When you have a 7-week old kitten, you certainly have many things to expect, but it is important that you keep your expectation realistic because the way your kitten will grow, become healthy, become smart, and become active depends mostly on how you care for the kitten.
And the way you care for the kitten is ultimately determined by your expectation. If your expectation is too low, you will not be able to optimally nurture and train your kitten.
If your expectation is too high, you will soon be disappointed and will be less enthusiastic to take care of your dearest one.
With realistic expectation, you will love your kitten fully and the cute feline will happily reciprocate your nice treatment.
What Happened Before Your 7 Week Old Kitten Reaches 7 Weeks of Age?
If you have a 7-week old kitten to care, there are only two possible reasons why you have one.
First, you may have it since it was born. Second, you may find it abandoned. There is very little chance that you get the kitty from a pet shop because a 7-week old kitten is simply too young to sell.
It is also possible that you get the kitty from a friend or another owner who simply has too many kittens to care for.
As said above, a 7-week old kitten is still considered very young. In some articles about pets, such as the one at Care.com, the 7-week stage is the awakening stage during which a kitten starts to explore their basic instincts and functions of various parts of their body.
They begin to learn about how to catch prey, although their prey at that time is mostly their own tail, and they start to try to recognize their surrounding.
They are not 100% dependent on their mother anymore because total dependence usually ends when they are about 2 or 3 weeks old, when their eyes have been unfolded and they begin to see and to hear;
however, they are also not yet independent yet. They still need to be around their mother to fulfill their nutritional and nurturing needs.
Before you inquire about how your 7-week old kitten should be, you may want to recap what your kitten has gone through since they was born until today.
As said above, your kitten would not taste the beauty of seeing and hearing until they were about 14 days old.
As their eyes and ears were unfolded, they would also begin to stand and walk. This is why the second week of a kitten’s age is usually a milestone that marks the transition from total dependence to semi-independence.
They already got their baby teeth at the age of 3 or 4 weeks and would keep them until they get their adult teeth, which occurs somewhere between 3 and 9 months of age.
What Happens Then to Your 7-Week Old Kitten?
At the age of 7 weeks, your kitten still keep their baby teeth, so you need to pay attention to what they eat, especially because at the age of 7 weeks, most kittens have stopped drinking their mother’s milk, though in some cases, kitten is fully weaned at the age of 8 weeks.
Since the age of 5 weeks, they were already more active and able to roam around with ease.
They will love to chase and catch everything, including their tail and the toys you play with them. So, yes, you can play with your 7-week old kitten if you want.
Determining your kitten’s gender might still be difficult at this time because their sexual organ has not been fully developed. You have to wait at least until 10 weeks after their birthday before you can see the small lump of their scrotum if your kitten is male.
However, if you really want to know whether you have a female or male kitten, a veterinary can always do simple check to your 7-week old kitten to determine their gender.
How to Take Care of Your 7-Week Old Kitten?
Here are several important things to mind if you want to care for your 7-week old kitten properly.
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Nutrition
At the age of 7 weeks, your kitten should already be able to eat both wet and dry kitten food. One or two weeks before, your kitten might only be able to digest wet food, but now, giving them dry food is okay. Try to give them kitten formula to make sure that they are well-nourished.
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Weight
To decide whether you have nourished your kitten properly, you should measure their weight. A 7-week old kitten should weighs anywhere between 1.2 and 2.3 pounds.
How To Litter Train a Kitten
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Litter
At the age of 7 weeks, your kitten should be able to be trained to use litter box, so be ready to housebreak your kitten. don’t forget to take a fecal sample to check whether your kitten has some disease that needs treating.
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Cleanliness
You should check their fur for flea. If treatment is needed, pick a non-toxic flea treatment. Be very careful because flea treatments that are safe for adult cats are not necessarily suitable for your 7-week old kitten.
