Why should kittens stay with their mother until 8 weeks old?

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.

Hello. The biggest milestone will be the introduction of solid food & stopping genital stimulation to encourage eliminations at three weeks of age. A kittens world will really open up at this point, so it is important to protect them from wandering too far, falling down stairs, or becoming injured by older pets or children. Otherwise, just keeping the kittens together until a minimum of 7 weeks of age will allow them to learn boundaries about rough play, biting & scratching, things their mother would help with. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there I would ideally wait until the kittens are 8 weeks old. Many people re home kittens at 6 weeks, but the longer they can be with their mom the better. I'd make sure to continue to work on weaning them as you have, but if you can wait until 8 weeks of age that would be best. Thanks for using Pet Coach!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is the pet peeve of all veterinarians I know. In general, I recommend taking the advice of people who have advanced degrees in animal health and medicine. Breeders have no required certifications or education, and often no actual evidence for their recommendations. In this specific case, I will say that for PUPPIES, I prefer 8 weeks of age. However kittens seem to be able to wean, transition to kibbles, and potty train earlier than dogs. Six weeks with their first vaccine and deworming on board is a perfectly safe and reasonable time to get kittens into their new homes! Best wishes to you, the kittens, and their new families!

The weaning process typically begins around 4 weeks of age and "ends" around 8-10 weeks of age. Given the circumstances, the mother cat may be a bit more clingy and that's fine as long as she isn't interfering with the kitten's normal activity and appetite. You can try gradually acclimating her to its absence by gradually separating them for ever increasing periods of time. Use toys, treats and playtime as distractions for the mother.

At 6 weeks of age, kittens are able to eat on their own however if they have relied on their mother mostly for food up until this point I would recommend offering the kittens along with mom food and slowly wean them away. If though you can be certain that they will eat solely on their own now without any issues then yes it would be just fine

The kittens should be weaned at 6-8 weeks. Not all animals are natural, nurturing mothers, and she may just not know how to make the kittens go away. I would recommend separating them. The kittens still need a safe environment and easy access to kitten food, but they no longer need mom for milk.