When are kittens truly ready for adoption and leaving their mom?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Female | unspayed
How old do kittens need to be before adoption, kittens are eating wet kitten food as well as dry kitten food
3 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on April 23rd, 2018
Kittens best stay with their mommy until they are 12 weeks old. Their mother will teach them what is good to eat and what not, how to hunt, and what to hunt safely, how to groom themselves properly, how to use a litter box, what animal is dangerous to them, how to carefully negotiate this world. The kittens will also need their mother still for psychological comfort, even suckling after being weaned is comfort when something was scary. Staying together with their siblings will teach kittens social skills, they get to play-hunt, play-fight, and have fun with other kittens, it keeps them fit, helps them to develop coordination and muscles. So if you can find homes for them before they are 12 weeks old, tell the new owners that they will get well socialised fit kittens that have no problems, rather than kittens who will cry because they miss mommy and the siblings, do have accidents, and show behavior such as cloth sucking, etc.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on May 16th, 2018
Mama will keep feeding them. If you leave a litter box on your patio, she will train them to use it. You can start handling them a little, Watch the mother. Make sure she does not get too upset, and when she does, stop handling the kittens and come back later. If you can weigh the kittens, you can find out how old they are. Count 1 week for every 3.5 oz of body weight. The kittens should stay with their mommy for 10 to 12 weeks, as she will teach them everything they need to know to grow up as good cats. She will teach them what to eat and what not, what to hunt and what not, how to hunt, to be careful of dangerous things, how to use the litter box. Put the water bowl a few feet away from the food bowl. Find homes for the kittens now, but do not take them away until they are 12 weeks old. They need their mama and siblings to socialize properly, play fight and to avoid bahavioral issues.
2Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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Published on August 20th, 2018
Hi there. At almost 12 weeks old, it's fine to go ahead and adopt the kittens out - they're plenty old enough to leave their mom and littermates at this point. They will likely continue nursing on her periodically for quite a while if they stay, so you can't necessarily use this as a benchmark for then they're ready :)
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Hello. I have a litter of kittens that are going to be 12 weeks old on 8/25. I was going to adopt them out this weekend. However, they still nurse on Mama a few times a day. And she does call them to her often also. Should I hold off on adopting the
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