How Old Should Kittens Leave Their Mother

How soon can kittens leave their mother.

How old should kittens leave their mother. Eight weeks is the average age for weaning from the mother and introduction of solid foods. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. While most kittens are weaned by 8 10 weeks most experts recommend leaving kittens with their littermates until 12 13 weeks so they can be properly socialized.

A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food. The earliest that a kitten should leave it s mother is 4 weeks.

Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings. It is very important for kittens to remain with mom until weaning is completed. The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age.

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. If you plan on bringing home a new furry little friend 8 to 12 weeks would be an ideal age. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. We have collected all the information you need to know about kittens between the time of their birth to the time when they are considered ready to leave their mother for your perusal.

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. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. Also kittens should receive their first vaccinations prior to leaving their birth home something that cannot be achieved at eight weeks old. In fact according to the cat fanciers association one of the ways to tell if a breeder is reputable is that he or she will never sell a kitten younger than 12 weeks old.

Why the wait is necessary. The short answer is that kittens should stay with the mother cat until they are 12 16 weeks old. The mother is the sole nutritional source for kittens until they re about 4 weeks of age although weaning often continues until the cuties are between 8 and 10 weeks according to the aspca. Twelve to thirteen weeks of age is the time that is almost universally considered to be the optimum earliest time to remove kittens from their queen and by this age the kittens should be ready to go out into the world and begin the next stage of their learning development.