Intense growth period

From around 8 weeks, your kitten will be at the ideal age to begin their core vaccinations, with secondary injections required three to five weeks after. This is an important process in ensuring each kitten has the right protection for their adult life. Consult your vet to make sure a vaccination schedule is in place.

Some nutrients still can’t be digested, so ensuring that the kitten has food tailored to their developmental stage is important. This makes sure that they get the nutrients and energy they need during the important developmental phase.

This is the stage at which the kitten’s behaviour is most influenced by others, including litter mates, other pets and humans. They also begin to understand their position within the household and may begin to form dominant and submissive behaviours depending on their experiences and training.

This is a key stage in its development of human relationships, so ensuring consistency and offering support and affection is key.

Kittens can begin to be moved away from their mother and introduced to new homes at around 12 weeks. If you are bringing a kitten home, it’s important to make sure that their new environment is fully prepared, with electrical wires and sockets covered, windows, balconies and stairs secured and any sharp or small objects tidied away.