How do you tell how old a kitten is?

Question

ok.. so i'm walking home from work when i see this thing in the road, at first i thought that it was trash or maybe a dead animal, but then i heard a cat meowing and the thing in the road moved. it turned out to be a really small kitten. i mean that it could fit in my hands, but it's eating cat food, we gave it some and it ate it so i'm guessing that it's at least a few weeks old, but other then that i really have know clue. how do you tell how old a kitten is?

Answer 1

ask its mummy? lol only kidding. I think you should take it the vets and they can tell you. Also, they can scan it to see if it has a microchip because this could be someone elses lost pet!

Answer 2

Rush it to the vet right now.  It was in the road, so who knows what it could have, or what special diet it might need?  You might have to bottle feed it, and it might need medical care.

Thank you for rescuing it!!!

Answer 3

Well, a vet would be the only person who'd give you an accurate answer.

You should take it to the vet anyway to get some advice. You won't be able to raise a baby kitten unless you are very knowledgeable.

Answer 4

Wow! If you can fit it in your hands, I would guess it is less than 6 weeks old. Feeding it kitten food will be the best to feed it versus cat food, because kitten food has the correct balance of nutrients a kitten needs for healthy development and growth -- although cat food won't hurt.

The only true way to tell the age of the kitten is to take it to a vet, which you may want to do anyway if you found it lying in the road. They can usually tell age based on its teeth. It sounds abandoned. If you do not choose to keep it, I would suggest bringing it to a no-kill animal shelter. The average amount of time an animal without any ID lasts approximately 3 days in a county animal shelter. Surprisingly, with ID, they only last about 7.

Good luck!

Answer 5

size is usally the key but i have seen 7 week old kittens that easily fit in the palm of my (fairly small) hand. this would be a sing of mall nourishment. you can also look at the colour of the eyes. kittens are born with blue eyes. they start to turn colour at about 3 weeks and are the normal yellow at about 6 weeks.in between they are kind of a brow/blue yellow mix. maybe this will help. be carefull with the catfood. make sure you only give kittenfood. this is best given in dry form but if he/she cannot handel this yet you can soften it with catmilk. this especially designed for cats because they don't handle cowmilk very wel. it gives them diarea which is very dangerous for a very small kitten. thank you very much for taking this kitten in and enjoy !!

Answer 6

Cat Years People Years

6 months 10 years

8 months 13 years

12 months 15 years

2 years 24 years

4 years 32 years

6 years 40 years

8 years 48 years

10 years 56 years

12 years 64 years

13 years 72 years

14 years 75 Years

16 years 80 years

18 years 88 years

20 years 96 years

21 years 100 years

it's either this chart above or the link below.

Answer 7

Usually if you take a baby kitten into a vet they will s*x and tell you how old it is for free. Because it is probably so young there aren't any shots they can give it yet so they won't hassle you for anything else until it gets old.

Answer 8

yaa u would hav to take it to the vet it you want a real answer!

Answer 9

going by the fact alone that its eating kitten chow, my guess would be anywhere from 5 to 6 weeks. are its eyes still blue? if so it is still quite young.  

Answer 10

i'd say take it to the vets, sie is nearly no clue really, my first kitten was nearly as big as my now 9 week kitten is now 2 weeks after birth due to the size of the litters ( first in a litter of two, second in a litter of 8, different mums)  

Answer 11

General Rule is they gain about one pound per month when they're babies. ( not always but its a pretty good guess)   If its a pound I'd guess about a month old etc.   If its able to eat hard food its probably at least a month old.  Like all the other response's said take it to the vet when you can.  One thing to keep in mind, being that it is a stray it would be a good idea to get it felv/fiv tested, especially if you have other cats.

Answer 12

ive heard a rumor that if u measure the length from the paw to the top of the arm, the number of CENTIMETERS u get, is the number of weeks old it is. im not sure if its right, but it might work.

Answer 13

take it to the vet.

Answer 14

well this may be quite obvious but just take it to a vet if you need to know for sure. If the cat is very small and does not look full grown it is under a year old