05/15/2025
It's ! 💙🐈⬛🐈🐈⬛💛 Knowing an orphaned kitten's age will help you make faster life-saving decisions for them. A kitten's teeth are a great guide to telling age in the first 6 weeks of life — if you know what you're looking at!
Kittens have no teeth from birth until 3 weeks of age, when incisors emerge in the front of their mouth. These teeth are not for eating! 3-week-olds still depend on nursing for all nourishment, but they gain a little independence at this age. Incisors allow them to start grooming themselves. Kittens also begin to toilet on their own, and they take their first wobbly steps.
At 4 weeks, kittens' canines (fangs) come in. They still don't eat solid food, but fangs signify an emerging ability to hunt. 4-week-olds also begin to retract their claws, and their movements become more coordinated. These new assets let kittens begin to practice hunting skills by play-wrestling with their littermates.
At 5 weeks, the premolars (large teeth just behind the fangs) begin to emerge. Premolars are for eating meat, so a healthy kitten with premolars is ready to begin the weaning process. They'll keep honing their hunting skills through vigorous play as their eyesight and muscle coordination continue to mature. Kittens have all 26 of their milk teeth by 6 weeks.
Learn more in our free "Bottle-Feeding and Care of Orphaned Kittens" webinar:
On-Demand Recording: https://bit.ly/BFCIBFKV
Handout: https://bit.ly/BFCIBFKH
And for in-depth info on raising kittens:
Kitten Lady: https://kittenlady.org/kitten-care
National Kitten Coalition: https://kittencoalition.org
