Why Do Breeders Keep Kittens Until 12 Weeks? 3 Facts
Most kittens are kept by their breeders until they are 12 weeks old. This information makes many people who want to get a cat sad.
After all, a little kitten is the cutest thing there is.
Why then do breeders keep kittens until they are 12 weeks old?
Why Do Breeders Keep Kittens Until 12 Weeks?
Between 8 and 12 weeks is the best age range.
You did your research and chose a pet that is just right for you. They are both healthy and cute, and you can’t wait to bring them home.
The first month
During the first four weeks or so, puppies depend on their moms for everything.
Colostrum, or the first milk from the mother, is full of nutrients and antibodies that help keep the puppies healthy while their immune systems are still developing.
This milk is all the food the puppies need for the first few weeks after they are born.
Weaning to solid foods
Puppies can try solid food as early as three weeks old. They keep nursing, and a mother can keep giving milk for up to 10 weeks.
The puppies get food from nursing, but it also helps them feel safe and close to each other. Most puppies are ready for solid food by the time they are 7 to 10 weeks old, but it can happen earlier.
Learning to speak dog
Just as important for a puppy’s development is learning how to act and talk like a dog while in a litter.
Puppies, for example, learn from their mother and siblings as early as 3 weeks old to poop away from where they sleep. This helps them learn to go to the bathroom in the right place later on.
If you’ve ever watched a litter of puppies play, you know they have a lot of cool moves.
During play, two of the most important skills that puppies learn are how to control their bites and not chew too hard. When they play, puppies often grab their siblings’ and mothers’ legs, tails, and even faces.
If one puppy bites too hard, the other will scream, showing that the bite was too hard. Moms will do the same thing, or they may gently tell the puppies to stop being so rough if they are.
Before going out into the world, it’s important to learn this lesson because other dogs will be much less forgiving of bad puppy behaviour than Mom!
Biting is another common problem behaviour that could put a dog in a shelter (or worse) in the future.
Puppies will also learn to talk to each other and their mother using different sounds and body language.
Puppies who don’t have these early learning opportunities often have trouble with other dogs as adults because they don’t understand the other dogs’ signals or act in the wrong way.
Socialization
Between 5 and 14 weeks, puppies are at a key stage for making friends. During this time, puppies are ready to learn and try new things, and what they learn will affect how they live for the rest of their lives.
Breeders and other people who take care of puppies should let them see and hear new things often. Working or sport dogs should be trained with materials and obstacles that are similar to what they will face in their future jobs.
For example, sheep’s wool for herding dogs, different materials and obstacles to climb over for agility dogs, and training scents for dogs that will sniff out drugs or bombs
The puppies will watch how their mother reacts to new people and things, and then they will do the same.
When Mom meets new people, if she is easygoing and friendly, the puppies will feel comfortable around them.
Research shows that puppies who are taken away from their litter before they are eight weeks old are more likely to show signs of fear, aggression, anxiety, resource guarding, reactivity, and biting during play than puppies who stay with their litter for at least eight weeks.
The ideal time
Depending on the situation, a puppy can go to its new home at different ages, but most breeders and vets agree that 8 weeks is a good minimum.
Some states have laws that say puppies can’t be sold before they’re six weeks old. Eight weeks after being born, the puppy is eating solid food on its own.
They have learned from playing with their littermates and watching their mother, and they are well within the right time frame to bond with their new parents.
Breeders can also keep the puppies until they are 10 or 12 weeks old. Toy breeds are often kept with their litter until they are 12 weeks old because they are small and easy to hurt.
This lets the puppies spend more time with their litter and still get to their forever homes with enough time to get to know their new owners and form strong bonds with them.
And anyone who has taken in an adult dog knows that dogs of any age will bond with their new owners as long as they are used to being around people.
But if the breeder is taking the time and making the effort to give the puppies a good start, the extra time with the litter can be very helpful for you and your new puppy.
Is it better to get a kitten at 12 weeks?
Yes, a kitten that is at least 12 weeks old is better. This gives the breeder, the kitten, and its mother or siblings enough time to do everything they need to do for growth, learning, and bonding.
Since cats can take care of themselves, they need this time to grow up socially, mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Some breeders will let you get a kitten sooner, but the longer you wait, the more social, happy, and nice your kitten or cat will be.
When you adopt an older kitten, they are still a kitten, so you won’t miss out on any playfulness, love, or attention.
Giving this extra time and waiting until the child is 12 weeks old to adopt makes sure that everything is in order.
The kitten has been weaned and is developing and growing. It is happy and healthy, and the breeder has done everything they could for their kitten.
Cats can learn some things, but because they don’t run in packs, they probably won’t learn much from other cats once they’re grown up if they’re taken away from their mother and litter too soon.
If they get mad and decide to scratch the dog, they won’t ask you what to do.
They also don’t care if you yell “Bad Kitty!” at them. They’ll just flick their tail and move on to something else.
They work on their own and don’t do things that way.
Why should you wait eight weeks for a kitten?
Before getting a kitten, you should wait eight weeks because most kittens are still nursing their mothers at this time. Some kittens and their mothers may nurse for a little bit longer, but it will be on and off.
By the time they are eight weeks old, their mother is often sick of them and will push them away or refuse to let them drink her milk. She will be tired of taking care of her baby physically, and she may act short-tempered and angry.
This is a normal way to act, even if it seems harsh to us.
If you took a kitten home before it was eight weeks old, it would miss out on this chance to eat, since their mother should naturally wean them along with the rest of the litter.
If done too soon, it could cause health problems and other problems.
The kitten’s health and well-being are taken care of by the mother cat’s milk, and the kitten and mother form a strong bond that humans can never fully replace.
Kittens are not pack animals, and they don’t get used to being around people or being touched by people until they are about 4 to 5 weeks old. At that point, they need to be handled very carefully.
Breeders take care of this, but if you have to wait longer than eight weeks to adopt a kitten, you could help the breeder get the kittens used to being touched by people and make them more friendly by spending time with them.
Conclusion
Waiting until a kitten is 12 weeks old before bringing it home is a good way to make sure it stays healthy and happy for its whole life. It makes them nicer and friendlier, which is important for them to be able to live with people.
Even though it is possible to wean them and find them new homes sooner, doing so can be bad for everyone.
Sometimes it’s best to wait, and no matter how cute kittens are, sooner isn’t always better than later.
I have been working in animal shelter for the past six years and I have been raising the puppies of different breeds. I have had experience in training the puppies in obedience, agility, and other dog sports.
My main objective is to train the puppies to become good family pets. They should be well-behaved and trained to be loving, loyal, and obedient.
Contact me:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (912) 634-3631
Address: 102 Village Way Crk Saint Simons Island, Georgia(GA), 31522
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