What Age Do Kittens Leave Their Mother

The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.

What age do kittens leave their mother. The earliest a kitten can leave its mother. Socialization is the process whereby kittens explore their surroundings and accept what they find as normal. 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.

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. The reason for this is that maternal antibodies can affect the effectiveness of a single vaccine. We have collected all the information you need to know about kittens between the time of their birth to the time when they are considered ready to leave their mother for your perusal. In the wild mother cats usually leave their kittens when they are adults to hunt by themselves but in cities mother cats live with their kittens.

In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. Empty nest when her kittens first leave your cat may be a little upset. 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.

More specifically there are three main reasons for our 12 14 week recommendation. 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. 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.

Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. At what age can you take kittens away from their mother. While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be. When a kitten is little he or she gets antibodies via their mother s milk which helps to keep the kitten safe from infection.

From 8 weeks of age a kitten will have three vaccinations spaced 4 weeks apart 6 8 weeks 10 12 weeks 14 16 weeks.