What Age Can A Kitten Leave Its Mother

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.

What age can a kitten leave its mother. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings. A kitten should stay with its mother for 8 weeks.

First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. If you don t see her monitor the kittens from a distance for a few hours. 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. That is how long we kept our kittens before we gave them away.

Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 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. 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.

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. By this age our mother cat had already weened them herself they were eating kitten. If their mother returns leave them be. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age.

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. At what age can you take kittens away from their mother. 8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. More specifically there are three main reasons for our 12 14 week recommendation.

Why the wait is necessary. Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother. Before you do anything remember never separate kittens from their mother cat.