Melanie's Blog The age of a Cat? You can judge a cat’s age by examining its teeth, eyes, weight, and behavior. The teeth’s degree of wear, color, and appearance provide the best clues.
The color of the teeth of the elderly cat is relatively yellow, and there may be defects, and the color of the teeth of the kitten is relatively white.
The eyes of kittens appear strikingly clear and transparent, whereas the eyes of older cats tend to be cloudy. Additionally, kittens tend to have thicker and glossy fur compared to the rough and disheveled fur of older cats.
1. Teeth
Checking for the appearance and development of teeth is a good way to estimate your kitten’s age. A kitten without teeth is a newborn, less than two weeks old.
If teeth are present, you can infer age based on the number and characteristics of the teeth.
A kitten’s baby teeth will pop out of its gums at 2 to 3 weeks. The first teeth to grow should be its incisors. If you don’t see the teeth, you can gently touch the gums with your hands to feel the development of the teeth.
Canine teeth (deciduous teeth) erupt in 3-4 weeks. They are located next to the front teeth and are long and pointed in shape.
A kitten’s premolars (deciduous teeth) break through the gums at 4-6 weeks. They are located between the canines and molars.
If a kitten has all of its milk teeth except the molars (deciduous teeth), it will be about 4 months old. It should have:
6 incisors (incisors) on each of the upper and lower jaws
2 canines on each upper and lower jaw (one on each side next to the last incisor)
The upper jaw has 3 premolars.
The lower jaw has 2 premolars.
If you observe larger permanent teeth in your kitten’s mouth, it can be inferred that it is older than four months. Although determining an adult cat’s age by teeth may not be as precise as examining a kitten’s teeth, it is nonetheless a reliable way to gauge age. Notably, the front teeth (permanent teeth) typically erupt around the 4-month mark.
Between 4 and 6 months, the canines, premolars, and molar deciduous teeth are replaced by permanent teeth.
Cats Aged
If your cat has all of his permanent teeth, including the four molars, he should be at least 7-8 months old, indicating that he has reached the appropriate stage of development.
1 year old
The second mandibular incisor has a large spike, which wears down to the level of the small spike. This phenomenon is called spike obliteration.
2 years old
Mandibular second incisor pinnacles obliterated
3 years old
The maxillary first incisor had its pinnacle obliterated.
4 years old
The pinnacles of the maxillary second incisors were obliterated
5 years old
The mandibular third incisor has slightly worn peaks, and the rectangular shape of the wear on the mandibular first and second incisors is visible.
5.5 years old
The cusps of the third mandibular teeth were obliterated, and the canine teeth were blunt and rounded.
6.5 years old
The mandibular first incisor is worn to the root of the tooth, and the wear surface is a longitudinal oval
7.5 years old
Wear of mandibular first incisor facing forward
8.5 years old
The worn surface of the mandibular second and maxillary first incisors is longitudinal oval
9-16 years old
Loss of incisors, irregular canine teeth
2. Eyes
Kittens typically take 14 days to open their eyes, although some can open theirs within 7 to 10 days after birth. If you see your kitten with closed eyes, it has just been born. If your kitten has opened its eyes, it is at least one week old.
Your kitten is approximately two or three weeks old if it has just opened its eyes and appears a little squinty.
When the kitten just opens its eyes, you will find that the eyes are bright blue, with the increase of age, the blue membrane will slowly disappear, and the eyes will return to the true color of the breed.
If you have a kitten that looks a little older and notice that her eyes are starting to change color, she’s about 6 to 7 weeks away.
At this point, the iris color of the eyeball will change to the permanent, mature breed color. Note that if your cat grows up with blue eyes, you may not be able to see the change in color, and you won’t be able to rely on this method to identify age.
3. Weight
Inferring age based on weight or size may not be accurate due to breed characteristics, but weight can be used as a reference factor to help you infer age.
The average weight of a healthy cat is about 100g at birth and will increase by 7g every day. So, a normal kitten will weigh 100g to 160g in the first week of life.
Note that kittens weighing less than 100g ounces may be sick or malnourished and you will need to take them to the veterinarian for treatment and examination.
A normal kitten who is 1 to 2 weeks old generally weighs about 113-170 g and is smaller than an adult hand. Most 2-3 week-old kittens weigh between 170-225 g. 4-5 week old kittens weigh between 225g to 450g.
7-8 week old kittens weigh between 680g-900g. A three-month-old kitten will gain a pound each month for the following days until it stabilizes at around 4.5kg.
Therefore, a cat weighing 1.35kg is about 3 months old, and a cat weighing 1.8kg is about 4 months old. Although this is a general criterion, it is helpful to infer the age of cats is around 12 weeks.
Most cats will weigh up to 4.5kg as an adult. You can use this to estimate the cat’s age.
4. Behavior
A normally developing kitten will demonstrate skilled mobility at a certain age. Kittens under 2-4 weeks are not yet able to stand or walk proficiently.
Kittens at this time spend most of their time sleeping or breastfeeding against their mother and siblings. If the kittens in the first few weeks need to move, they will be on their stomachs and crawl forward.
Two-week-old kittens show wobbles and hesitation when walking around. If your kitten seems to be starting to walk around confidently, it’s probably 3 weeks old.
Around week 3 or 4, kittens begin to use their famous body-righting reflex to roll over in mid-air and land on the ground with their feet frontal.
At about 4 weeks old, kittens can move around more steadily and begin to explore the world around them. Their curious and playful nature will also show up.
At this time, the kitten also began to pounce. A kitten capable of running is at least five weeks old.
