How Soon Can Kittens Leave Their Mum
Eight weeks is the average age for weaning from the mother and introduction of solid foods.
How soon can kittens leave their mum. 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. While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be. Orphaned kittens or those weaned too soon are more likely to exhibit inappropriate suckling behaviors later in life such as sucking on blankets pillows or your arm. 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.
By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave. If you plan on bringing home a new furry little friend 8 to 12 weeks would be an ideal age. More specifically there are three main reasons for our 12 14 week recommendation. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 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. The earliest that a kitten should leave it s mother is 4 weeks. At what age can you take kittens away from their mother. 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.
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. Eight weeks is a common point at which non pedigree kittens are taken away from the queen but again this is far from ideal as kittens still have a lot of learning to do and can benefit from spending this very valuable stage of their lives with their queen and littermates as there are lessons that only they can teach. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old.
Kittens are usually weaned at six to seven weeks but they may continue to suckle for comfort as their mother gradually leaves them for longer periods of time. 8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good. How soon can kittens leave their mother.