What Age Can A Kitten Leave Its Mother Rspca

Why the wait is necessary.

What age can a kitten leave its mother rspca. Until this age kittens get all the nutrition they need from their mother s milk although they may start tasting their mother s food at four weeks old. A pedigree kitten born to a reputable breeder will probably stay with its mother until it is 12 or 13 weeks old or until it has found a new home so seeing them together should not be a problem. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. Kittens are generally ready to leave their mother and start eating regular food at about eight weeks of age.

Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother. If you can convince your friend to hold on two them for an extra weeek or two they are likely to end up more well adjusted than if they leave at 7 weeks. Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age. 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.

First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. A kitten should be sociable and alert with bright eyes no visible health problems. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. But as you say ideally the kittens shouldn t leave mum until at least 8 weeks.

Rspca australia considers the minimum acceptable age for a kitten to be removed from the mother cat for adoption or purchase to be 8 weeks of age. Use the kitten checklist. 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. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks.

They should stay with their mothers until they are around 8 9 weeks taking them away earlier than this can lead to behavioural issues. Waiting until the kitten is at least 8 weeks of age will help to ensure that the kitten has received adequate amounts of milk from the mother cat.