When Can A Kitten Leave Its Mom

By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave.

When can a kitten leave its mom. Most kittens are just starting to eat solid foods at 5 6 weeks old and are still nursing during this times. Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old.

That clever lady mother nature has designed cat mommies to encourage her kittens to leave the nest so that she can get busy with the next lot. 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. And they are not mentally nor physically ready to leave till they are older. How soon can kittens leave their mother.

Why the wait is necessary. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good.

The mother is the sole nutritional source for kittens until they re about 4 weeks of age although weaning often continues until the cuties are between 8 and 10 weeks according to the aspca. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. The earliest a kitten can leave its 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. Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings.

Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother. If you keep your kitten its can have behavior and physical problems that would not occur if you took it home at 3 months old. Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks.

This is because they will need to stay with their mother to feed on her nutritious milk as well as stay with their siblings to learn valuable social skills. While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be.