[Infographic] Kitten Cat Growth Chart by Age, Weight and Food

If you have been raising a kitten from the birth you will probably be worried about its development. Much like our kids, we like to monitor every stage of the growth of our kitten too. This kitten cat growth chart will help you get an idea about what to expect at which stage of the growth of the kitten. It will also help you keep the kitten from getting either obese or suffer from malnutrition.

Kitten Cat Growth Chart infographic by Age, Weight and Food

1 day old kitten

Right after birth, the kitten cannot see or hear and is unable to regulate body temperature too. At this stage it needs the care of the mother and you will notice it remains close to the mother's body for heat. At this time it is extremely important to keep both the mother and the new-born away from any sort of germs. A warm and safe environment is best.

Right after birth, a healthy kitten should weigh between 2 ½ and 4 ¾ oz. (see chart above). You may consult the vet about the health of the new-born kitten. Various species grow at different rates and there is also the weight difference between a female and a male kitten.

Right after birth, the kitten should only be give mother's milk. There is no other food that is better for the kitten at this stage. However, if you are raising an orphan, try to get a cat that is nursing her other babies and would not mind adopting her. In case you do not find any, you will have to rely on the cat milk substitute available. You will find details about feeding and raising a new-born kitten in our previous article.

5 Days Old Kitten

After 5 days the kitten should start showing opening of the ear and some opening of the eyes. However, it still cannot listen. The kitten is yet to develop the habit of moderating its body temperature and will need some warmth. The warms from the mother will be good enough. This is a good time to making it habituated to human presence but do so very carefully. If the mother allows then only hold the kitten and not more than 1 minute at a stretch.

The kitten after 5 days will generally become double the weight it was at birth. The average weight is between 3 and 7 oz.

The diet of a 5 day old kitten will still be only mother's milk. In case of orphan kitten for which you cannot find any mother, depend upon the kitten milk substitute. Never give cow's milk to the kitten. You will find the details of the best milk substitutes for kittens in our previous article.

10 Days Old Kitten

After 10 days you will find that the kitten can orient itself to sound. However, it might not yet be able to recognize any of it. Also, between 9 and 14 days its eyes will open up. But the pupil dilation and contraction does not happen properly. So, you will have to take care to protect it from any form of bright light. Keeping it safe and warm will be the top priority. You also should hold it for a few minutes several times through the day. This will help it get socialized and have better emotional development.

At this stage, the kitten will normally weigh anywhere between 4 ½ and 9 ¾ oz. You will have to keep track of the weight of the kitten's weight to ensure that it is healthy and growing well.

The food at this stage will comprise of mother's milk only. Only for orphan kitten, you will have to get milk replacer. Get the best milk replacer for your kitten at the local or online stores. Our review about best kitten milk replacer swill guide you through the available options.

2 Weeks Old Kitten

Once the kitten is 2 weeks old, it starts exhibiting some more senses. Though it still cannot recognize sound, but it will show some capability of identifying smells and will start becoming aware of its siblings. The kitten will also start to walk this age, though in an unbalanced fashion. You will have to hold it frequently but very gently from this time onwards. This will help it get socialised with human beings.

A kitten of 2 weeks will weigh from 6 to 11 ¾ oz. This is the average weight of a healthy kitten.

The kitten is still too young to be fed anything other than mother's milk. The mother cat will continue nursing. In case you are raising an orphan by yourself our review of the best kitten milk substitutes will help you find some of the best products online. You will find the feeding frequency in our article too.

3 Weeks Old Kitten

At 3 weeks the kitten is finally able to recognize the various sounds. It is an important time as the kitten will not see and perceive the world in a much better way. You will notice that the kitten has started purring at this stage. It is a way to communicate with the mother and the siblings. This is a good time to make it aware of the surrounding too. You should try to communicate with the kitten and make accustomed to your voice and human presence. Also, small household sounds can be introduced so that it gets acquainted with those noises. However, refrain from being overexcited and do not just introduce any scary noise like the vacuum cleaner. It is also time to get the kitten used to the litter box. However, since the kitten has just started walking about, be very careful about this little explorer leaving the home place.

At this age, a healthy kitten should weigh about 7 ½ to 14 ½ oz. Visit the vet for better guidance.

The kitten is yet to be fed anything but mother's milk. For orphan kitten you will have to feed kitten milk substitute. There are plenty of products available in the market and you can check out our article on kitten milk replacers to know more.

4 Weeks Old Kitten

As the kitten turns 4 weeks, which is almost 1 month, it has a much more developed sense of smell and can walk about without much stumbling. It also starts developing the perception of depth. At this time the kitten starts being friendly with its siblings. The kitten also starts showing some development of teeth and thus it becomes time for weaning. You will also notice that the kitten plays around with its siblings much more at this time and there will be pouncing and other forms of socializing. You will have to get a non-toxic and non-clumping cat litter as the kitten will like to taste everything at this age.

The weight of the kitten will be between 8 and 16 ¾ oz. Make sure you consult the vet to ensure that the growth is happening properly.

As the kitten develops some teeth it is time for weaning. The mother cat will take care of the weaning of the small kitten. You can also take care of the kitten additionally. You can feed it some wet food occasionally.

