When Do Feral Kittens Leave Their Mother

They just stop feeding them and will swat them away when they try to nurse.

When do feral kittens leave their mother. Outdoor or stray moms sometimes scatter their kittens to avoid predation. Often someone will come out and trap mama and the kittens. Feral cats and their kittens are better off left outdoors september 19 2019 san francisco examiner on september 19 2019. One goes to seek food and never returns.

Feral cat mothers don t actually abandon their kittens. First of all there is no set age on when the separation should be done. Once the kittens are fully weaned around 10 to 12 weeks old they are old enough to move away from their mama. There is a small window of opportunity up to 8 weeks to socialize feral kittens easily.

If the kittens seem well fed are in a safe place and fall asleep after crying for a short while mom is probably around. Sometimes the family stays together in a colony and sometimes they move on to other territory. If you have discovered feral kittens there are alternatives to leaving them in the wild. Mama will be tnr if not friendly and kittens be put into a foster home and will be socialized.

It s actually a gradual thing done by both mother and kittens starting at around 12 16 weeks the kittens start to become less and less dependent the wonder off stop coming when the mother calls to them ect. It is easy to wean them now and they are just the right age for handling and intensive bonding with humans. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play. That means they have to learn to get their own food.

Plus the female kitten can be impregnated as young as 4 months old and have several litters a year. Please read my pages on cat colonies and feral cats for some more information. First of all many people come upon litters of kittens outdoors and assume they ve been abandoned when in fact mom is nearby probably hunting. If we do not find the kittens until they are at least 4 5 weeks old or older we raise them without their mother.