The moment the kittens are born, you have to take care of both them and their mother. It is essential that you know various aspects about new born cats. At Petlifey, we explain when new born cats open their eyes.
When do cats first open their eyes
When the kittens that your cat was expecting are born, you have to prepare, both the mother and them, a place where they can rest calmly and are warm and safe.
New born kittens do not see, as they are born with their eyes closed and that is why they are completely dependent on their mother.
Not only can they not see, but they cannot hear either, it is for all this that they do not move away from the bed or the shelter in which they were born or separate from their mother.
It is essential that, in addition to protecting and providing warmth, while your cat recovers from childbirth and is nursing, you give her all the necessary food. Thus, it will produce enough milk for the kittens to grow up healthy, strong and begin to adequately develop all their capacities.
When it comes to the vision of puppies, you will surely wonder: when do newborn cats open their eyes?
It’s funny how days go by and they haven’t opened their eyes yet, especially when you compare it to what human babies do. They open their eyes at the precise moment of birth or after a very short time.
The answer to your question about how long cats open their eyes is that newborn cats open their eyes between the first and second week of life, we could say that about 10 days after birth.
In summary, new born cats open their eyes between 7 and 15 days after being born .
When do cats start to see well
The moment they start to visualize something, the puppies’ vision improves and is perfected quite quickly.
At the end of the second week or at the beginning of the third they already have the ability to recognize their mother and their little brothers, they can locate them at first glance and go to them.
During these weeks they can also begin to identify obstacles so they can go around and avoid them, but they still move quite awkwardly. Kittens have well-developed vision at 12 weeks of age .
It must also be said that all kittens are born with blue eyes and it is during these 12 weeks, until they acquire good vision, when the eye color they will have when they are adult cats is defined.
When they are three weeks old, or at most three and a half weeks old, the puppies already begin to have enough vision and enough mobility.
It allows them to have more independence, it is then that you will realize that they leave more often the place where they were sheltered and inspect everything that is around them. It is at this stage of their life that they can begin to eat solid foods.
Why do baby cats have their eyes closed?
It is very important that you know the type of vision that your puppy will have as it gets older and when it reaches adulthood.
We have already commented previously that kittens do not begin to have perfect vision and to use all the vision capacity that cats have until 12 weeks.
It is essential to know that the visual field of cats is wider than ours, and that it reaches up to 200 degrees.
Pussycats have a part of eye tissue with cells that what they do is perceive a large amount of light. This part is known by the name of tapetum lucidum and makes them see a bit more blurry than humans when it is daytime. On the other hand, at night the cats see perfectly.
Thanks to this and that their pupils have a vertical shape, which allows the light to penetrate more and that they are exceptional nocturnal hunters.
You also have to know that, unlike humans, kitties only see certain colors, such as yellow, blue or green.
It should not surprise you that in the first days of a cat’s life they always have their eyes closed and most of the time they spend it sleeping.
How to take care of a cat with closed eyes
New born cats require a series of basic care. For example, they need a warm place, but not excessively warm, where they can rest and spend their first days of life in peace and safety.
They need to be with their mom and their little brothers. In this way, they maintain the heat they need to develop properly and can feed properly as they have easy access to breast milk.
You should know that a new born kitten cannot lack neither food nor heat, that is why if the mother cat is not or does not produce enough milk to feed all the puppies, you will have to know how to feed a cat baby .
To do this, you must use a bottle and specific powdered milk for newborn kittens, which you can find in veterinary centers and in pet stores.
In the same way, the area where they are born and start to breed has to be very clean, so you should clean it and change the blankets or towels once a day or at most every two days, hygiene in a newborn kitten is essential for stay healthy.
By the way, it is very possible that if you have cats that have just been born at home you will not know how to differentiate kittens from kittens.
You should not handle or touch them excessively while they depend exclusively on their mother, that is, until at least 4 weeks of age, because they are very weak animals and their mother will take care of everything they need.
Logically, if you detect that the cat or any of the puppies has a health problem, you should consult your veterinarian as soon as possible.
