When Do Kittens Leave Their Moms

Now let s get back to what you were saying earlier what do i do if my cat decides to leave me now.

When do kittens leave their moms. 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. 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 ideal age to adopt a kitten ideally kittens should go to their new home around 12 weeks of age. However a kitten is typically ready to leave his mother at about 8 to 12 weeks of age.

One goes to seek food and never returns. If you have discovered feral kittens there are alternatives to leaving them in the wild. The earliest a kitten can leave its mother. 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.

Plus the female kitten can be impregnated as young as 4 months old and have several litters a year. Once the kittens are fully weaned around 10 to 12 weeks old they are old enough to move away from their mama. At this point she is nursing the kittens for shorter lengths of time. Whatever the reason she leaves her kittens.

Mommy cat may spend a little longer away from the kittens exploring a bit or finding you for a bit of cuddling before returning to her maternal responsibilities. By the time the kittens are 3 weeks old they are not quite as dependent on mom. While some kittens can go home earlier the closer you wait until 12 or 13 weeks the better off the kitten will be. The time varies from one kitten to another since several factors come to play.

The process of weaning usually starts when kittens are about three to four weeks old and takes two to three weeks to complete. And when do mother cats leave their kittens for reasons unknown the cat could be sick aging abandoned or run away. Please read my pages on cat colonies and feral cats for some more information.