Page 41 - Mammal (DK Eyewitness)

Thirty-day-old kitten

THIRTY DAYS OLD
4 After feeding, the kitten’s abdomen hangs down and only
just clears the ground, since its legs are still relatively short.
By now it is walking confidently and leaves the nest of its
own accord to explore and play. One great change is the
process of weaning: the kitten is starting to sample solid food
and suckle less milk from the mother. She brings prey back
to the nest and allows the kitten to examine it, so that it
learns what it should hunt later.

Face is changing proportions
and looks less babyish

Forty-two-day-old kitten

Kitten can stand

FORTY-TWO DAYS OLD
5By six weeks of age, the kitten still has a large head and shortish
legs, but its general body proportions are becoming more like those
of an adult cat. It now leaves the nest for longer periods, exploring
Head is and playing with its littermates (domestic cats average about five
still large kittens to the litter). Coordination is increasing and the kitten can
in proportion run, jump, and climb, though it rarely ventures far from home. Solid
to body food features more in the diet, but much nourishment still comes
from the mother’s milk. A female lemming of this age would already
be pregnant with her first litter.

Sixty-three-day-old kitten

Tail is longer ­
more adult­like

SIXTY-THREE DAYS OLD
6Most kittens are fully weaned by nine weeks.
Although still part of a family, enjoying each
other’s company, they are now able to fend for
themselves and could be separated from the
mother. The young cat seems very playful but
much of its activity has the important function of
teaching it how to catch prey and avoid danger
(p. 42). This tortoiseshell youngster, playing with
red wool, is training its eye-paw coordination,
sharpening its reactions, and testing the grip of its claws -
as well as finding out about the wool when this is caught.
3

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