Kitten

Kitten

As a kitten or young cat one is young the domestic cat called. The common language is the diminutive kitten , which, however, can also be used for a full-grown (adult) cat, the most common; in addition also be kitten and kitten used. After Adelung kittens were partly in the northern German language area cements known what the English name kitten similar.

In veterinary medicine it is called in suckling kittens also of kittens while puppy in general and in zoological and hunting parlance for a young dog , wolf or fox stands.

Birth and development

A domestic cat litter usually consists of two to five kittens. They are born after a gestation period of 64 to 67 days, with an average gestation period of 67 days. The kittens are born in an egg membrane called an amnion . The amnion is nibbled on and eaten by the giving birth cat.

In order to survive, the kittens depend on their mother's care for the first few weeks. During this time, they are unable to pass urine and feces without stimulation from the mother. Also, kittens cannot regulate their body temperature on their own in the first three weeks, so kittens that are born in an ambient temperature below 27 degrees Celsius can die of hypothermia if they are not kept warm by the mother.

Kittens drink with their mother.

The mother's milk is very important for the diet of kittens and their healthy growth; it contains antibodies that protect the young animals from infectious diseases . Since newborn kittens are still unable to generate concentrated urine , they have very high fluid requirements.

Kitties open their eyes about seven to ten days after they are born. At first the retina is still poorly developed. They only achieve the vision of an adult cat around 10 weeks after their birth.

Between the second and seventh week of life, kittens develop very quickly. They improve their strength and coordination skills by playing playfully with their siblings; they also begin to explore the world outside of their birthplace. Soon they begin to clean themselves and play other things, such as sneaking and hunting games, in which their innate abilities as predators are revealed. These innate abilities are encouraged by the mother or other adult cats by bringing live prey to their nest. Later on, the kittens also learn hunting techniques from the adult cats through observation.

A kitten opens its eyes for the first time.

As the kittens reach their third to fourth week of life, they gradually begin to consume solid foods and are gradually weaned from their mother's milk. Weaning is usually complete after six to eight weeks. The loss of milk teeth begins around the age of three months, and by the age of nine months they have a full set of second teeth. Although cats primarily feed on solid food after weaning, they usually still suckle from the mother from time to time until separated from her. Some cats break up with their kittens at three months of age, while others watch on them until they reach sexual maturity.

At birth, the sex of the young is usually easy to determine, which becomes more difficult at six to eight weeks of age because the genital region is covered with fur. The cat's urethral opening is round, while the cat's urethral opening is slit-shaped. Another clear difference is the distance between the anus and the urethral opening, which is larger in a hangover than in a cat.

Kitties are very social creatures and spend most of their waking hours interacting with available animals and the game. The phase of playing with other boys reaches its climax during the third or fourth month of life, whereas stalking and hunting games, which are performed more alone, can only be observed later, from around the fifth month of life. Small kittens like to hide in dark places, which can harm them if not carefully supervised.

While cats are nowadays often given away at the age of six to eight weeks, it was suggested that this should only be done from the twelfth week, since contact with the mother and siblings is still important for the development of social behavior up to this point. Kitties are usually not given away by breeders until they are 12 weeks old. In some countries, animal welfare law stipulates that cats may not be given away or sold before they are eight weeks old.

Cubs reach sexual maturity around seven months of age. Often the view is taken that one can speak of an adult cat only from the age of one year.

Health

In the first weeks of life, kittens are usually protected from infectious diseases by antibodies from the mother cat's colostrum . These are broken down from the age of six weeks, which is why domestic cats in western countries are vaccinated against cat flu and cat disease from the sixth to eighth week of life . Vaccination against feline leukemia can also be useful for outdoor enthusiasts . From the 12th week of life can be vaccinated against rabies . Maternal antibodies can still be present in kittens at 20 weeks of age to such an extent that the vaccination does not provide adequate protection. The usual boost after four weeks can therefore still fall during a period in which sufficient antibody formation is not induced.

Regular deworming is especially important for kittens. From the second to eighth week of life, a 14-day de-worming against roundworms is recommended.

