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How old is this kitten?!

post #1 of 15
8/29/10 at 9:36pm
Thread Starter 
I got a kitten and have no idea how old she is (mainly due to me being special and not writing anything down). I believe I got her sometime between April-June but I do not remember for sure! When we did get her, we were told she was 8 weeks old. She was very tiny and she still is small. I look at videos of other kittens ages 3 months to 6 months and she is smaller than all of them! I weighed her a few weeks ago and she weighed 2.9 lbs. We just looked in her mouth... well, my husband did... and he said her upper molars are coming in. All of her teeth are very small (again, she is a tiny little kitty) so I do not know if they are baby teeth or adult teeth but from what I have read molars do not come in until around 5 months? Just wondering how old she is. I try to celebrate my pets birthdays but we never knew her birthday in the first place and I forgot to write down when we got her so I can't go back and figure it out =[ It doesn't REALLY matter but just for fun let's see what everyone says about her age! I attached photos.
The below is from a few weeks ago when I weighed her at 2.9 lbs.

The rest are from tonight.


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post #2 of 15
8/29/10 at 9:40pm
Thread Starter 
Here is a picture of her next to a Dr.Pepper can for sizing.
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post #3 of 15
8/30/10 at 4:26am
The pictures are a bit rough, but at the time they were taken I would say she was right around 12 to 14 weeks old.
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post #4 of 15
8/30/10 at 4:45am
I would say three months old, though she looks bigger than 2.9 pounds, so your scale may not be accurate.

I want to add that you really ought to remove the bell from her collar. Cats have very sensitive hearing, and a bell jingling every time she moves is probably very annoying to her.
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post #5 of 15
8/30/10 at 5:00am
^ Or better yet, no collar on a kitten so small. Unless you add more holes or even cut and restitch the thing it won't fit a tiny kitten very well, and tiny kittens are really bad about getting their paws and lower jaws stuck in collars.
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post #6 of 15
8/30/10 at 5:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mandapandah View Post
We just looked in her mouth... well, my husband did... and he said her upper molars are coming in. All of her teeth are very small (again, she is a tiny little kitty) so I do not know if they are baby teeth or adult teeth but from what I have read molars do not come in until around 5 months?
The permanent teeth (fangs) have sort of vertical 'stripes' on them, baby teeth are just smooth and much smaller. 3 of my cats started teething when they were 5 months old, the only girl I have started when she was still 4 months (so did her siblings).
It's hard to say anything from her size except that she sure is very small, but with moggies the sizes can vary a lot. For example my breeds (Brits and a Fold) have weighed atleast 3.3lbs when I've got them when they were between ages 12-15 weeks.
Can you remember what color her eyes were when you got her, has the color changed?
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post #7 of 15
8/30/10 at 5:12am
Kittens have kitten molars which they later lose, so you can't use the presences of simply having molars to age her unless you know they're the adult teeth.
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post #8 of 15
8/30/10 at 7:03am
I can offer this: the vets usually go by dentition development, (as well as other factors) but that was the key attribute in questioning the age of one kitty I had adopted. In my case however, the dentition may have fooled the vet as the kitty had been malnourished from just after birth, so nothing developed well.
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post #9 of 15
8/30/10 at 8:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by otto View Post
I would say three months old, though she looks bigger than 2.9 pounds, so your scale may not be accurate.

I want to add that you really ought to remove the bell from her collar. Cats have very sensitive hearing, and a bell jingling every time she moves is probably very annoying to her.


Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
Or better yet, no collar on a kitten so small. Unless you add more holes or even cut and restitch the thing it won't fit a tiny kitten very well, and tiny kittens are really bad about getting their paws and lower jaws stuck in collars.
I strongly agree with otto and strange_wings about the collar. A bell is definitely annoying and a swallowing hazard if it comes loose and falls off. Collars can be dangerous for grown cats, let alone kittens. If collars are used, they must be "breakaway" for the safety of the cat. Best not to use collars on kittens at all. Have your baby microchipped.

I also think your kitten is around 3 months old. She is a beauty!!!
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post #10 of 15
8/30/10 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 
Her eyes were green when we got her but they have now changed to a yellow with a small ring of green around the pupil. We have had her around 3 months (maybe even longer) so she is older than 3 months. When we got her she was eating dry food, had her baby teeth and was very active, playful, etc. She wasn't too young of a baby. Our scale is accurate and is even correct with the doctor/vets scale (we weigh ourselves and our pets on it and it is always right on with what the doctors or vets scale has said). I have not weighed her in awhile and need to do that again but she hasn't grown too much.

As for her collar, it is breakaway and fits her perfectly. We have to keep a collar on her because even though we can microchip her, that will do no good when our neighbors or even local shelter will not check for that and will just put your baby up for adoption or put it to sleep if they do not have the room or give her enough time to find a home.
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post #11 of 15
8/30/10 at 9:26am
No one really pays attention to collars around here either... Lots of dumped cats, and dogs for that matter, have collars on.

If she was 12 weeks when you got her and have had her for 3 months, then she'd now be 6 months old. If she is not spayed already you need to get this done. And a vet visit will definitely tell you how old she is.
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post #12 of 15
8/30/10 at 5:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mandapandah View Post
As for her collar, it is breakaway and fits her perfectly. We have to keep a collar on her because even though we can microchip her, that will do no good when our neighbors or even local shelter will not check for that and will just put your baby up for adoption or put it to sleep if they do not have the room or give her enough time to find a home.
If you keep her inside, that will not be a problem. Please at least take the bell off. If she is not spayed she should most definitely be inside.
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post #13 of 15
9/2/10 at 5:32am
Thread Starter 
It's strange how you can come to a forum to ask a question because you are curious and get all kinds of people telling you how to raise YOUR cat.
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post #14 of 15
9/2/10 at 5:48am
The people here care about your kitten and what happens to her.

We offer advice because we want your kitten to have the best life she can.

You don't have to take the advice, but keep in mind that it is coming from experienced knowledgeable cat people.
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post #15 of 15
9/2/10 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mandapandah View Post
It's strange how you can come to a forum to ask a question because you are curious and get all kinds of people telling you how to raise YOUR cat.
How about you take a look at this thread about Ginger, a kitty who slipped outside with her collar on.


And I'll repeat it again, no one in Oklahoma gives a darn about a cat with a collar on if they see it outside. Most of the people in this state let their cats roam, with and without collars, so no one pays attention. A cat in a trap has one of two fates here: The person trapping takes the cat in and keeps it because they feel sorry that someone would have a cat outside (never mind if the cat accidentally got out) or they cause it's death somehow. Most don't make it to the overfilled shelters.
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