when it's time for the kittens to go

farleyv

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I am starting to think about the time when the kittens will go to their new owners. How is Slick going to react? Will she cry and search for them? I plan to wait till they are 10 weeks old to give them a good start toward being affectionate cats. But I do think about how she will be. It would be very hard to see her looking for them. Thanks S
 

mrblanche

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By the time they're six weeks old, she will start to wean them. By 8-10 weeks, they should be mostly weaned, and she will be swatting them to get them to leave her alone. She'll be glad to see them go, around that time.
 

goldenkitty45

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Moms don't seem to be that upset if they are taken one or two at a time. If all go at one time, then it may be a different story.

I know with Ling's brothers/sisters - they went in pairs (2 females and 2 males) but Ling stayed. However, after Ling's mom was spayed our top resident female decided that Callie was not welcome anymore on the farm and wound up chasing her away. I would have loved to have kept Callie around (very flashy calico), but LoCal hated any other female cat hanging around and would run them off.
 

sharky

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Old school thinking 8-10 weeks

most breeders now suggest 12-16 weeks as this gives important social skills
 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Moms don't seem to be that upset if they are taken one or two at a time. If all go at one time, then it may be a different story.
I agree, the mums cope better if bubs go a few at a time.
 

cutekittenkat

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It really depends on the cat. Some are just annoyed with the kittens at the end
, but some are upset for a little while, but they usually forget in a couple days. As suggested, a few leaving at a time would be best
 

arlyn

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Our Siamese kits went to their new homes at 14-16 weeks.
Karnarus, our queen was such a loving mom, she wouldn't even try to wean until her own babies were big enough to be knocking her over to nurse

By the time they were gone she was usually glad to see them go, but they always went 1-2 at a time.
 

mbjerkness

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I homed mine around 12 weeks. Mom was happy to get rid of most of them. She had one favorite babie she was still letting nurse. She was quite upset when she left. The next day she was fine.
 
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