When Do Kittens Stop Nursing In The Wild

This makes them dependent and cats are independent creatures.

When do kittens stop nursing in the wild. In short kittens are completely weaned when they are about 2 2 5 months old 8 10 weeks. Even a domestic mommy if she has access to the garden will occasionally bring in a mouse or small bird and put it down in front of her babies to acclimatize them to solid food. Weaning a kitten who still has her mother is quite different from weaning a kitten who has been orphaned. How long do kittens nurse.

And 8 weeks is a bit early to leave her anyway most experts recommend 10 or even 12 weeks. This will obviously vary within a few days from cat to cat but generally around forty five days after birth the mother will begin to wean the kittens. The liquid kitten food should gradually get thicker until it is a watered down canned kitten food or a moistened kitten kibble. In the wild she will bring the kittens dead prey to eat and gradually make herself less and less available to them.

The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age. They shouldn t be relying on their mother to this time. The whole procedure is slow moving however and a queen cat may continue to nurse casually until the kitten is about 2 months old often for soothing purposes. The aspca states that the weaning process which is typically initiated by the mother generally starts around four weeks.

Kittens sucking on their mother at 9 months old isn t normal in the wild. Some kittens will nurse well after the 8 week rule it s a comfort. The complete weaning process generally takes about a month meaning that the wee kittens are usually fully weaned when they are between 8 and 10 weeks in age. This is now the cue for the weaning process to begin.

All but one of my cats have been nursing until i ve gotten them the one who wasn t was weaned by the mom when the kittens were 13 weeks old. I have 5 kittens that are 2 weeks. They should be stopped even if it comforts them. Your queen will decide that but generally close to 8 weeks.

Breeders have the recommendations 12 16 weeks which is what cats do in wild. Mother cats begin to wean their litter around 4 5 weeks and it can last several weeks as they bounce between nursing and eating and killing things. However anywhere between the 4 to 6 week mark is acceptable. Kittens usually begin the weaning process around 4 weeks of age according to the general consensus.

6 2k views view 1 upvoter. I have always kept food available for my cats so when i ve had kittens they can play with or eat when they like. During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food. There is no real time frame for this to happen.

When do kittens stop nursing. The entire process generally lasts for about a month. Towards the end of the run however kittens should be receiving the vast majority of their dietary intake via food that is made specifically for kittens.