent amount of curiosity, begin to play and move around often. By one and a half months, kittens learn to run, their coordination improves, they become bold and active.

At an older age, the age of a kitten can be determined by its level of maturity. At 6 months, the kitten begins to produce hormones. He meows at night and wants to leave the house. By 7-9 months hormonal changes is in full swing - males can begin to mark their territory and are looking for a female. During this period, the female may begin her first estrus. If you want to spay a female, you need to do it before her first heat. However, this method of determining the age of a kitten is not very effective, because the animal may experience early maturation– at 6 months. When a cat becomes a fully mature animal, it increases in size and even changes the appearance of its face.

Determining the age of the animal is very important. If you know how many weeks or months a kitten is, you can accurately select its nutrition and provide proper care and hygiene. Now you don't need the help of a veterinarian - you can determine the age of the kitten yourself.