Aging for each species of pets and people is set differently under Game Options (so you don't have to worry about your sims or other pets). You can always move the age slider for kittens, say, down very low so your kitten turns to an adult very soon (if not necessarily immediately), then change it back when the birthday is done. That works as long as you don't have an older kitten that you
don't want aging up. It's not a cheat, but I don't know if you'd consider it cheating since it's not a birthday cake. Just an idea.