How Old Are Kittens When They Open Their Eyes

When do Kittens Open Their Eyes
On of the greatest things to witness it the miracle of birth. Being an owner of cat that is expecting, with kittens is a wondrous thing. When kittens are born there and delicate ball of softness and fur which seem too dainty touch. Their survival depends solely on their mother. The mother supplies the nourishment to them as well as teaches them to relieve themselves and how to defend themselves and live amongst other creatures.

When a kitten is born, their ears are back and their eyes are closed, which means they are literally both blind and deaf. For humans, to look at the little newborn kittens, they find that they have a natural instinct to want to keep them warm and safe.

The best thing you can do is make sure that they are safe with their mother and their surroundings are safe so they will not hurt themselves or get into trouble once they start moving around.

Kittens are very weak when they first come into the world. The best they can do is crawl around their mothers side. This is all part of nature. This allows a mother to be able to keep up with each of the kittens in her litter. As they get older or their strength will improve and they will begin to walk.

Cats generally have very sensitive ears when they are born and that is only to help protect them. During their first few weeks of life their ears will continue to develop, keeping them closed and back, helps protect the very sensitive parts of the years as loud noises can hurt their ears. They're hearing will fully develop around 16 weeks of age.

Kittens are also born with a great sense of smell as their only contact with the world when they are firstborn is by smelling it. They cannot see it or hear it and have to rely solely on their sense of smell. Kittens get use to how certain things smell such as the mother and the humans around them.

They will hit us at things as they are not familiar just from their sense of smell. As to alert their mother that there is danger in the area. Many people wonder how long it will take to the kittens eyes actually open. It actually depends on the length of their fur. The cats with long hair will open their eyes much later than a short haired cat.

Some of the shorthaired kittens will actually get to see the world for the first time after just five to eight days from their date of birth. It may take up to 10 to 14 days for a long-haired kitten to open their eyes.

Litters that are mixed all have different rates of development where opening the eyes are concerned. Even when the eyes are completely open it can still take several weeks for them to grow into the special eyesight cats have. Cats truly are amazing creatures from them and that they're born until they become an adult cat.

Fleas and Your Cat or Kitten

Fleas and Your Cat or Kitten

If your cat is allowed outside, chances are it’s going to bring fleas into your home. Most indoor cats will not have this problem.

Your first course of action should be to treat your yard. Bring in all pets and spray the yard with an insecticide to kill fleas, flea larvae and ticks. Next, you will need to treat your carpet and your furniture. Fleas will burrow into carpet as well as your seat cushions, slipcovers and bedding.

Begin by vacuuming your carpet and your furniture. Be sure to get all cracks, crevices and corners of the room. You will also want to use a powder, spray or fogger in your home as well. Powders are used on carpet and you simply shake and vacuum them back up. They can penetrate down into the matting to kill the fleas.

Sprays are short-term flea control. They kill adult fleas, but not the eggs. Foggers can be difficult to use because you have to leave your home for several hours and keep your pets out as well. You also have to be sure that they don’t get on food or appliances used to cook and prepare food.

After your home flea free, you will want to prevent any further infestations. Preventing is a lot easier than getting rid of fleas and you can begin by using these products:

Flea Baths & Dips: Flea baths use a medicated shampoo that is used to treat fleas. These are good for short-term, but they wear off quickly. Flea dips are more effective and last for several weeks. Flea dips should be a last resort as they often contain heavy chemicals.

Flea Powder and Spray Treatments: Flea powders and sprays are also a short-term defense. These treatments only affect adult fleas.

Flea Collars: Flea collars are also popular. These exude a gas that fleas do not like and is absorbed into the skin of the animal. They tend to only work in the vicinity of the neck.

Flea Medications: These are a pill that keeps eggs from hatching and reproducing on the cat. These do not kill adult fleas, but stop the reproduction process.

Absorbable Medications: This is a spot medication that is applied between the shoulder blades of the cat. They spread across their skin and kills fleas for about a month. They also halt the reproduction process.

Flea Combs: This is a good method to use on kittens and you don’t want to give her any unnecessary treatments. This is a fine comb that you use to pull the fleas off of the hair and then you have to kill the fleas by dousing them in soapy water.