When Can Kitten Leave Its Mother
Leave it to instinct mama cat knows best kittens can acquire a lot of negative behaviors because of this early separation as well as health deficiencies.
When can kitten leave its mother. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. Why the wait is necessary. A mother cat wean her babies naturally when kittens are about 2 3 months old by starting to reject her kittens. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks.
By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave. The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks. That clever lady mother nature has designed cat mommies to encourage her kittens to leave the nest so that she can get busy with the next lot.
When in doubt keep them with their mothers as long as possible. Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. Most people agree that at least 8 weeks is the minimum age that kittens can leave their mothers. 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.
Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. 8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good.
During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food. You want the most amount of time that kittens can grow big and strong. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. 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.
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. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done.