5 Month Old Kitten What to Expect
(Last Updated On: May 27, 2021)
Cats never actually grow up. They live their whole life playfully and curiously. Just try and wave a piece of string in front of an adult cat, and you'll see that he will jump on that string like a little kitten. When a kitten reaches 5 months, they are still very young.
You will often find them climbing on your curtains, clawing your furniture and relieving themselves outside of their litter box. There is really not much you can do to remove those traits completely, but you can definitely do some things to keep them under control.
Let's talk about what to expect from your 5 month old kitten.
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Nutrition and Health
It is important that you take good care of your kitten. Taking good care doesn't just mean that you should pet him and play with him every day. It means that you should keep an eye on what your kitten eats and if there are any changes in behavior or physique.
Also, be prepared to visit your vet more often. If you don't want any new kittens, you should discuss the options of neutering or spaying with your vet while visiting. This procedure is often recommended for owners who don't wish to have more cats.
Also, spaying or neutering prevents various diseases from attacking your cat later in life since it generally improves the health of your cat.
Benefits of spaying:
- Lower risk of mammary cancer
- Lower risk of uterine cancer
- Lower risk of ovarian cancer
Benefits of neutering:
- Lower risk of testicular cancer
- Reduced chances of spraying
As for the nutrition, you can't go wrong with regular kitten food and there are lots of different available flavours and options available. There are some great kitten formulas available on the market as well, just make sure that they are filled with proteins, vitamins, and that the food is easily chewable.
Best Dry Food & Wet Food for Kittens
Also, if your kitten is 5 months old, you can expect that he will frequently be hungry and demand food. You can feed him a couple of times throughout the day just make sure you don't overfeed him.
Side Note: Some people are promoting the trend of declawing. Declawing is a procedure where veterinarian removes the last bone in each toe. After that, your cat will be clawless.
I strongly oppose that procedure because it leaves your cat without his main tool for survival and self-defense. You can easily trim your cat's nails if he's clawing your furniture and it won't leave him disfigured.
Behavior
When your kitten reaches 5 months, he will soon become a teenager. We all know how teenagers act. If you don't spay or neuter your cat, you will probably deal with some teenager problems, and they will be caused by your cat.
Once the hormones start rushing in, if you have a male cat he will become more aggressive towards any other males, and he will engage in fights for territory and females, and he will spray urine on things to mark his territory.
Trust me, you don't want that kind of behavior. Especially if you live in an apartment or if you have another cat in the household. It's always better to spay and neuter.
Also, if your notice that your kitten is suddenly changing their behavior and becoming aggressive for no apparent reason, try taking them to the vet. Kittens can get a bit crazy if they are in pain or if they sense something is wrong.
Training
If your kitten scratches you or your furniture, it's usually not a big deal because they aren't really capable of doing much damage. However, if you let that kind of behavior slip by, you will soon deal with an adult cat with razor sharp nails clawing everything you own.
That is why it is important to get your kitten some heavy-duty scratching posts and teach him to do his thing there.
Clawing is a natural behavior. Your kitten does it to mark his territory, to sharpen his nails, and to stretch his back. Also, trimming your kitten's nails once in a while will go a long way. Just remember to play with him whenever you can!
When it comes to litter training, there is not much to say. Cats naturally tend to relieve themselves in sand, dirt, leaves, etc. So, pretty much anywhere they can bury whatever they did. It is usually enough just to show them where the litter box is placed and putting them inside to feel the sand under their feet.
If your kitten decides to do his job somewhere else, pick up after him and place 'it' inside a litter box. Sooner or later he will figure out where is he supposed to do his business.
When Do Kittens Start Using the Litter Box?
Conclusion
Having a kitten is great. You will have your ups and downs, but at the end of a day, you will always have someone to cuddle with. Just make sure that you love your kitten, take good care of him, and that you train or discipline him. Cats may be independent creatures, but they sure need us as much as we need them.
5 Month Old Kitten What to Expect
Source: https://petsho.com/5-months-old-cat/