This is your complete guide to the 4 month old kitten. You’ll find out how big your kitten should be and what they should look like, along with information on their diet and litter training. We’ll look at what to expect in terms of their behavior, and help you to take care of your four month old kitten. Together we will support you as you continue to raise your kitten to be a happy, friendly cat.
Contents
- What a 4 month old kitten looks like
- How big they should be?
- What do cats eat at 4 months old
- How much do 4 month old kitten eat?
- Kitten teething at 4 months old
- How do 4 month old kittens behave?
- What vaccinations does your kitten need at 4 months?
A 4 month old kitten has usually been living in their forever home for around eight weeks. That means they’ve spent as much time there as with their mom and breeder. Pet parents are likely to be getting a pretty good handle on their new feline’s personality by now. In this article, we take a look at the milestones your 4 month old cat has already hit, and the ones still to come.
What Does A 4 Month Old Kitten Look Like?
Three month old kittens still look distinctly kittenish, but four month old kittens are starting to look more like scaled down copies of adult cats.
Their limbs are starting to get longer in proportion to their body, and their features are starting to get more refined. They still have their soft fluffy baby coat, but make the most of it while it lasts now. At around 5 or 6 months old, it will start to be replaced by their adult coat, which is thicker, sleeker and glossier.
4 Month Old Kitten Size And Weight
How much should a 4 month old kitten weigh?
A kitten’s size at four months old will depend upon factors like their breed, how well they’ve been nursing from mom, and whether they’re a boy or girl. In many breeds of cat, males are larger than females. This difference is present from birth, but hard to see at first, since it’s only a matter of grams.
At 4 months old, a female kitten from a small breed like the Singapura might have only just clocked up their first kilo. Whilst a male Maine Coon cat might already weigh 2.5 kilos! If you got your cat from an experienced breeder, or a rescue center, they should be able to advise you on what size to expect your kitten to be at this age. However, assessing their overall body conditions might be a better indicator of how well they’re thriving, than relying on numbers on a scale.
If you’re worried that your 4 month old cat is too big or too small, ask your vet’s opinion.
What To Feed Your 4 Month Old Cat
Whether you plan to feed your kitten dry food, wet food, home cooked meals or raw food, it’s important to make sure the diet you choose for them at every stage of growing up is complete and nutritionally balanced. Cats need at least one third of their diet to be protein from animal sources. However, even kittens fed an entirely raw meat diet can suffer nutritional deficiencies.
If this sounds counterintuitive because wild cats only ever eat a raw meat diet, then bear in mind that even wild cats can suffer nutritional deficiencies if they eat unbalanced raw diets!
At four months old, kittens still need their diet to contain more calcium and phosphorous than most adult cat foods provide. So, if the range of food your choose has separate products for kittens and adults, stick to the kitten version for the time being.
How Much To Feed A Four Month Old Kitten
Always feed your kitten according to the feeding guide on the packaging of their food, unless your vet has advised you otherwise. If you’re using treats during the day to reward good behavior, or form positive associations with activities like grooming or wearing a harness, remember to deduct a little from their dinner to avoid overly-rapid weight gain. As a rule of thumb, treats should only account for 10% of your kitten’s daily calories.
4 Month Old Kitten Teething
As your kitten reaches four months old, you may well start to notice their adult teeth coming through. This process usually starts shortly after they turn three months old, and continues until they are around 6 months old.
Your cats new front teeth will come through first, followed by their molars at the back. You might even find some of the baby teeth left dropped on the floor or in their bed. But they’re tiny, and quite a few get swallowed, so don’t worry if you don’t spot any!
Your kitten might get especially ‘chewy’ at the moment, if the eruption of their adult teeth is causing them discomfort. Keep some robust teething toys on hand, and redirect your kitten to them whenever he chomps down on something he shouldn’t.
4 Month Old Kitten Behavior
By now, it’s likely that you really feel you’re getting to know your kitten’s personality. Hopefully you’re celebrating their quirks, and revelling in discovering all the things which make them unique.
