What Age Can Kittens Leave Their Mothers

The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age.

What age can kittens leave their mothers. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. 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. Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development.

8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. 6 2k views view 1 upvoter. There is no real time frame for this to happen. Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings.

First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. The next month of life is still full of essentials for a growing kitten even if it isn t consuming its mother s milk all of the time. 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. At what age can you take kittens away from their mother.

The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. More specifically there are three main reasons for our 12 14 week recommendation. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks. Taking kittens from their mother too early can lead to a variety of development problems.

However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. Mother cats begin to wean their litter around 4 5 weeks and it can last several weeks as they bounce between nursing and eating and killing things. 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. Why the wait is necessary.

By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks.