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Cat Forum / General Topics / May 2004How old do kittens need to be before I can give them away?
I had two cats with new litters 2 days apart(one had 2 the other had 6). How old do they need to be before I can give them away? There only 2 weeks now, all there eyes are staying open now and all look healthy. I have a person interested now who's current cat died, so as soon as possible I would like to help them out. Im guessing 4-5 weeks? when they start eating soft food? thanks, j.b. 10-12 weeks if you want a properly raised & socialized kitten.  SignatureThe ONE and ONLY lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)? email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep > I had two cats with new litters 2 days apart(one had 2 the other had 6). How > old do they need to be before I can give them away? There only 2 weeks now, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > thanks, > j.b. > I had two cats with new litters 2 days apart(one had 2 the other had > 6). How > old do they need to be before I can give them away? This isn't a definitive answer, but when I took my stray kitten Elijah to the vet when I found him, the vet reckoned he was about 8 weeks old, and said that was on the young side to be apart from his mother. IIRC, when our cat had her only litter of kittens they went to new homes aged 10-12 weeks, which is what the vet recommended at the time. He said after 10 weeks the mother's starting to get fed up with so many lively young animals, and feeling less passionately attached, so both mother and kittens find it easier. We kept one kitten, and neither mother nor the 3 who left seemed to mind the parting; mother and daughter stayed incredibly close until the mother died. I understand that 6-7 weeks is a bit young, both mother and kitten will feel miserable. The RSPCA says, "Kittens should stay with their mother until they are at least eight weeks old." (www.rspca.org.uk) Amanda Please not before 10 weeks, they are so little ande they need there mother and brother and sisters so much to grow up for a big cat. I hope you understand . Dicky http://www.geocities.com/turbo502002/ Related to underage kittens, I took Elijah and Yossie, our new cats, to the vet today, for Elijah's second jabs and to check Yossie over (he hadn't been to the vet before). He reckons the younger is about 7 weeks old, possibly 8 at the most, and was therefore kicked out of home aged 5-6 weeks old. He also said it was a very good thing we'd got another kitten, as those dumped so young are often quite anti-human, and haven't developed all catty skills. Elijah's good for him, therefore, as well as the other way around! Elijah was so good at the vet - he didn't even squeak with his jab, and sat on the scales quite happily. When Yossie was wriggling around and the vet was trying to listen to his heart, Elijah leaned out of my arms and smacked him around the head. Yossie then calmed down and let the vet do his stuff with his ears and teeth as well. He opines that it is very likely Yossie's grey stripe will grow out, and he will be pure white, which makes his dumping odder. Apparently, pure white or almost so kittens are quite valuable, even if not pedigree. And Yossie's definitely "him", BTW. The vet says he could do with more cats like Elijah, who not only stay calm but smack others into being calm, too! Amanda > He opines that it is very likely Yossie's grey stripe will grow out, and > he will be pure white, which makes his dumping odder. Apparently, pure > white or almost so kittens are quite valuable, even if not pedigree. I hear that same thing from the rescue groups here and sure enough Diva (who was all white) was the first one adopted out of her litter... she was only "on show" for a day. The chocolate pointe looking one was adopted shortly after that and then the other two took 4-5 days. There was also a lot of concern that the black one would be adopted. That whole bad luck thing. AG > I had two cats with new litters 2 days apart(one had 2 the other had 6). How > old do they need to be before I can give them away? There only 2 weeks now, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > thanks, > j.b. Eight weeks is the absolute minimum, but 10-12 weeks is much better. MaryL | I had two cats with new litters 2 days apart(one had 2 the other had 6). How | old do they need to be before I can give them away? There only 2 weeks now, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] | thanks, | j.b. You let your cats have 8 kittens and don't know anything about the matter? Get yourself a few cat books from the library. It's 10 - 12 weeks! Carola > I had two cats with new litters 2 days apart(one had 2 the other had 6). How > old do they need to be before I can give them away? There only 2 weeks now, > all there eyes are staying open now and all look healthy. I have a person > interested now who's current cat died, so as soon as possible I would like > to help them out. Im guessing 4-5 weeks? when they start eating soft food? Now see, that's my opinion too (everybody says 10-12 weeks), from experience with 7-8 litters, that's when the kittens can "stand on their own two feet", so to speak. However, I recently moved into a new neighbourhood, and my housemate swore the new vet centre said they'd take them for adoption at 6 weeks. I checked and they do. Doesn't make alot of sense to me. Any ideas ? Rick > > I had two cats with new litters 2 days apart(one had 2 the other had 6). How > > old do they need to be before I can give them away? There only 2 weeks now, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > experience with 7-8 litters, that's when the kittens can "stand on their > own two feet", so to speak. On the average a cat will be better socialized if it can stay with it's mother and litter mates until 10 weeks...even if they are eating and exploring on their own at 4. > However, I recently moved into a new neighbourhood, and my housemate > swore the new vet centre said they'd take them for adoption at 6 weeks. > I checked and they do. > > Doesn't make alot of sense to me. Any ideas ? Shelters are different than private parties. Sometimes the shelter doesn't have the mother so the sooner you can get it socializing with a family the better. Also there is a space/finance issue when it comes to rescue groups. The sooner they can get them out the sooner they can help another animal. AG > > > I had two cats with new litters 2 days apart(one had 2 the other had 6). > How [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > AG Good post, AG -- excellent information because we so often read about attempts to adopt at a very young age, and your message message pinpoints the difference between what private parties can do and what shelters can do. MaryL > > Shelters are different than private parties. Sometimes the shelter > doesn't > > have the mother so the sooner you can get it socializing with a family > > the better. Also there is a space/finance issue when it comes to rescue > > groups. The sooner they can get them out the sooner they can help > > another animal. We send our too-small kittens out to fostercare. Anything unweaned has a limited number of specifically trained foster homes. Weaned kittens too small or unhealthy or unsocialized for alteration and adoption likewise go to fostercare until they're healthy, big enough, and properly socialized. >However, I recently moved into a new neighbourhood, and my housemate >swore the new vet centre said they'd take them for adoption at 6 weeks. >I checked and they do. > >Doesn't make alot of sense to me. Any ideas ? Shelters take young kittens to prevent people from doing horrible things like drowning them. 6 weeks is just about the time that kittens get really mobile and troublesome. It's also a ket socialisatrion period -- very important for the taming down of feral kittens. Orchid See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid thanks for the advice, I'll shoot for 10 weeks and later. j.b.
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