Research overview: behavioural development milestones in kittens

Kittens are altricial and pass through a rapid, well-characterised sequence of behavioural milestones. This overview surveys research on kitten development, from the early reliance on thermal and olfactory cues and the establishment of suckling, through the opening of the eyes and ears and the onset of locomotion, to the emergence of social and object play, weaning, and the predatory motor patterns. It discusses the sensitive socialisation window and how early experience shapes adult temperament. It connects developmental timing to the maturation of sensory and motor systems. The topic provides the developmental roadmap underlying feline socialisation, play, hunting, and the formation of individual differences.