Will the mother cat take care of her kittens?
A friend of my mother has a cat who had kittens. Everything was good until today when the cat hid two of the kittens and kept the third in the box they were all once in. Which kittens will she take care of or will she take care of both? Should I bring my kitten home and feed her by hand?
the one and only! suckers! Said,
April 30, 2010 @ 7:49 am
the one left in the box has a problem maybe its sick and the mother does not want the other kittens to get sick to
Apollo I Said,
May 3, 2010 @ 12:09 pm
it might be best to keep an eye on all of the kittens. as long as it looks like they are being fed and not cryin all the time it should be ok. but again, keep an eye on them. wishing you the best! does she frequent the box or favor the hiding spot or is it all fair? if she favors the hiding spot then she might be leaving the kitten in the box to fend on its own and that kitten might need to be hand reared.
sororitychick_112 Said,
May 5, 2010 @ 11:19 am
ok this happens allot she may feel that something is wrong with the kitten, just seems weak or what not or has some kind of infection and they use nature instincts not love so to them having a sick kitten means its easier to kill them. My dog had puppies and one of them she refused to do anything with we started feeding it and it ended up dying beccause or something wrong with its insides. But its worth a try to feed the kitten by hand and get it to the vet as sson as possible it may jsut be a little sick or really sick!!!
baymast13 Said,
May 8, 2010 @ 5:43 am
Just keep an eye on the situation for a while. A cat will frequently move her kittens to a new, more private, location if there are too many people coming to look at the kittens. Makes her nervous.
I’m concerned that she left one behind. She should eventually move it to the new location, too. If she refuses to care for it, try bottle feeding it with KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement, available almost everywhere), and cleaning it’s behind with moistened cotton to make it go potty. Keep it where it is for a while, in case the mother comes back for it. If she totally ignores it for a few days in a row, it’s a pretty good bet she’s rejecting it. Then you’ll have to hand-raise it. First take it to a vet to make sure it’s healthy. Momma cat knows more than you. They will often reject a defective or sickly kitten. Good luck!
teej Said,
May 11, 2010 @ 4:35 am
Cats will hide thier kittens, occationally. ussually because the person who owned that cat put her in a very public area in the home. They like a degree of privacy when raising thier young. I used to breed cats, and kept momma in a large rabbit cage with babies and a litter pan for the first two weeks. In my bedroom, and the only one who entered was me. I allowed her out daily for short breaks (half hour every two hours) Most queens are so maternal that they will nurse just about anything. Enjoy the kittens, if you don’t have a large cage, you can use a closet and add a little lighting. (Or use a flashlight to peek in)
enh Said,
May 14, 2010 @ 8:46 am
i would try feeding it by hand but there might be something wrong with it if the mother refuses it. at least try if all else fail’s u might have to take it to the vets.