Your Kitten's Development in the First 6 Weeks

The first six weeks of a kitten's life pack in more change than almost any other stretch of their development, from a blind, deaf newborn to a wobbly, curious, almost fully weaned kitten. Here is a week-by-week look at what is actually happening.

Week 1

Kittens are born blind and deaf, entirely dependent on their mother for warmth, feeding and stimulation to toilet. They spend nearly all their time sleeping or nursing, and a healthy kitten should be gaining roughly 10 to 15 grams a day, which is the single most useful thing to track this week if you have access to a kitchen scale.

Week 2

Eyes begin opening around 7 to 10 days, though vision is blurry at first, and all kittens are born with blue eyes that may change colour later. Ears start to unfold and become more mobile towards the end of this week. Kittens are still largely immobile, managing only a slow crawl.

Week 3

Hearing develops fully, and kittens start reacting to sounds around them. Baby teeth begin to emerge. Mobility improves noticeably, with kittens attempting to stand and take a few wobbly steps. This is also roughly when the earliest signs of individual personality start to show, some kittens are bolder explorers than others even at this age.

Week 4

Walking becomes more confident, and play behaviour begins, mostly clumsy batting at littermates and toys. This is the start of the weaning window, with the mother beginning to spend more time away from the litter and kittens ready for their first gruel-based meals of wet food mixed with water or milk replacer.

Week 5

Running, pouncing and more coordinated play all develop rapidly this week. Kittens are eating more solid food, though still nursing for some of their nutrition. Litter box use often begins around this age, usually by watching and copying the mother or littermates rather than needing formal training.

Week 6

Coordination is now close to adult-level for their size, kittens climb, pounce and wrestle with real confidence. Weaning is well underway, with most kittens eating solid kitten food several times a day and nursing mainly for comfort. Socialisation matters enormously during this window, gentle handling, exposure to different people, and calm everyday household sounds all shape long-term temperament.

Why this window matters so much

The two to seven week period sits at the heart of a kitten's primary socialisation window, the stretch during which positive experiences have an outsized effect on adult confidence and friendliness. Kittens who are gently handled daily during this time, and exposed calmly to a variety of people and everyday sounds, tend to grow into noticeably more confident, sociable adult cats. This is one of the strongest arguments for choosing a kitten who has been raised in a home environment rather than isolated in a cage, wherever that choice is available to you.

Two practical notes for this stage

When starting weaning gruel around week 4, begin quite thin, closer to a soup than a paste, and thicken it gradually over the following couple of weeks as kittens get better at lapping. A gruel that is too thick too soon often gets rejected or inhaled rather than eaten. It is also worth avoiding a full bath during this stage unless genuinely necessary, since young kittens chill easily and cannot yet regulate their own body temperature well, a spot-clean with a warm, damp cloth handles most minor mess safely.

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