When Can A Kitten Leave Its Mom

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.

When can a kitten leave its 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. Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks. Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development.

If you keep your kitten its can have behavior and physical problems that would not occur if you took it home at 3 months old. By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave. How soon can kittens leave their mother. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done.

The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. Most kittens are just starting to eat solid foods at 5 6 weeks old and are still nursing during this times. 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.

While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be. 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. And they are not mentally nor physically ready to leave till they are older. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks.

In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. 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. 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. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old.

Why the wait is necessary. 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.