What Age Do Kittens Have To Be To Leave Their Mother

Learn what to do when you find kittens outdoors.

What age do kittens have to be to leave their mother. 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. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. How soon can kittens leave their mother. 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.

If you don t see her monitor the kittens from a distance for a few hours. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. 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 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. 8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave.

In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. In fact according to the cat fanciers association one of the ways to tell if a breeder is reputable is that he or she will never sell a kitten younger than 12 weeks old. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks.

If their mother returns leave them be. So when can kittens leave their mothers. During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food. Before you do anything remember never separate kittens from their mother cat.

Why the wait is necessary. Learn more about kittens and their needs as they grow in our kitten guide. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.