6 Weeks Old Kitten

By the time the kitten is 6 weeks old it starts balancing on its legs much better. It also has a complete set of teeth by now and develops the permanent colour of the eye. The kitten is now able to completely regulate the body temperature. The little one will be in complete playful mode at this stage and will be highly active. It is a good time to start training the kitten. A stern "no" about some activities will get them better accustomed to what is allowed and what is not while interacting with humans. It will also be easier to train them from this age rather than change their habit later on.

The kitten at the age of 6 weeks will generally weigh between 16 and 24 oz. If the kitten is any less in weight it might not be receiving enough nutrition. Overweight will also be a serious issue.

With the complete set of teeth out it is time to get the kitten mostly on a diet of wet food. They will still suckle from time to time and if you are raising an orphan you will probably have to balance between the milk replacer and wet food, but concentrate more on the wet food.

The kitten is also old enough to receive its first set of vaccination doses. It will be a combination dose of all major diseases and will vary somewhat from one place to another. You can have a look at our kitten vaccination guide article to get a details idea about the shots to be given with time.

8 Weeks Old Kitten

The kitten on reaching 8 weeks of age will start exhibiting acrobatic skills. They are not yet developed though and might get into accidents. For those who have not made their home kitten-proof it is a good time to do so. Also, the kitten can be safely spayed or neutered at this age if you are not planning on having a big family of cats in near future. You will also notice that the kitten is beginning to both understand and display the body language of a cat, especially when you are fighting playfully with the little one. This is a good age to make them accustomed to trimming of nails. I personally do not prefer declawing unless absolutely necessary.

The weight of the kitten will be about 24 to 32 oz. at this stage. For a female kitten the weight will be towards the lower end and the male one will show higher development.

The kitten will remain mostly on wet food now, but some amount of milk will still make it to the diet, though the volume is to be decreased gradually.

Unless you have skipped the earlier vaccination, the vet will not recommend any more vaccination at this stage. However, if you did miss, do get your kitten a shot of the first dose of combination vaccine. There is another combination vaccine to be given at the age of 10 weeks. Do not miss out on schedule. Bookmark our article on kitten vaccine shot guide and never miss a date.

12 Weeks Old Kitten

12 weeks is almost like getting old enough for the kitten it is ready to have its adult set of teeth. The activity increases rapidly and it start testing its physical ability to the fullest. Clawing behaviour is also quite clear by now and the kitten starts scent marking. The little one finally shows signs of becoming independent and separates from the mother and the siblings. You will have to take care that the socialisation happens in a proper manner.

A 12 week old kitten will weigh between 35 and 65 oz. keeping a tab on the weight gain will help you determine if the growth is happening evenly and properly.

The age is perfect to completely remove any form of milk diet and solely depend upon the wet food diet along with the dry food diet as well. As the kitten with mother already moves away from the mother cat, the dependency on milk is removed. You should do the same if you are raising an orphan without a mother cat to take care of the little one.

Since the teeth set have start becoming permanent and also clawing behaviour is quite clear, it is time to get the rabies vaccine administered to the kitten. The kitten should also be administered combination vaccine in the 13 ^th and 16 ^th week. The details of all the vaccines are provided in our kitten vaccination chart. You may also consult your vet for a list of these.

6 Month to 1 Year Old Kitten

This is the end of the kitten's growth stage. The kitten has reached close to the full size, however, developments happen and depending upon the breed the kitten will be completely grown by 1 or 2 years of age. This is the time which is quite similar to a 15 year human kid. The kitten is at an adolescent stage and will show signs of decreased affection. It will try to be all macho type and will need enough independence. This is quite natural and the kitten will return to the lap of the owner once the complete growth happens. If you have taken in a kitten at this stage, know that you will have to give it enough freedom and wait for it to return to you.

The kitten will grow constantly, but the average weight between these months should be from 70 to 170 oz. However, remember that the growth is yet happening and thus the entire development will take time. Do consult your vet about the right weight during this stage depending upon the breed you have.

The kitten is completely ready to have dry food diet. A little wet diet might not hurt, but that is not necessary unless the kitten is suffering from some digestion issue.

The vaccination will include booster doses from now onwards. Consult the vet about the frequency to be followed and the vaccines that are needed.

In this time automatic cat feeder makes it much easier for you to schedule your kitten's feeding time and make sure that your kitten receives the food as and when needed. That is the good choose to control feeding time for you baby.

How fast do kittens grow

Right from the birth, the kitten will grow pretty fast and attain a developed stage soon enough. The fastest growth happens between the age of week 4 and week 16. Between these ages it gains abbot 60 to 70 oz. weight. It is also an important part of their development as the kitten develops various senses and gets accustomed to socialising.

When do cats stop growing and full grown?

A kitten attains complete growth status by the age of 1 year or 2 years. This time varies depending upon the breed of the cat. A larger sized cat will take more time to attain full developed status. You should make sure that once the kitten is 1 year of age the diet is changed to an adult cat's diet also, the kitten will be acting a little distant until it attains adult stage. You must give it the necessary space and independence.

We hope this kitten growth chart will come in handy and will help you understand the growth of your kitten in a much better way.