Kittens Physical Development

When owning a kitten it is just important as owning a dog but not as much is needed.

Kittens need a lot of love and affection when they are young but not as much when they are older/elderly. Kittens -

0-2 weeks kittens learn to respond to different sounds, their eyes open and they will start to compete for territory and hierarchy. Separation at this stage from the mother or other litter mates can cause the kitten to show aggression towards people and other animals, but may also cause the kitten to have poor learning skills.

2- 7 weeks - We call this the socialisation period. the kitten will develop their sense of smell and hearing. They will be able to walk fairly well, which allows them to interact more with their litter mates, and as their

The mother will start to leave the litter for longer amounts of time at this age. Kittens should ideally stay with their litter until twelve weeks of age.

7-14 weeks - Kittens have increased physical and social skills, and they will spend a lot of time playing with objects and other animals. They will also start to learn by observation of their mother. It is impotant that kittens have lots to play with to help with this.

3 months -6 months - They will start to show dominance and submission behaviours within their household family.

6- 18 months - Kittens will go through an adolescence period, and they will increase their use of dominant behaviours. They will also start to show sexual behaviour if they are left un-neutered.

Feeding -

It is important that kittens are kept on the food they are intrudced by when young, their tummies get used to this. If you change their food it will unsettle their tummy so it is important if you want to change their food to do it slowely.

Wet food and dry food is good to use but should be used correctly by what the food is instucted by on the back of the book. It is also important to keep to a routine when feeding so the kitten

Sometimes they can become so intense that they will stick their claws into the owner’s leg.

The cat will also dribble at the same time. Kittens will knead their mother’s belly in the same way to stimulate the flow of milk to the nipples, the kitten will then dribble in anticipation. So, when an adult cat kneads the owner’s lap, it is treating the owner as a surrogate mother. This type of infantile behaviour is common between cats and their owners. This is because the owners provide the cats with food and comfort in a maternal way

Buring feaces - The behaviour of cats burying their own faeces is often positively accepted by owners, as it keeps their litter trays tidy, and it is negatively complained about by gardeners, as they can unknowingly uncover it with their hands. It is thought that cats do this for hygienic reasons, although in truth, it is actually to dampen down their odour. It is actually only less confident, fearful cats who will do this. Dominant, un-neutered male cats will do the opposite, by placing their faeces on a little mound, so the odour can have maximum effect. Our household cats will normally always bury their faeces; this is because they see their human owners as more dominant. Buried faeces