When Can Kittens Leave Their Momma

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.

When can kittens leave their momma. The perfect age seems to be between eight and twelve weeks. Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.

Kittens rely on their mother s milk for proper growth and development. Also if they aren t eating much at all but will eat a bit with the milk on their food try a milk egg mixture rather than pure milk. A mother cat wean her babies naturally when kittens are about 2 3 months old by starting to reject her kittens. Eventually mom will leave just long enough to take care of their basic needs potty eating then they return right away to tend the little ones.

Leave it to instinct mama cat knows best kittens can acquire a lot of negative behaviors because of this early separation as well as health deficiencies. 8 weeks the organization cats international recommends keeping kittens with their fellow litter mates and mothers until about 8 weeks in age. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. A kitten should stay with his mother until a minimum of 10 weeks but preferably 12 weeks.

Even though kittens are relatively independent by 8 10 weeks and can survive without their mother. During this time the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food. If they don t like their kitten food dry add a little milk to soften it up for them. By the way don t worry about mommy being upset when her babies leave.

During their first few days of life not only are the kittens both blind and deaf but they are dependent on their mom to regulate their body temperatures for food and even for stimulation to be able to potty. During the first week of life mommy cat will leave her babies for only a few brief times each day. It will give them a little extra boost. 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. Your kitten should be ready to leave the mom at 8 5 weeks. New mommas brand new usually don t leave their kittens sometimes a few days.