Average age a breeder lets a kitten go home at?

Sounds like you've found a responsible breeder who wants to ensure their kittens get the best possible start for their new owners (including you). This article explains the benefits: http://www.breedlist.com/faq/young.html

Almost all professional cat breeders keep the kittens with the mother until they are 12-16 weeks, and many breeds are kept until 14-16 weeks. Yes, this is the norm, and its for the good of the kitten.

There's a lot more to having a healthy kitten than just being able to survive without its mother. There's a lot of behavioral and social development to consider. Kittens that are 6-12 weeks old are eating solid food, but they are still not fully developed socially. That takes some extra time.

Many breeders will take extra pictures of your kitten every week so you can watch its growth, or will allow you to visit if you're in the same town. But professional breeders know the development of their breed best, and always have the kitten's best interest at heart. So its best to utilize their expertise when it comes to the unique develop of their breed. (This doesn't always apply to backyard breeders!)

When it comes to shelter kittens, that's a whole different situation. Most of those kittens aren't with their mother in a loving household. Most are being fostered in large groups, and therefore can never receive the social benefits of a 12-16 week relationship with their mother. That doesn't mean that they will end up being worse pets -- just that they won't have as many advantages at the beginning.

8 wks is the legal minimum in many places but is far from optimum. It's better for their physical, mental and social development if they stay longer with their mother and littermates. Kittens separated too young are more likely to have behaviour problems.

The breeders I know let them go home anywhere from 12-16 weeks. It can depend on the individual kitten's development. 12+ wks is the norm among reputable cat breeders. The GCCF in the UK mandates that kittens not be sold before 13 weeks.

Greedy and/or lazy and/or ignorant breeders will sell at 8 wks (or even younger) so they dont have to bother paying for the shots and the food, and dealing with kittens who aren't litter trained yet.

Shelters often will let them go at 8 wks because they are so crowded and need to free up cage space.. I also know of a shelter who let them go at 8 wks if they were orphaned/ abandoned kittens who were in foster homes, but if the kittens are with their mother they try to keep them a few more weeks.

Being a breeder I do not let my kittens go until they are 14 to 16 weeks old.

1. they are use to using the litter box

2. they are more secure and outgoing

3. they don't cry for their momma

4. they have learned to use the scratching posts.

5. They have been vet checked and had 2 series of vaccines

6. they have been wormed at least 3 - 4 times.

7. they have been socialized and have learned from the older cats their manners

8. last vaccines are given at 12 weeks and this allow time to see if their is any reaction to the vaccine.

9. they are completely weaned.

10. to get them use to being handled and nails clipped, and combed or brushed.

and so on

I would never allow a kitten to leave before the vet has checked it over and given it the ok to leave my home. Never ever allow a kitten to leave before 14 weeks. My kittens are not allowed outside either, and it is written in the contract. They are not allow to be mated and produce kittens either.

This is a drawn up contract that can be enforced in a court of law.

R P CAT

It depends on the breed, really. Most shelters and any accidental or back yard breedings would do 8 weeks, since that's the minimum age they're considered good for new homes. A good breeder wants to make sure the kitten is well socialized before they leave their litter and mother. The shelters can't really worry about that; they have many other animals to care for. I would say 12 weeks is most common for breeders, but longer is not unheard of.

Reputable breeders don't let kittens go home until they are at least 12 weeks old. Shelters don't have that luxury. Kittens aren't reliably weaned until they are a minimum of 8 weeks old, and the period between weaning and going home is when kittens learn critical social skills that mom and their littermates teach them - how to play without biting and using their claws, and refining their litter box skills. At 12 weeks and up, the kittens also have all of their kitten vaccines, or at least two of the three FVRCP ones. There are NO benefits to the breeder (who's technically losing money) but significant benefit to the kittens.

It's usually after the kitten is weined off the mothers milk.

8+ weeks, about a week after they start eating on there own and using there litter box