What are the benefits/risks of getting a kitten at 1 month as opposed to waiting till 6 weeks?

Question

I have been offered a one month old today kitten who is weaned and eating on her own. However, I have always heard it is best to wait till at least 6 weeks. If anyone has the reasons, I would love to hear them so I can forward them to the woman who has the kitten. Thanks

Answer 1

You should wait 10-12 weeks if you can so that it can be properly socialized.  Nothing teaches a kitten the limits of play like another kitten.

At one month it won't be weaned and you will have to hand feed it every few hours.

The mother will begin to wean her kittens at 6-8 weeks.

Answer 2

You should wait until twelve weeks.  One month old kittens can't be weaned.  It will cry, it won't p**p right, it won't eat right and there could be medical problems involved.  

Just wait!!!  Please!!!

Spay it as soon as possible, take it to the vet as soon as possible, keep it indoors, feed it wet twice a day with dry out all day, fresh water out all day refilled twice a day and microchip her please!!!

Good luck with kitten!!!

Answer 3

6 weeks is STILL too early..  8-12 weeks w/ 8 being at the lesser end of the scale...  There are no benefits whatsoever!

Answer 4

After kittens are weaned, the mom cat teaches them valuable survival and social skills they'll need their whole lives.  Often, when kittens are taken from their mother before 8 weeks old, they haven't yet learned when and how to use their claws. This can create scratching problems in the kitten. Also, kittens taken too early can have issues with biting. Mom didn't have time to teach manners and the kitten doesn't know it hurts to bite.  Kittens taken too soon also sometimes develop a suckling habit where they suckle blankets, hair, clothing, or bed sheets.  This is annoying to some cat owners. It makes for a more well-adjusted cat to let the kitten stay with it's mother until at least 8 weeks old if not 12.  One month old kittens can become sickly if removed from their mother. In some places, it's illegal to let them go so soon.  Your SPCA or Humane Society might be interested to know she's letting them go so young.

Answer 5

You should not separate a kitten from it's mom until it is twelve weeks old. If someone is offering you a month old kitten they aren't a good cat owner and you might consider reporting them to your local shelter or police station.

Answer 6

Being weaned from the mother isn't the only thing that has to be done BEFORE a kitten is taken away from its mom.  The mother still has plenty of work to do with the kitten, teaching social skills, survival skills and proper behaviors.  Kittens that are taken away from their mothers too soon usually have problems learning to use litter boxes, they scratch furniture (and people), they don't yet know how to control their urges to bite and they can have some pretty bad behavioral problems.  It takes 10 to 12 weeks for the mother cat to teach her babies everything they need to know to be well-adjusted in human society, so a kitten should never be given away when it's younger than 10 to 12 weeks old.  I hope that you can convince the woman how important it is that she wait a few weeks before considering giving the kittens away.

Answer 7

it is always is better to wait. kittens need to learn how to be cats from their mommy. unless u want to show it how to clean its self and bury its own poo.