When Can Kittens Leave Their Mom
Why the wait is necessary.
When can kittens leave their mom. While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be. 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. The ideal age to adopt a kitten. But in their forever homes the little ones won t.
However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. 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. Regardless of some unfortunate situations when a new mama cat abandons her newborns or passes away leaving her kittens on their own kittens should be left to their mother until she naturally starts rejecting them. Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings.
Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age. How soon can kittens leave their mother. And those kittens won t stay kittens for long soon they ll be busy with kittens of their own unless they re neutered. 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.
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. Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. 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. Leave it to instinct mama cat knows best.
So when can kittens leave their mothers. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. It is very important for kittens to remain with mom until weaning is completed.
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. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother.
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. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks.