What Age Should A Kitten Leave Their Mother

Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings.

What age should a kitten leave their mother. 8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old.

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. More specifically there are three main reasons for our 12 14 week recommendation. Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their 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.

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. At what age can you take kittens away from their mother. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age.

Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave. Why the wait is necessary. While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be.

First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. Once the kittens are fully weaned around 10 to 12 weeks old they are old enough to move away from their mama. 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.