When Do Kittens Leave The Mother

The earliest a kitten can leave its mother.

When do kittens leave the mother. In general kittens should remain with comforting sweet mommy until at least weaning age. One goes to seek food and never returns. Plus the female kitten can be impregnated as young as 4 months old and have several litters a year. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.

Socialization is the process whereby kittens explore their surroundings and accept what they find as normal. 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. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. This will ensure that mommy cat has a chance to teach them and it will help them to be more stable adult cats.

If you have discovered feral kittens there are alternatives to leaving them in the wild. After all the bond between the mother and kittens is a strong one not to mention the deep connection between litter mates. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. Separating kittens from their trusted mother cat definitely is not always the easiest experience.

Please read my pages on cat colonies and feral cats for some more information. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. The next month of life is still full of essentials for a growing kitten even if it isn t consuming its mother s milk all of the time. The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age.

First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. Once the kittens are fully weaned around 10 to 12 weeks old they are old enough to move away from their mama. Although kittens are often put up for adoption when they are as young as 6 weeks old it s best if the kittens stay with mom until they are at least 10 weeks.