How Old Before Kittens Can Leave Their Mother

The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.

How old before kittens can leave their mother. Sometimes kittens are adopted at a very young age. Why the wait is necessary. Until they are about 4 weeks old the kittens are completely dependant on their mother. 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.

She will clean them keep them warm and safe and stimulate the bowl movements and bladder to help them urinate and defecate. The mother is the sole nutritional source for kittens until they re about 4 weeks of age although weaning often continues until the cuties are between 8 and 10 weeks according to the aspca. 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. This first stage is all about basic survival.

In other cases backyard breeders or irresponsible cat owners who allow their cat to breed may be unaware of the guidelines and separate their kittens too early. First time queens normally have a maximum of three or four kittens but experienced mothers may have as many as 10 or 12 in a single litter. The bigger the family the sooner they learn how to be cats. Despite this however you should ensure that the earliest your kitten leaves its mother is 4 weeks old.

They get 100 of all nutrition from her milk. Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 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.

However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. It is very important for kittens to remain with mom until weaning is completed. As a general rule the number of kittens in a litter determines how quickly they can leave the nest. During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food.

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. The best time to separate a kitten from their mother and siblings is when they are 12 13 weeks old.