When Do Kittens Leave Their Mum
Male feral cats will sometimes join together to defend a common territory.
When do kittens leave their mum. When kittens are left to be with their mother until they are mature enough to leave mother cats know instinctively that their kittens will be safe without her. Although kittens are often put up for adoption when they are as young as 6 weeks old it s best if the kittens stay with mom until they are at least 10 weeks. This will ensure that mommy cat has a chance to teach them and it will help them to be more stable adult cats. Once the kittens are fully weaned around 10 to 12 weeks old they are old enough to move away from their mama.
Expect to separate the kittens from their mother when they are around 12 weeks old. This process could take from a few months up to a year and would be the natural way for a kitten to be separated from its mother. Wrapped in mommy s protective embrace with their brothers and sisters they are safe from all harm. At around ten days to two weeks their eyes open although all they can see at that stage are blurry black and white images like me when i wake up in the morning.
Female feral cats will band together to raise their kittens and form colonies that add to their safety. The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age. As a way to prepare for her new litter she will start to distance herself from the old litter. Kittens in the wild remain with their mother until they reach sexual maturity or until the mother becomes pregnant again.
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. 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. 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.
Feral kittens that are from the same litter may remain together for a time but they face disease cars predators and starvation that may separate them.