BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cats Weaning Kittens

How do you know when to start weaning kittens? When do you give them kitty food, introduce them to litter boxes, and start thinking of finding them homes? How do you find them homes? Are there shots I need to give them?

I don't know anything about this.

Kittens are endlessly curious and pass those milestones all by themselves. Have dry kitten food available and they will start nibbling on it when they are ready. Same thing with the litter box; have it available and they will quickly figure out what it is for. All of this happens some time around five weeks of age. By six weeks they can be separated from Mom, but 7 - 8 weeks is better.
I got my current 2 cats, littermates, when they were just weaned, 5 weeks old. That was a little young, they would have been happier to have been with Mom another week but circumstances dictated that I take them then. I seem to remember starting their shots at about 3 months, babies have immunity from Mom before that.
As for how to find them homes, I don't know. I mentioned to a customer once that I was waiting for my next cat to appear in my life, and she had a neighbor whose cat just had kittens and the next thing I knew I had a phone call from the neighbor inviting me to come look at them. Word of mouth is powerful!

Thank you for that info! 3 months on shots, check.

Yes they are six weeks and all both still nursing/eating solid food. There are a few poops finally appearing on the floor. This all happened in the last couple of days.

The mom is starting to carry them under the house for some reason and i hate having to crawl under there to get them. What is going on with that? (she was a stray and doesn't do litter boxes).

I have a suspicion that under the house is mom's litterbox, it is probably dry and easy to dig into, so she is teaching them. Or else maybe it is shady and cool?

Hmmm, good ideas, both. I was also wondering if she figured it was time to let them out into the world? Do cats start pushing kittens away at some point?

Hi Jilly!

Here's an article I wrote about Vaccinations for Cats that explains the main shots they need.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49756.asp

When I worked for my vet we always recommended starting their series of FVRCP vacs at around 8 weeks old.

Re: Momma cat taking the kitties under the house, I agree with Claybird - it very well could be her "litter box" or just a nice, cool place she likes.

When the kitty I grew up with had kittens, we kept one and I honestly can't remember Mitten really pushing Ginger away. It was so long ago that I don't remember exactly how old Ginger was when she stopped nursing. Since then most of the kittens we've adopted have been at least 8 weeks old, so they've already been weaned.

As far as finding homes, in addition to word of mouth, I would suggest making up flyers - with the kittens pictures on it, if possible - and asking local animal hospitals and even pet stores if they have anywhere you can post one. Look for other places in your community to post flyers as well.

Create a Catster account - http://www.catster.com/ - for the kittens. You can indicate they are up for adoption.

Contact local rescue groups or shelters to see if they will "sponsor" your kittens and list them on petfinder.com. I have seen ads on petfinder before that say something like this is a courtesy listing. It might depend on the group, but it could be worth a try.


I must get ready for work now, but I will post more ideas for you as I think of them. And if you have other questions, please do post them.

Thank you for the kittens shot article! it's now time for me to get those shots going.

I love my kittens.

The kittens started eating solid food on their own, but sometimes the mom still lets them nurse a little. How long will she tolerate that? I suppose a cat can just keep continually nursing.