What Age Should Kittens Leave Their Mom

Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings.

What age should kittens leave their mom. Also kittens should receive their first vaccinations prior to leaving their birth home something that cannot be achieved at eight weeks old. The earliest a kitten can leave its mother. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age.

They rely on mom for everything. 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. The queen mother cat even cleaned up after the infant and by six weeks old weaning has usually only just begun and can last until the kitten is ten weeks old. Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development.

While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be. Learn more about kittens and their needs as they grow in our kitten guide. Kittens that leave their mother. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.

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. 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. Why the wait is necessary. Your cat s chances of being healthy well socialized and properly developed are dramatically increased by allowing it to spend extra time with its mother and littermates.

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. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks. 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. Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother.

When kittens are first born they are completely helpless their eyes are closed their ears are folded and they can t stand keep themselves warm or eat on their own. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old.