When Should 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.
When should kittens leave their mom. So the best time for them to be separated from their mother is at 12 weeks. Empty nest when her kittens first leave your cat may be a little upset. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old.
Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age. That is the age span when they have already had enough time to learn how to behave themselves yet are still young and flexible to quickly adjust to a new home. 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. By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave.
8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. Ideally it should be 12 16 weeks old. When and if possible kittens should remain with their mothers until they are matured enough to cope without her care and this is usually from the sixth week. There is considerable debate over what age it is considered to be appropriate to separate a kitten from their mother and allow them to go on to their new homes where they will live for the remainder of their lives.
How soon can kittens leave their mother. In the wild kittens will usually stay with their mother until the mother becomes pregnant again when she will naturally begin to push them away in preparation for raising her new litter. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. 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.
Kittens can leave their mother by the eighth week and by this time they would have developed socially physically and emotionally. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks. 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. There are several reasons why this is recommended and they are discussed above.
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. But at this age they still have valuable skills to learn and they also have to receive their first vaccinations. While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be.