Kittens to new home??

I am so sorry if this is posted somewhere already. I just was wondering, is 4 weeks ok to take a kitten home and away from their mom?

If it is at all possible, most people would recommend 12 weeks as the best time to take them from mom. It is not just weaning that is important, the mom cat teaches them litter box behaviour, socialisation and other manners, and generally is the best person to look after them till then. If a cat is taken away too early you can get all kinds of behavioural problems, as well as a lack of immunity to some diseases. Obviously, there are some cases when kittens have to be removed sooner, through illness or abandonment, but if they have a healthy mom who is looking after them properly, then leave them with her as long as possible.

Originally Posted by ciera23

I am so sorry if this is posted somewhere already. I just was wondering, is 4 weeks ok to take a kitten home and away from their mom?

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Kittens need their mommies much longer than that, the average recognized "okay" time is between 8 and 12 weeks, depending on the size, and what the kittens have learned, and if they are weaned yet. For example, my foster kittens are very small for their age, having been sick for an extended period of time. While they are 6 weeks old, and litterbox trained, and eating solid food, they still are doing some nursing, and mom is still very protective of them. Since mama cat hasn't weaned them yet and they aren't big enough to be speutered, they stay with mama cat. Our program does early spay neuter at 2lbs, so we have another litter currently in the program that just got speutered yesterday who are 7.5 weeks old, but all over 2lbs. They will go up for adoption this weekend. The "suggested" or "optimal" amount of time is 12-16 weeks. This gives mom time to teach all her babies how to behave and babies time to adjust. The only time this isn't the case is in the case of a sick mom/orphaned babies, or a mom who simply isnt caring for her kits and they are failing to thrive. Even then, its better to try to help mom help babies instead of just taking them away. (supplementing, bottle feeding etc)

No not at all - at four weeks old kittens definitly need their Mother!

4 weeks is way too young for a kitten to go to its new home . They are still eating from mom and just learning to use the litter box. Please keep the kittens with mom until they are 12 weeks old. This way they can learn all they need to know to be well rounded kittens....

100% Absolutely Not.