A kittens ability to become a well socialised adult cat is also dependent, unsurprisingly, on genetically inherited personality traits.
8 – 10 weeks. Kittens are weaned. Removing kittens from mother before this age may negatively impact kitten’s health and behavior.
12 weeks. Free living kittens often stay with their mother until this date and beyond.
7 – 14 weeks. Increasing (from above) interaction between humans and kittens over this period is beneficial to adult domestic cat sociability.
3.5 months Transition from deciduous to adult teeth begins More See another presentation of development here and main page on kitten development: Kitten Development.
Kittens playing and learning |
Cat behavior – hunting and play
- It is said that the domestic, stray and feral cat is the best small land based predator64.
- Hunting is instinctive for a cat and this instinct needs to be accommodated by cat caretakers. Hunting is not necessarily linked with hunger.
- Different “types” of domestic cat hunt in different ways:
- domestic cats turned feral and in rural areas hunt prey like wildcats. They are able to express their desire to hunt naturally.
- feral cats in urban areas hunt and scavenge but scavenging dominants because it is easier to find food that way.
- domestic cats that go outdoors do some plain prey hunting turning from domestic to wild cat at the cat flap.
- full-time indoor domestic cats express their innate skills on toys designed for the purpose – main page on cat play: cat games to play. There is perhaps a tendency for cat caretakers to allow this drive to go unrecognised and unexpressed.
- domestic cats turned feral on small islands have had an impact on native wildlife.
- there is a lack of objective thinking and accurate data on the impact of feral cats on birds despite what the bird conservationists say (how feral cats affect wildlife).
- there is a competition between bird conservationists and feral cat protectors and carers (see feral cats of Los Angeles).
- In a German survey 40-60% of domestic cats fed by their owners had the remains of prey in their stomach65.
- Domestic cat prey varies around the world. Cats generally, however, take ground dwelling animals as they are easier to catch.
| Country | Preferred Prey66 |
| North America (USA and Canada) | mice, ground squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks, gophers, robins |
| Europe | mice, voles, sparrows, fledgling birds |
| Southern Sweden | male cats hunt rabbits more than females |
| Tropics | spiders and insects |
| Sub-Antarctic islands | noddies (members of the tern family), terns and penguins |
| Australia | possums, reptiles, ground nesting birds |
