When Can A Kitten Leave Their Mum

By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave.

When can a kitten leave their mum. 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. First their immune systems are. Current veterinary recommendations are that kittens stay with their mother cat and original family until they are at least 12 weeks old.

In fact according to the cat fanciers association one of the ways to tell if a breeder is reputableis that he or she will never sell a kitten younger than 12 weeks old. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 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.

Why the wait is necessary. 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. There are 2 primary reasons.

Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks.

Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother. 8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. But at this age they still have valuable skills to learn and they also have to receive their first vaccinations.

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. Benefits of staying with the mother and siblings. In many cases kittens begin eating strictly solid foods at around 8 weeks and then may be ready to leave their mothers for good.