The Life of a Newborn Kitten

A newborn kitten cannot see, hear, walk or even crawl. It is one of the world's most helpless creatures during its first few days of life. The newborn kitten's entire world is the warmth of its mother's and litter mates' bodies, the taste of its mother's milk, and the feel of its mother's tongue cleaning it. If all is going well and the kittens are healthy and getting plenty of milk from mom, you may not hear them cry until they are several weeks old.

  1. Development

    • A newborn kitten weighs only about 3 ounces, but it will gain as much as half an ounce each day during the first few weeks of life. The kitten's umbilical cord will be present and will not drop off until the baby is about three days old. Unable to crawl or walk at birth, newborn kittens are often observed twitching their limbs as their nervous systems and muscles develop. The kitten will begin crawling when it is about a week old and walking at about three weeks of age.

    Vision and Hearing

    • The kitten's eyes and ears will open when it is about 12 to 14 days old. However, the kitten's vision will not be clear until it is about five weeks old and its hearing will not start to develop until it is about four weeks old. Hearing will not be completely developed until the kitten is about six weeks old. The kitten's eyes will be blue when they are first seen; however, most cats' eyes change to green as they mature, although a few do remain blue.

    Eating

    • The newborn kitten will nurse from its mother as often as every hour. When it nurses for the first time, it will receive colostrum in its mother's milk and this will protect the kitten against some common cat illnesses until it is old enough for vaccinations. Kittens will depend exclusively on their mother's milk for nutrition until they are about three weeks old. At this age they may begin to lap liquids and gruel from a bowl, although they will continue to nurse for several more weeks before their mother weans them completely.

    Helpless

    • The newborn kitten depends on its mother for more than just food and protection. At birth, the kitten cannot urinate, defecate or regulate its body temperature without its mother's assistance. After each feeding, as the mother cat cleans the kittens, she will stimulate the kitten to have a bowel movement and urinate with the grooming of its anal and genital areas. This will be necessary until the kitten is about three weeks old. Newborn kittens cannot regulate their body temperatures and can quickly become hypothermic without their mother's warmth. This is one of several reasons the mother rarely leaves the babies during their first few weeks of life.