When Do Stray Kittens Leave Their Mother

Kittens begin to nibble at wet food at 4 weeks of age and are fully capable of eating on their own at 6 weeks.

When do stray kittens leave their mother. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. Strays can be rescued and considered for adoption but your best option with a feral is to contact a group that does tnr or trap neuter release. In the wild kittens will usually stay with their mother until the mother becomes pregnant again when she will naturally begin to push them away in preparation for raising her new litter. If the kittens are too young to survive without their mother s milk it s best to leave them where they are.

Learn more about lifeline s tnr program. It s actually a gradual thing done by both mother and kittens starting at around 12 16 weeks the kittens start to become less and less dependent the wonder off stop coming when the mother calls to them ect. The organization can trap the feral mama spay her and release her to her kittens. When the kittens are about eight weeks old the entire family can begin the trap neuter return tnr process.

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. It s best to leave them with mom until they re weaned. There is no real time frame for this to happen. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.

During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food. Six weeks is the optimal age to take the kittens from the mother for socialization and adoption placement kittens under 4 weeks of age should stay with their mom so they get proper nutrients to survive and be healthy. It can be due to stress she senses something is wrong fear of a predator the list goes on. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age.

The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age. Provide food water and shelter for the family.