Why Do Cats and Dogs Stay With their Mother for 6-8 Weeks?

Question

But Humans are separated at birth for adoption?

Answer 1

THANK YOU HEATHER H.

1.because it's cruelty to animals. and somewhere down the road they decided we didn't count.

2. it's better for a dog to get breast milk and a child to get powdered milk from a jar and not be told of the diseases that they could catch. there are two many of us out there anyway.

3. Because a dog's mans best friend.

Answer 2

Not ALL cats and dogs do that.  

How can you compare humans to animals?  Cats and dogs get fed, even if they have unwanted babies.  Cats and dogs can go out and kill for food.  Cats and dogs are treated better by humans than women.

Answer 3

If you put a kitten with another mother cat (or dog) the kitten is fine.  Kittens (just like babies) bond with the person who is there every moment, feeds them, cuddles them, cares for them, and takes care of them!

Answer 4

Hi Heather,

While I do not know the exact answer to your question.  I suspect it could have something to do with one of the following reasons:

-  Most kittens & puppies do not have profit levels reaching $30,000 to $40,000 each.

-  Someone does not want the human mother and baby to have the opportunity to further bond together.

-  Someone else who is not the baby's mother wants to try to bond with that baby as soon as possible.

Whatever the real reason may be, I don't feel any of them are justified, unless the baby is in danger.

julie j

reunited adoptee

Answer 5

because humans can live on formula and animals need their moms milk to survive

Answer 6

No children shouldn't be compared with animals, however, even the animals in this case are being treated better than the humans.

Answer 7

Cats and Dogs have to have there mothers milk in order to survive, there are not many cats and dogs out there looking to adopt baby's! They can be without there mom but that would involve very time consuming bottle feeding by humans.

Answer 8

I have had other cats adopt another cats kittens.  Just like I have had cats that were bad mothers.  We recently raised a kitten ourselves that the mother abandoned.

Answer 9

Because cats and dogs run on instincts - whereas humans ignore those instincts - for their own adult convenience - not looking out for the best interests of the child.

It still completely blows my mind - to think that society has made it 'sunshine and rainbows' for people to just give their children away!!!

Seriously.

Too often - we're an extremely selfish species - not even taking proper care of our own young.

Answer 10

I've often wondered this, too, Heather.

Just because humans CAN be away from their mothers before 6 weeks doesn't mean they SHOULD.

But how many humans would give their babies up after 6-8 weeks?

Answer 11

'cause the people who fight for the rights of cats and dogs know what they are doin

Answer 12

Instinct and animal instincts.  Infant cats and dogs rely completely on their mothers milk at birth and will for at least 6 weeks.  They are not capable of eating a regular pet food for 6 to 8 weeks.  A female cat or dog will not usually allow a pup or kitten to nurse from them unless it is their own.  In the very rare case that a female cat or dog other than the mother were to try to feed the pups or kittens, she could not do so unless she had recently given birth herself, she would not have milk.  Many animals die every year because their mothers refuse to nurse them and human attempts to do so often fail.

Humans and technology have the ability to nurture and care for all living things without regard to the birth mother.  An adult knows that an infant needs formula or milk at birth by instinct and will gladly feed and care for any infant living creature.  We can purchase formula from any supermarket.  Animals are not born with these instincts or emotions.

While it the topic of adoption is very political and I would not criticize any decision if in the best interest of the child, I do believe that if a child is adopted, at birth is the best time to do so for the child.  They will then grow up with who they know as their parents and bond from the beginning.  I think it would be much more difficult for the child to be adopted at a later date.

Answer 13

A child can be fed formulas that are perfectly healthy for them and be taught how to be human from being around their adoptive parents. A kitten separated from its mother too young has to be fed its formula every 2 hours and human adoptive parents of a kitten can't teach it everything it would normally learn from its mother. Also, while children can be sent to daycare or a babysitters on a daily basis I don't know of anyone who is willing to bottle feed kittens every two hours full time while you go to work.

Answer 14

Because animal instict is smarter than humans.  Infants, whether animal or human need the bonding that occurs in the first few weeks of life.  Some women can't nurse their child or choose not to, but there are replacement formulas.  But none of that can change the fact that an infant that is separated from birth can and will survive if placed with a warm and loving parent to nurture them and bond with them immediately.  If that infant is placed with someone who isn't capable of providing that bonding and nurturing, then it can be a disaster for all involved.

Answer 15

Humans are worth more? I dunno.. Good question..

Answer 16

Human children can be looked after and fed by any human.  Most animals will not feed or protect any young except their own.

Answer 17

I just want to point out that there are numerous puppy and kitten formulas on the market and that breast milk is the very best food for a human baby as well as an animal one.

I think humans are taken at birth to see to the needs of the adults involved. Not the needs of the child.

Answer 18

I've seen dogs eat other dogs babies. And crazy cats stealing another mamma kitties babies and losing them.

There's just gotta be some insane reason.

like evolution.

Answer 19

I would like to point out that human babies are adopted by other beings of the same SPECIES!  I'm sure that if a mama cat dies during labor and you can get another mama cat to adopt her kittens, they wouldn't want the kittens nibbling at the corpse for six weeks.  However, most kittens aren't being "adopted" out to other cats, they're being taken home by HUMANS - often with no other felines in residence.  

This is like trying to make a comparisson between compassionate human adoption, and a child raised by wolves after he was abandoned in the jungle - there's just no sense to it.

Answer 20

There is no good answer to this question.  But it is something interesting to think about.

Answer 21

While I understand the point that you are trying to make, I just find it extremely difficult to answer a question that again compares children to animals.  

For me, this is like comparing a child with cancer and a dog that is put down for cancer.  Since animals are euthanized, should we also euthanize humans?

Animals and children should not be compared in my opinion.  End of story.  

: )

Answer 22

We adopted our cat about six months ago (she was a year old when we adopted her and had been abandoned at the shelter) and while she is very sweet, she has some problems.  She scratched up my husband's favorite chair (good thing we're getting it reupholstered anyway), she doesn't always use her litterbox correctly, and well...she's just kind of weird.

The strangest thing is when she sucks on blankets.  She sucks on all my soft cushy blankets and kneads them to death.  I looked it up and its a sign of a kitten who was taken from its mother too early and not weaned properly.  Isn't that sad?

I'm not sure why one is ok and the other is not.  I know that I spent three days with my mother and was then sent to foster care with some mysterious pills my foster mom then passed on to my amom when they came to get me at 3 months.  She instructed my mom in a letter to give me my pills when I cried.  I wonder what those pills were and why I would need them when I cried.  Hmmm...it makes you think.