When Can Kittens Leave Their Mom
The short answer is that kittens should stay with the mother cat until they are 12 16 weeks old.
When can kittens leave their mom. The earliest a kitten can leave its mother while you may want your kitten to stay as long as is needed with the mother the conditions on ground may leave you with no option. In fact according to the cat fanciers association one of the ways to tell if a breeder is reputableis that he or she will never sell a kitten younger than 12 weeks old. Curious as to why this is the recommended age span. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks.
How soon can kittens leave their mother. Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings. The next month of life is still full of essentials for a growing kitten even if it isn t consuming its mother s milk all of the time. 8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age.
This is because they will need to stay with their mother to feed on her nutritious milk as well as stay with their siblings to learn valuable social skills. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks.
The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.
Once the kittens are fully weaned around 10 to 12 weeks old they are old enough to move away from their mama. Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother. This does not mean that this is the time that the kittens can go home though. Timeline for weaning kittens mother cats will typically start to wean their kittens off their milk at one month of age.
Why the wait is necessary. So when can kittens leave their mothers.