Play
At four months old, kittens enjoy a rich and varied repertoire of games. Their favorite games are likely to include play hunting toys, and they’re probably getting much more co-ordinated at it.
Watching a kitten wiggle their bum in the air as they prepare to pounce is adorable. But if you’re still using your hands as “prey”, make the switch to interactive cat toys now, before you end up with nasty bites and scratches!
Scratching
Cats love their little routines, and by now they’ve probably made it clear where they’ve picked as their favorite scratching spot in your home. Was it on a designated scratch post, or did they choose your floors or carpets?
Cats instinctively scratch in places people pass by regularly – like doorways and busy thoroughfares. Scratching is a form of communication, and this ensures it reaches as wide an audience as possible! So a frequent reason kittens have started scratching in an undesirable place at this age is because their owners tried to position the scratching post somewhere discreet and out of sight.
Toilet Training
If you’re still struggling with teaching your kitten to use the litter box reliably, don’t be embarrassed to ask for help at this age. Soiling in the house is the most common reason why cats are surrendered to animal shelters. There’s no point struggling with this alone until you reach a point where giving up your cat feels like the only option for you too.
Ask your vet to rule out underlying physical causes, such as urinary tract infections, and if that comes back clear, ask a behaviorist to help you understand why your cat is still toileting inappropriately. Common reasons for litter box avoidance include your cat being uncomfortable with the location of the litter box, having it covered or uncovered, the litter you’ve chosen, having to share it with another cat, or the litter box already being soiled.
What Vaccinations Does A 4 Month Old Kitten Need?
Amazingly, the antibodies your kitten received from their mom’s milk have still been protecting them against infection all this time, and their effect is only just wearing off at 4 months old. But since it’s coming to an end. It’s important to make sure you complete their course of core kitten vaccines this month.
Kittens’ final booster shots for rabies, viral rhinotracheitis, feline calcivirus, and panleukopenia fall due around 16 weeks old. So if they haven’t already been administered or scheduled, book them in now. Most kittens also receive a booster shot against feline leukemia virus at the same time, although it’s not considered one of the core vaccines.
Neutering Or Spaying A 4 Month Old Kitten
If your vet hasn’t already discussed neutering your male kitten, or spaying your female kitten with you, they’re almost certain to at the appointment for their 4 month shots. Choosing whether to go ahead, and when, is ultimately something only you can decide.
4 Month Old Kitten – Summary
At 4 months old, your kitten should be settling well at home, and changing by the day. Fill your phone with photos, because it won’t be long before their baby looks give way to much more grown up features.
Your kitten is still likely to be seeing the vet regularly for check ups, shots and neutering, if you choose to do this. These are great opportunities to ask about other areas of their development too, if you’re worried.
Is Your Kitten 4 Months Old?
What will you remember as the greatest highlights and the biggest challenges of this age? Let us know in the comments box down below!
This article made me, and Felix, very happy. He is the healthiest little fellow rescued at nearly twenty days, founding crying under a car in a repair shop. He is just now four months, and is exactly as you described. And, yes, time for him to meet the Vet! He is a life-changer, and it has only been a few short wonderful months! Thank you for this great site, and all the wonderful articles. Honesty and education– and cats!!
My kitten will not stop biting and chewing on my fingers hands toes feet elbows arms ankles and every other part of my body. She is 4 months old and I have had it with her biting issues. I have told her every toy you could possibly imagine. If this does not stop I will have no choice but to rehome her. I do not want to because I do love her
I hope you didn’t have to rehome her! She sounds normal, but just giving her toys is not enough; you have to interact/help them play with it in a way that she bites the toy instead of you. Hold something bitable on her stomach and wiggle it around like tickling. She should start biting and kicking the toy. Kitten love this form of ‘wrestling’. Good luck!
That’s what mine was doing and she’s looking for a nipple.
