Your Kitten: 9 Months Old

Mental and Physical Development

Territorial Behavior Kittens are highly territorial creatures and can act quite strangely to get their message across. They produce natural chemicals (pheromones) in their paws, tail, head and urine. To mark their territory, kittens will leave their "scent" signals for themselves as well as for other cats.

For example, you may witness your cat rubbing up against you or another pet, or using the new couch as a scratching post or even urinating on a corner wall. These are all methods to let her, as well as any other cat, know that this is part of her environment.

Sometimes these scent markings are made in response to anxiety over a perceived threat, such as a move to a house, a new cat or human in the household, or even a new piece of furniture. This reaction usually involves a heightened territorial response: urine marking.

Urine marking can be particularly frustrating because it must be differentiated from a urinary tract infection, and because it is sometimes difficult to determine what exactly is causing your kitten's stress. A veterinarian can help you determine what is bothering your kitten, and may prescribe medication to help alleviate any anxiety your kitten may be experiencing.

Nutrition and Joint Care As cats grow older, their joints begin to suffer from wear and tear due to their natural athletic behavior. In some cases, joint degradation can cause painful and arthritic conditions. Nutrition and good health in a maturing kitten will help to increase the overall long-term health of the joints, and give your growing kitten a great head start to a healthy and happy life.

A diet of premium quality kitten food will give your kitten all the nutrition it needs to develop healthy joints. As you introduce adult cat food to your maturing kitten, make sure that you start her on a high-quality premium adult cat food.

As long as you are feeding your kitten a healthy diet, added joint care nutritional supplements are not needed at this age. Ensuring that your kitten remains parasite-free will also prevent vitamin and nutritional deficiencies, which may interfere with healthy joint development.

Health and Veterinary Care: Hospital Stay Causes and Costs

The most frequent causes for hospital stays in young kittens at approximately nine months of age include respiratory infections, accidental injuries and poisonings, and wounds from cat fights. Average veterinarian costs for these conditions depend on the extent of the illness or injury from which the kitten is suffering.

Unvaccinated kittens are at a high risk for developing respiratory infections, but if the kitten's illness is caught early, treatment costs range from $100 to $200. Respiratory infections in kittens that have advanced into serious conditions can cost approximately $300 to $400 to treat.

The cost of treating accidental injuries or poisonings may range from less than $100 to over $1,000. In most cases, head injuries and muscle sprain treatments are much less expensive to treat then broken bones, poisonings, or deep lacerations. Treatments for wounds suffered during cat fights generally cost less than $200.

Training: How to Discourage Bad Behavior

Kittens at nine months of age can wreak havoc in a household if they are not provided with an outlet for their youthful energy and natural behaviors. Destructive behaviors in the home are most often caused by a bored kitten that is an environment that lacks mental stimulation.

Bad conduct in the nine month old kitten can easily be discouraged by spicing up the kitten's environment with tall kitten towers, kitty condos and plenty of toys; by spaying or neutering the kitten early to prevent aggressive behaviors; and by utilizing scented sprays that will teach your kitten where to play.