What Age Do Kittens Leave Their Mother
Feral kittens that are from the same litter may remain together for a time but they face disease cars predators and starvation that may separate them.
What age do kittens leave their mother. During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. 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.
At what age can you take kittens away from their mother. The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 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. Once the kittens are fully weaned around 10 to 12 weeks old they are old enough to move away from their mama.
Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings. More specifically there are three main reasons for our 12 14 week recommendation. 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 time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. 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. Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother.
Plus the female kitten can be impregnated as young as 4 months old and have several litters a year. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. By waiting until the kitten is 12 14 weeks old you will have minimized the risk for health and behavioral issues and maximized the chance for getting a healthy and happy cat. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age.