Growth Patterns - From a Kitten to a Cat

It can be absolutely amazing to watch a teeny 5 ounce kitten grow into being an 8-12 pound cat over the course of one year. How does the kitten get there? How can you best support the kitten's growth? I hope to answer these questions for you in this article.

A cat is considered a kitten from birth until about three years of age. This includes the baby and adolescent years. From three years old until seven years old a cat is an adult. Once the cat turns seven, they are considered a senior. Most cats live between ten and twelve years old, but it is not unheard of for healthy cats to live into their late teens, I've even met a few in their twenties! To get a cat to live this long, you will need to take them to the vet regularly and feed them good cat food.

Kittens Cats

When a kitten is first born, it is helpless, much like a newborn human baby. It needs to be fed and taken care of. If the mother is around, you can let her do most of the work, as she is trained by nature to do so. In the first five weeks, do not feed the cat anything, the mother's milk will be enough. If the mother is not around, you will need to feed it a milk replacement. You can get this at a pet store or on Amazon. Do not feed any cat or kitten cow's milk. It is very bad for them.

Growth Patterns - From a Kitten to a Cat

For the first few years, you will want to feed the kitten only kitten food. This has extra calories and proteins in it that help support the rapidly growing kitten. A baby kitten needs to be fed about four times a day, as the kitten gets older, you can lower this down to two times daily.

Make sure to play with the kitten as much as possible. This will help socialize the kitty and make him much more friendly in the future. While playing, you will also want to teach the cat things like not to play using his claws and that biting is not okay. Teaching a kitten these things is much easier than teaching an adult cat.

Helping a kitten grow into being a full sized, well adjusted, adult cat can be very rewarding. It is definitely worth all the time spent feeding and playing. This cat will love you for the rest of his life.

Growth Patterns - From a Kitten to a Cat