How Soon Can A Kitten Leave Its Mom

Ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age.

How soon can a kitten leave its mom. She will clean them keep them warm and safe and stimulate the bowl movements and bladder to help them urinate and defecate. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. 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.

Why the wait is necessary. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old. They get 100 of all nutrition from her milk. They learn a great deal from the mom cat even after they are weaned.

The organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. In some states it is against the law to sell kittens under 8 weeks of age. 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. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done.

As the kittens reach four to six weeks old the queen will begin to wean them and her milk supply will become more scarce as this happens. Until they are about 4 weeks old the kittens are completely dependant on their mother. Consider 8 weeks a minimum and 10 to 12 weeks much. This first stage is all about basic survival.

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. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old. By six weeks old kittens will almost always be eating only solid food and not relying upon their mother s milk for nutrition. In general it is safe to allow kittens to separate from the mother cat at this specific age but usually no younger than that.