Your Kitten: 10 Months Old

Mental and Physical Development

Hyperactivity While most lively, energetic kittens begin to settle down a bit at approximately 10 months of age, there are other kittens that remain just as active and seem to have limitless sources of energy. This sometimes causes pet owners to wonder if their kitten is hyperactive.

It's not scientifically clear yet whether or not kittens can be prone to hyperactive conditions, but regardless of if a kitten is possibly hyperactive or just energetic, she will need lots of activities to prevent destructive behavior.

If you have an especially energetic maturing kitten, try to create an environment in your home where your kitten can exercise and play to its heart's content. Not only will you need to sprinkle plenty of toys throughout the home, your energetic kitten will also require multiple kitty towers and posts for climbing and jumping activities.

To prevent boredom, introduce new toys into the home a few times per month, and move the kitty tower to new locations on a regular basis.

Common Feeding Errors At 10 months of age, a kitten does not need the high calorie and fat requirements that it once needed when it was a younger, fast-growing kitten. Two of the most common feeding errors that pet owners make are feeding the kitten too much food and transitioning to an adult diet too quickly.

In an effort to ensure that their kitten is growing properly and has all the nutrition it needs, many pet owners equate a big appetite with health. However, kittens can easily put on excess weight during this time if their food portions are not regulated -- and overweight kittens can develop bad eating habits that carry into adulthood.

Kittens at this age should have already begun the switch adult cat food. But make sure this change takes place over the course of a few weeks by gradually adding adult food while lessoning the amount of kitten food. A sudden change in diet may cause digestive upset in kittens and result in symptoms such as vomiting, loose stools, gas and an upset stomach.

Remember to regulate your kitten's food intake, and to make diet changes at this age slowly.

Health and Veterinary Care: Infections

Kittens at 10 months of age are well on their way to becoming adult cats, and as a result, their immune systems are becoming highly developed. However, kittens at this age are still at risk for infections -- and it is important to catch these infections early to prevent damage to the maturing kitten's health.

Some of the more common infection risks for 10-month-old kittens include wounds, which occur as a result of playing or fighting with other animals; bladder infections; and respiratory infections. Any sign of infection in your kitten needs to be closely monitored. If the infection worsens, or if your kitten seems depressed, lethargic or unwilling to eat, take her to a veterinarian immediately.

You can also protect your kitten from respiratory infections by following the vaccination schedule set by your veterinarian.

Training: Teaching Tricks

At 10 months of age, your kitten is becoming mentally mature, and you can now begin to teach your kitten tricks. While it is difficult to teach kittens standard tricks and commands that puppies learn -- such as rolling over, sitting and staying -- with a little time and patience, you can teach your kitten fun tricks like jumping, spinning and fetching.

Kittens learn new tricks most effectively with the clicker training method, which uses a small clicker and a favorite treat. Once the kitten associates the click with a reward, you can begin the training lessons. When the kitten performs the trick correctly, immediately make a click sound and give the kitten a reward.

Always use a kitten's favorite treat just for training, and do not give the kitten that treat at any other time. Lessons should take place at least three times a day, and they should last no longer then ten minutes.