when do kittens typically wean?

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

????????

[polka123]

3-4 wks typically
you can start making kitten gruel :LOL
soak kitten kibble in warm water til soft then moosh with a fork & put on a cookie sheet & bring kittens over & watch the fun :LOL

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

wow, that is a bit earlier than i thought. i was thinking around 6 weeks, so we could have their homes found by 8....thanks for the info.

[QueenSheba'sMom]

3-4 weeks!

I'm not ready for that yet.

Do I need to bring them solid food when they're ready (if I extended nurse/delay solids them like I do my own kids/ let momma cat follow her instincts) or will their momma do it for them?

[polka123]

some wean much later.. like human babies....
I've have some wean 5-6 weeks, watch Mama & see if she;s starting to spend less & less time with them...
that will be an indicator.
Some animal mamas will self wean the little ones & I've had mamas that would nurse @ 10 wks (not the norm)

offer a little food @ 4 wks & see what happens.

they will still nurse for a few weeks transition time but not as much b/c they will have full bellys from the food...

BTW - my wee ones did not leave the house BEFORE 8wks & much closer to 10 wks old...

JMHO - I don't think theu are ready to leave the litter @ 6 wks

[Black Orchid]

I know for dogs that it is not recommended that they be separated from their mom (weaned or not) until past 8 weeks. My dog was and he has horrible separation issues. This may have been his personality, but it made sense when I learned about the 8 week thing. I learned that when I was working as a voluteer at a shelter and they made it their rule not to put pups up who were younger than 8 weeks.

[armonia]

A kitten was found in the attic at work on May 6th...they had trapped the mom and taken her away a couple of days earlier not knowing she had babies.

Of course, I said I would take her because I did not know what would happen to her. She was approximately 4-5 weeks old. I took her immediately to the vet for a check. They told me she was about weaned and gave me some food and formula to feed her and told me that she was healthy.

Well, she didn't poop for a few days because her mama was not there to...umm...stimulate the process. She finally did. But the next day she had really bad diarrhea. I took her to the vet so they could watch her while I worked. She stayed there 4 days, (and had diarrhea the whole time), and I brought her home Monday...she still had diarrhea all over the place. She was on a special food and everything.

I took her back to the vet Tuesday and they told me that this happens a lot if they are seperated early from their mothers. They require constant care when this happens. She was adopted yesterday (YAY!) by a lady that fell in love with her and will give her the care she needs until her tummy is stronger.

So, long story short...I think it is better to wait until they are 7-8 weeks old so the above situation does not happen.

[polka123]

are you talking weaned from Mama kitty milk or separated from Mama b/c they are 2 diff issues.

I've bred Persian cats & German Shepherds & have raised countless #'s of stray mama kitties & babies
.
If you are talking about eating some kitten mush & weaning off milk, that can be anywhere from 4-6 wks.
I've had a stray Mama abandon her 3 wk litter & we bottle fed for a wk & then they eagerly ate little bits of mush.
With lots of love from the humans, they turned out just fine.

Most Mamas will start getting up from feeding the nurslings around 3-5 wks... some do it later. Just like us, Mamas are different. When the kitties get up & about some, weaning could be near.
If kittens want to nurse non-stop & she does not want to lie there that long, that may be a sign. Some mamas will just stand up & the little one drop off & run after her :LOL

Now as far as separating the family unit, NO, we don't do that until 8 wks & by that time, the pups/kittens are too busy running around to stick by Mama much. It also depends on the litter too. Each one I've had is different.
I just said that I had 1 litter eating a TINY bit of kitten mush & STILL NURSING on Mama @ around 3.5wks... they were not fully weaned until 6 wks... & did NOT go to homes until they were 10 wks old !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As far as animals being taken too early... : that it bad & very common for Puppy mills to rip 3wk olds from their Mama & wean overnight to food because THE YOUNGER THE PUP/KITTEN. THE LESS THEY WEIGH for the 18-wheelers load so the more they stack many crates hi.
Sometimes there are 100's of animals in these Semi-trucks that do not see light til they get to their pet store

[merrick]

Some kittens still nurse for months if they are not separated from their mothers. But you can start them on food at 3-4 weeks.

[QueenSheba'sMom]

our kittens are now 4 weeks old, and my dd said she refused the kittens milk this morning. she did give in eventually, though. she was nursing when I left this morning. I suppose we need to start the mush now, huh?

[BurnsideMommy]

We had 2 litters of kittens from 2 different cats (long story). Both litters nursed for months. We didn't find homes for the kittens until between 4-7 months of age.

Side note - the 2 mama cats were sisters, and had their babies 6 days apart (hussies!), and nursed each others babies all the time. It was cute. Especially since they had a total of 12 babies and there just wasn't enough room for them all to always nurse at once since a few of the babies got fiesty and clawed at their siblings while nursing. What a site.

[merrick]

Originally Posted by BurnsideMommy

We had 2 litters of kittens from 2 different cats (long story). Both litters nursed for months. We didn't find homes for the kittens until between 4-7 months of age.

Side note - the 2 mama cats were sisters, and had their babies 6 days apart (hussies!), and nursed each others babies all the time. It was cute. Especially since they had a total of 12 babies and there just wasn't enough room for them all to always nurse at once since a few of the babies got fiesty and clawed at their siblings while nursing. What a site.

How cool! This same thing just happened at my house. Long story as to why they weren't spayed in time (involving cat poo, puke, and hormones). But my two cats just had kittens a week apart and nurse each others babies as well.

[CryPixie83]

Kittens wean??? Wow.

Hehe, sorry, most of my cats have been extended nursers

[MPJJJ]

My first cat, Lizzie, had a kitten from her very first litter who I kept, and he nursed until he was over a year old! He was bigger than she was, and she didnt mind one bit.

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

Originally Posted by CryPixie83

Kittens wean??? Wow.

Hehe, sorry, most of my cats have been extended nursers

:LOL i don't think tig is quite the type- she's already starting to spend more time not nursing them...

[IfMamaAintHappy]

our mama cat comes from a long line of extended nursing mama cats. My midwife's cats, actually, nurse into kitten toddlerhood (or what looks like it, 3-4 months).

Midnight is currently nursing her 11 week old babies. I dont know how often, and they eat cat food and use the litter box, but I still catch her nursing all of them, or one or two or more of them now and then, so I know they still nurse.

Isnt it silly.. they are old enough to be adopted, but I dont want to advertise until she quits nursing them! She lays thre blissed out with her eyes closed, she doesnt seem to be irritated by it. I think its the cutest thing when she just nurses one of them!!!

Midnight got pregnant at 7 months, we didnt even know she could breed that early! We had just gotten her and BAM! So she has an appointment very soon!

[laprettygurl]

We kept two of our kitty's babies and they still "nurse" and they're almost a year old. I have no clue if Mama kitty is still producing but it's pretty cool.

[Ilaria]

I took this pic of an EN animal mama in Borneo (Malaysia). I love it!

mama and babe