How Old Can Kittens Be When They Leave Their Mother

When in doubt keep them with their mothers as long as possible.

How old can kittens be when they leave their mother. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks. The organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. Eight weeks is the average age for weaning from the mother and introduction of solid foods. They get 100 of all nutrition from her milk.

If you plan on bringing home a new furry little friend 8 to 12 weeks would be an ideal age. And by the time they are 8 weeks old they can begin to do without their mother s milk. By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.

During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food. Until they are about 4 weeks old the kittens are completely dependant on their mother. 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. She will clean them keep them warm and safe and stimulate the bowl movements and bladder to help them urinate and defecate.

However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. This first stage is all about basic survival. 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. In general it is safe to allow kittens to separate from the mother cat at this specific age but usually no younger than that.

So when can kittens leave their mothers. The weaning process is usually pretty complete when the kittens are around 12 to 16 weeks old. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done.

The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age. If the mother cat is happy in her home then near 8 weeks she will probably start to cut nursing periods short and refuse to allow them at all more and more. Most people agree that at least 8 weeks is the minimum age that kittens can leave their mothers.