Web links

Commons : Kittens  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: kitten  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ so the poet Theodor Storm
2. ↑ According to the vocabulary portal of the University of Leipzig, "kitten" is the most common term for a small cat. It has a frequency class HK14. The other terms come in a frequency class from HK20 to HK22
3. ↑ "A young cat is called Kitte in Osnabrück." Johann Christoph Adelung in: Grammatical-critical dictionary of the High German dialect with constant comparison of the other dialects, but especially the Upper German. Second, increased and improved edition. Leipzig 1793-1801. Keyword: cat. Whereas “young dogs are as well known by the hunters as wolves in Lower Saxony, young wolves, [..] by Ottfried Vuelfa , in English Whelps .” The same in the same work, keyword: dog.
4. ^ Marian C. Horzinek, Vera Schmidt, Hans Lutz: Diseases of the cat . 4th, revised edition. Georg Thieme Verlag, 2005, ISBN 3-8304-1049-2 , p. 852 . Ad Rijnberk, Freek J. van Sluijs: The correct diagnosis in the small animal practice: examination and assessment . 1st edition. Ashgate Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-3-89993-080-1 , pp.
    20 . A. Holzmann: Carnivores . In: Eberhard Grunert, K. Arbeiter (Hrsg.): Tiergeburtshilfe . 4., rework. Edition. Parey, Berlin / Hamburg 1993, ISBN 3-489-53416-6 , pp.
    594-602 . Christopher Day: Homeopathy in Small Animal Practice: Fundamentals and Practice . 1st edition. Georg Thieme Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-8304-9085-2 , p.
    63 .
5. ^ German dictionary , founded by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm , keyword: WELP (E) ; Digital dictionary of the German language, keyword: 'Welpe' .
   Exemplary for the 17th century: Justus Georg Schottelius , detailed work from the teutschen Haubt language. 1663, p. 1445; Reprint: Walter de Gruyter, 1995.
   Exemplary for the 19th century: Johann Christoph von Schmid, Swabian dictionary: with etymological and historical notes, p. 595, E. Schweizerbart, 1831 .
   Exemplary for the 20th century: Oskar von Riesenthal , Riesenthals Jagdlexikon, reference and manual for hunters and hunting enthusiasts. J. Neumann 1916, p. 591.
6. ↑ Toshihiko Tsutsui, George H. Stabenfeldt: Biology of ovarian cycles, pregnancy and pseudopregnancy in the domestic cat . In: Journal of Reproduction and Fertility Supplement . tape 47 , 1993, pp. 29-35 , PMID 8229938 .
7. ↑ Maria Angelica Miglino, Carlos Eduardo Ambrósio include: The carnivore pregnancy: the development of the embryo and fetal membranes . In: Theriogenology . tape 66 , no. 6-7 , 2006, pp. 1699-1702 , doi : 10.1016 / j.theriogenology.2006.02.027 , PMID 16563485 .
8. Jump up ↑ Race Foster: How to Raise Orphan Kittens . In: Pet Education: Expert information for all types of pets . ( online [accessed March 7, 2011]).
9. ↑ Margret L. Casal, Peter F. Jezyk, Urs Giger: Transfer of colostral antibodies from queens to their kittens . In: American Journal of Veterinary Research . tape 57 , no. 11 , 1996, pp. 1653-1658 , PMID 8915447 .
10. ↑ Kit Sturgess, Karyl J. Hurley: Animal Welfare Volume 3: The Welfare of Cats . Ed .: Irene Rochlitz. 2005, Nutrition and Welfare, pp. 243 , doi : 10.1007 / 1-4020-3227-7_9 .
11. ^ John S. Tootle, Michael J. Friedlander: Postnatal development of the spatial contrast sensitivity of X- and Y-cells in the kitten retinogeniculate pathway . In: Journal of Neuroscience . tape 9 , no. 4 , 1989, pp. 1325-1340 , PMID 2703879 ( online [PDF]).
12. ↑ Kit Sturgess, Karyl Hurley: Nutrition and Welfare. In: Irene Rochlitz: Animal Welfare Volume 3: The Welfare of Cats. 2005, p. 244, doi : 10.1007 / 1-4020-3227-7_9
13. ↑ Janet Tobiassen Crosby, DVM: When Do Puppies and Kittens Lose Their Baby Teeth? In: Veterinary Medicine. vetmedicine.about.com, accessed November 1, 2013 . 
14. ^ ^{A b} Sharon L. Crowell-Davis: Cat Behavior: Social Organization, Communication and Development. In: Irene Rochlitz: Animal Welfare Volume 3: The Welfare of Cats. 2005, p. 18, doi : 10.1007 / 1-4020-3227-7_9 .
15. ↑ Mel Sunquist, Fiona Sunquist: Wild Cats of the World. University of Chicago Press, 2002, ISBN 0-226-77999-8 . link
16. ↑ Marci Kladnik: When does a kitten become a cat? In: Santa Maria Times. July 11, 2010, archived from the original on January 5, 2015 ; Retrieved October 12, 2013 . 
17. ↑ WSAVA Guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats ( Memento of the original from February 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
18. ↑ ESCCAP recommendations for combating worms (helminths) in dogs and cats. German adaptation of the ESCCAP recommendation. ( pdf )