As a person who adopts adult cats, I forgot until last year just how fun it is to have a kitten. Those playful bites and the little baby meows, a tiny ball of fluff just pouncing all about, even diehard dog lovers can agree that kittens are beyond adorable. Since adopting Pepper from the SPCA, I’ve gotten the opportunity to watch him grow into the lovely adult cat that he is today. Kittens are truly special. And for those of us who love cats, we can’t help but love kittens, too. Kittens are unique in their own way, and there is more to them than just being insanely cute. So, here are some fun facts about kittens for you to enjoy!
Don’t forget to share these facts about kittens with other cat lovers in your life…
All kittens are born with closed eyes. Their eyes do not begin to open till they are approximately 8-12 days old.
A kitten is also born deaf, and at around 2.5-3 weeks of age, their ear canals will fully open. As newborns, smell is their strongest sense and they rely on it to navigate the world.
A newborn kitten will sleep around 22 hours per day. Reason being? The growth hormone that they need to grow and thrive only happens when they’re sleeping.
From a developmental perspective, the first year of a cat’s life is equivalent to the first 15 years of a human’s life.
The average kitten weighs 3.5 ounces at birth.
All kittens are born with blue eyes, and this is because the color changing pigment, melanin, doesn’t reach their eyes until they reach 7 to 12 weeks of age. Once this happens, the eyes will usually darken and the hue will change.
Newborn kittens don’t have the ability to regulate their body temperature in the first few weeks of life. This is why you always see them cuddled up to mama and their littermates.
In the first three to four weeks of life, kittens are not capable of passing urine or feces on their own. This is why their mothers lick their rear ends after nursing sessions.
The record for the largest number of kittens born to a single litter is 19.
The average litter of kittens is three to five kittens per litter. Although it’s reported that pedigree cats usually have larger litters than mixed breed cats.
A kitten’s teeth are actually much sharper in comparison to an adult cat’s teeth. With adult cats, their teeth are blunt at the edges.
Female cats in heat can mate with multiple males, and kittens of the same litter can possibly have different fathers.
Most kittens will take their first steps at around 18 days of age.
Kittens can start eating solid foods at around three to four weeks of age.
Kittens are born without teeth. Their 26 “milk teeth” will begin to erupt between four to six weeks of age. Between three to four months of age, these will fall out and give way to the 30 permanent teeth they’ll have as a mature cat.
Now that you’ve learned more about kittens, brush up on your cat facts here on cattitudedaily.com. I’ve got 60 of the best ones for you to enjoy and expand your feline-loving mind with.
