How do you know if a kitten still needs its mother?

Answer 1

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No kitten should be adopted and taken from the mother before 8-9 weeks, at a minimum, but 12 weeks is much better, as long as they are getting plenty of attention and socialization with people.

Kittens will be able to begin eating some solid food at about 4 weeks of age, but that does not mean they can be taken from their mother. They will continue to nurse up to 12 weeks, and occasionally even longer. Kittens who are taken from their mother sooner sometimes develop a behavior called "wool sucking": they will suck and chew on fabric, your neck or hand, clothing, and pillows.

While a mother dog begins to wean her pups at around 5 weeks, and they are fully weaned by around 7-8 weeks (or a little older if they are kept with the mother), a mother cat will allow her kittens to nurse sometimes even after 12 weeks of age.

An orphaned kitten can be fed by bottle, and given lots of attention. It can start to eat solid food, along with the bottle at around 4 weeks, gradually eating more solid and less bottled formula, but not taking the bottle completely away too early. It will survive, but psychologically/behaviorally it is much better for them to stay with their mother until about 3 months, or at least between 9-12 weeks.

A kitten will often if allowed to, take milk from the mother up to a year old. Until the mother says no that is enough, usually a first mother will let the kitten take a long time to wean, for comfort needs. With human intervention, you can stop it much earlier, but never for a 6 week old. That is just too short a time; many kittens weaned young go on to develop suckling habits for the rest of their lives.

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Most mothers will wean the babies when they are ready. It will need soft kitten food for a while after that. Occasionally, some mothers wean early, though. But if it's been at least six weeks, the kitten is fine and doesn't need the mother. It may want her, but that's different. If it is weaned before six weeks, the kitten will need special kitten milk for a few weeks before giving it wet kitten food. If you go to a good pet store, they will be able to help you better.

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Most kittens need their mother for 3 months. If they are departed sooner than that, it can cause strong emotional damage to the queen (mother cat) and the kitten. But by 3 months, they should be noticeably dependable on themselves.

from dedicated cat owner:

Normally a kitten that is not old enough will try and 'pad' for milk on things that resembles a mother cat; e.g. a cuddly toy. For a pedigree, normally 12 weeks, and a non pedigree normally 10-12 weeks.

I have owned over 20 cats in my life time, and have helped raise at least ten different litters of kittens. Yes, it is better to wait until 10 weeks of age. A kitten needs a mothers' milk at first, for the colostrum, extra nutrition, and short term protection against some diseases until they are five weeks of age. At five weeks you can start giving it soft food or kitten food mixed with some milk replacer. At six weeks they don't need the milk anymore to survive. Some people like to wait a little longer, but it is not required for them to drink the mothers milk that long to survive. At the moment I have a five week old kitten and I am feeding it a mix of "Precision nutrition" Milk replacer and some good quality wet kitten food.

(If you do plan on hand raising a kitten, never forget that a kitten is not able to poo or pee on its own until about 4-5 weeks of age, use a warm wet rag and gently rub the kittens genitals to help it eliminate. The mother would lick it clean, so try to imitate a mothers licking).

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The answer depends upon what you mean by "need their mother." If you mean only physical needs, then the answers that suggest 6-8-weeks MAY be considered correct. HOWEVER, kittens continue to learn important social skills from BOTH their mother and their litter mates and, for optimal health, should remain with the mother and litter for 12 weeks.

You would know if a kitten needs his/her mother if it was taken away before 8-12 weeks of birth. Kittens need their mothers because they give milk. Puppies are used to being away from their birth parents because dogs are more of a travel pet. Kittens, however are not meant to be away from their mothers early. If your kitten is looking unhappy, then you should not give h/im/er milk from your refrigerator. The mother's milk is not carbonated, and cats cannot have any type of food related substances. If you give your cat food, it could lead to tapeworms: A bacterium inside a being that eats the dissolved food that you have eaten; A flesh eating disease.

I kept my kittens nursing until they were at least 9 months because I wasn't really sure at first.