I also hope you did not have to rehome her. My 4 month old male, Chip, gets a hold of my hand sometimes and I feel like my hand is hung in garbage disposal and I have to get my hand out of his mouth and claws, very carefully. I love this guy very much so I hope this will soon subside. I think of Problem Child. I will not give him up no matter what. LOL
His vet cut his nails back on Friday, but he has learned how to dig those in as well. My 10 year old 56lb dog has anxiety because Chip is continuously biting her legs. I have my work cut out for me. I have a few more toys I plan on getting him. But if anyone has any advice, I am open for suggestions.
If your fur baby is going to be indoors most of the time consider defanging. I struggled with the same issue I also gotten the nails clip my fur baby will be getting nail caps when he gets a little older.
Just wait, they grow out of it. Just like any other specie. I sit on a rocking chair with my kitten to show her downtime, serenity and connection.
If your hands don’t move, they’re not interested.. calming smells like catnip. The inside roll of a paper towel I use as a toy. Empty boxes, big paper bags, tunnels with a fluffy toy hanging from the openings.
I’ve had 17 cats and never really had a biting problem. As kittens they’re still picking up social cues, so I don’t move my hand and I’ll yell OWWWWW! and the kitten is surprised and lets go. Or I’ll whine just like they do when playing with another kitten. Awww..poor me..that HURRRT! If that doesn’t work, a redirect to a soft toy or even a plastic pen will occupy their attention for a quick getaway, then remove the pen or you’ll get ink all over the place! I love little “love bites” so those are OK and they do nibble when teething. All OK as long as I don’t need a bandaid!
So my story is that I will be adopting a 4 months old female feline. And she is been living with a foster parent for all these four months, I’m genuinely scared of this feline going into depression for parting with the foster parent because just recently I lost my six week old kitten due to a virus and I couldn’t help her ..
So please if there is any tips for me to make this feline survive please be sure to tell me … I am hopelessly scared..
My 4 months old kitten is lost 3 days ago.i loved him dearly.donno what happened.he hasn’t returned home.
In the past month have adopted a Maine Coon, she will be 4month’s old in a few day’s. She is such a go getter, fast, play’s on her own, and her biting stopped when we say OW, and ignore her. She sleep’s with us, she is something I can Love. She like’s to sleep but so did our other Maine Coon’s. Abbey is company, and I welcome that. God’s creature’s are fantastic. Hope she like’s where she is. Have a good day. She also follow’s me to every room I go. My shadow.
Please read: ? Does your kitten get super hyper? I have a 4 month old boy kitten. I’m so glad I read stuff people wrote. He can get crazy and run around and if I try and touch and coddle him he scratches me. However, when he is done playing he literally come to me and lays on me. He can be such a snuggles but also a hyper baby?
My 4 month old kitten is approaching 7 pounds but is very lean and skinny, to the point that I’m increasing the amount im feeding him quite a bit. He’s extremely active and a cute grey short hair tabby. From everything I’ve been reading he should be closer to 4 or 5 pounds. Is he going to be abnormally large, or is it more likely that he’s older than we think? We rescued him from a semi negligent home so I’m not sure if they age they told us is correct.
Sounds like he is older my 4 month old boy is 4.5pounds vet said he is a good weight good luck with your wee living boy
My 3.5 month old sphinx girlie is driving me crazy with her energy and biting. Happy to read the other comments here to know I’m not the only one getting chewed up lol. Please leave advice and support if you have it. Sometimes it’s hard to not get emotional about it and remind myself that she’s just a kitten.
Been trying to yelp ‘ow’ and ignore her when she does it. Seeing limited success with that so far but we’ll keep trying.
We were so lucky to become pet parents of Misty and Rain who will turn four months tomorrow, July 5th. They are very social, have to be where the family is and they love to be pet and brushed. They were both spayed and vaccinated up to date when we adopted them from a charity organization at a local pet store. Misty and Rain are both potty trained, they never even had an accident. We have since taken them in for a well kitten check up and to complete their vaccinations. They are darling, so playful and curious! We look forward to every day with them! Misty and Rain were their names when we got them and fit them to a tee so we never thought of changing them! We were Blessed with two loving little girls!