What Age Do Kittens Leave Their Mom
This is why today the accepted age for kittens to leave their mother is around twelve weeks old and generally registered pedigree breeders will not allow their kittens to go on to their new homes before this time.
What age do kittens leave their mom. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. At what age can you take kittens away from their mother. The reason for this is that maternal antibodies can affect the effectiveness of a single vaccine. Before you do anything remember never separate kittens from their mother cat.
From 8 weeks of age a kitten will have three vaccinations spaced 4 weeks apart 6 8 weeks 10 12 weeks 14 16 weeks. While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be. Once the kittens are fully weaned around 10 to 12 weeks old they are old enough to move away from their mama. Your cat s chances of being healthy well socialized and properly developed are dramatically increased by allowing it to spend extra time with its mother and littermates.
Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age. 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. If their mother returns leave them be. If you don t see her monitor the kittens from a distance for a few hours.
In this article we will look at six of the most important skills that a mother cat teaches her kittens and why these things are. When a kitten is little he or she gets antibodies via their mother s milk which helps to keep the kitten safe from infection. The earliest a kitten can leave its mother. More specifically there are three main reasons for our 12 14 week recommendation.
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. 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. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. She may move her kittens to an area near her favorite hunting grounds or the food dish to make it easier for her little fur babies to have access to solid food.