What Age Can Kittens Leave Their Mom
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.
What age can kittens leave their mom. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks. 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. Laws about how early you can sell kittens vary so check your state s laws. In this animalwised article we re going to explain how soon kittens can leave their mother as well as the reasons behind.
6 8 weeks kittens are now eating 4 small meals a day but still nursing from mum. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. Human care at that early stage may not compare to a feline mother s care but it can go a long way when combined with lots of love and dedication. 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.
Many people prefer to adopt a kitten so they can get used to living in their new home from a young age. However before separating a kitten from their mother we must take certain factors into consideration so they can have the best physical and psychological development. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. But when cats are kept as pets this is the.
Their mother will nurse them teach them to eliminate and help them learn valuable socializing skills. 9 12 weeks some kittens may still be nursing at this age but can survive without her milk. This process could take from a few months up to a year and would be the natural way for a kitten to be separated from its mother. So when can kittens leave their mothers.
Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. 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. In the wild kittens will usually stay with their mother until the mother becomes pregnant again when she will naturally begin to push them away in preparation for raising her new. Socialization is the process whereby kittens explore their surroundings and accept what they find as normal.
Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. And those kittens won t. In general try to wait until the kittens are weaned about 8 weeks. Kittens in the wild remain with their mother until they reach sexual maturity or until the mother becomes pregnant again.
As a way to prepare for her new litter she will start to distance herself from the old litter. There is considerable debate over what age it is considered to be appropriate to separate a kitten from their mother and allow them to go on to their new homes where they will live for the remainder of their lives. Next story how to tell if a. The kittens will benefit from staying with their mother for as long as possible.
However because certain conditions may affect when kittens can leave their moms they must be well cared for when they leave their mother earlier than what is ideal. 4 5 weeks kittens begin eating small amounts of food which should be soft such as canned but they are still very much dependent on their mother s milk.