This morning my cat had a litter of 4 kittens. I made her a bed in a box and she was fine with it. I went to sleep and woke up at 4:30am to the sound of shuffling and meowing, and saw that she was putting the kittens under the bed. Without thinking, I grabbed them and put them all back in the box! I was afraid it would be unsafe for them under the bed. She didn't pay attention to them for a while.
Well after trying to go back to sleep she brought one kitten to me. Then after 15 mins she brought another one! The other two are still in the box. I don't know what to do. Should I leave them alone? Or bring them to her? Why would she bring them to me one at a time? I'm afraid she will abandon them since I touched them without gloves.
There may be too many kittens for her milk supply. Supplement with formula.
Cats are very particular about where they want to keep their kittens. If you can fit the box under the bed for her let her do that. If not try a few boxes with bedding in the room you want her and let her choose. If she chooses your dresser drawer...well...it wont be the 1st time and they grow up fast. There should be no problem with you handling her kittens. She will be looking to you as a helper if you have a good relationship. I would put the kittens back in the box with the other two. With a little while to settle down she should get back in the box with the kittens.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Does your cat bring you kittens at different moments? My cat Mable seems to bring me the ones that are not on the same schedule as the others. So which ever one is awake when the others are asleep, she will bring it to me to try and calm it down.
It never is the same one, it is almost like she is trying to get them on the same routine all together. Do you think it is possible? Can anyone else who has had experiences like this, please help? I think it is important to tell you that I helped her deliver 4 out of 5 babies, by her choice, and she has brought me every single one of her kittens on different occasions. She is also in heat big time. She is meowing quite a bit.
I don't know how to help or what she really wants. Also she lets Cara my female puppy carry the kittens and help her move them. This seems like pretty special behaviour. Any thoughts?
By Stephanie
Female cats who live together, especially siblings, will often help each other birth and care for babies. This is normal. It's more unusual for your cat to let the dog help care for the babies, but it probably just depends on whether she considers the dog a sibling.
Your cat brings her kittens to you so they will get used to being handled by humans. She realizes that they are domesticated cats who will have to rely on humans for for their food and shelter.
Less domesticated cats behave instinctively, fiercely guarding their kittens. More domesticated cats may realize that humans and dogs will play a big part in the kittens' future.
My cat had one kitten on March 31st. All has been going well, we have a little nook set up for the two of them in the bedroom and they seem comfortable. My cat will do this thing where she'll bring out her kitten to the living room where we're hanging out and then almost immediately turn around and bring him back to the nook. It's almost like she gets nervous and changes her mind.
I do not think this is unusual as she has probably been spending time in the living room with you before she had her kitten and now she wants to do the same but may be frightened as this is all new to her. She may feel she is being punished for having her baby to care for?
Most importantly is if she is taking care of her kitten and feeding it properly as well as eating herself.
I think she will soon adjust as she is probably lonely and cats do not like changes in their routines.
I feel that she just wants your approval of her new little one. She knows how much you love her ,and wants to share the love with you. She could also bring to you to get a break, then return after she has a break from her little one.
It is good that she is a cautious mommy!! Sounds like you are doing everything right!! Cats are very social on their own terms. It sounds like everything is going along as normal. With just one kit, she has less work to do and she may be even a little over protective...so showing you and taking it back is her way of being in control.
As long as she is feeding the kit, the kit is growing, it sounds like a lovely diversion in this sad and scary time!
Post photos when you can!!
She wants to spend time with you in the living room and hang out but she is afraid to leave her baby behind. She is not yet ready for you to touch her baby and wants to protect the baby. Maybe set up a small place in the living room during the day where she can go there with her baby and hang out with you.
A cat I feed outside had a kitten around 2 weeks ago. She normally hides it, but lately she's been bringing it to me and instead of paying attention to the kitten she pays attention to me.
I end up picking up the kitten and putting it back in the nest and the mom follows. Is she telling me she's going to leave the kitten soon?No, she is telling you she loves you and is proving it by sharing the kitten with you.
She is showing her trust in you. You can take advantage of the situation by spending a little time working with the kitten so it gets properly socialized and will be a friendly loving pet for a new loving home. Dont forget a trip to the Vet for shots and worming.
I believe she is telling you something might be wrong with the kitten. Is it the runt? Sickly? She may not want it around the other kittens, is she feeding it. I would have a vet check the kitten out.
Did she have just one or is she just bringing you one? Either way, I would take the baby in if you can or find a cat rescue group that can help and get it on the right track (fed and socialized and hopefully homed). If there are more, I would try to get them also. This will help break the cycle of feral cats in your area and hopefully send these babies to good and loving homes where they be loved.
Mom's (human and fur) seem to know when they need help and she clearly thinks she needs help with this one...either because it is sick, she is sick (the mom) or if she is healthy, she just can't take care of it on her own or she feels it is threatened by predators.
Kittens this tiny need just about round the watch and regular feedings (every hour or two). They must be fed with special mothers milk that vets and some tractor supply type places sell, in order to have the best chance or survival.
I know in the olden days humans would feed cats things like cow or goat's milk and I am sure for some it worked, others it killed...so since we have the know how and the access to the right stuff...I would go that way if you can.
I would also try to get the mom and have her fixed. Most cat groups will work with you on this (like help pay for the procedure) and if you offer a safe home (like outside place with straw that is covered) they will release back to your yard. They usually put a little notch in the ear to so others know the cat is feral, but fixed.
It almost sounds like the mom was NOT originally feral so perhaps she can become someone's loving pet along with her little one(s).
Post back with an update! Prayers and blessings to all!
Yes she had only one. I think maybe she had more but they were still born. I will take it in to see if it's ok. Shes feeding it he's a lil chubby already lol
Mothers will often bring their kittens to places they feel safe. They will generally kill and eat sickly kittens. So if a cat is brining you her kittens she trusts that your a safe place. You should also not be giving kittens processed cows milk or processed goats milk. The amount of vitamins that have been added to most human consumable milks would harm a kitten. Go to a pet store and get milk made for kittens.
My mamma cat is in my room with her kittens. When I go to bed she comes up crying and then she brings me one of her kittens. Is she trying to tell me something about the kitten? I just want them to be OK.
This could be because she can not feed all of them and is asking you for your help. My female dog when she first delivered her pups was so tired that she tried to give my male dog a few of the pups to watch for her. I would have the cat and kitten checked out at the vet to make sure she is producing enough milk to feed them and there is no other issues at all.
Is she bringing you the same kitten all the time? If so, she is concerned about the one kitten. If it is random, there may be too many kittens to care for. Please call your vet.
Kitten moms bring their kits to humans for a variety of reasons, including showing off the babies (some are just show offs), or if one or more is ill, for help, or if she is not doing well feeding or caring, for help.
My best suggestion would be to gather everyone up and have the vet look them all over. That way if they get a clean bill of health, you will know she is just a proud mommy and can reward her with treats and pets for showing off the babies!
The vet can get you the special formula mother's milk needed and give good directions if you need to help to do hand feeding.
My friend just went through this over the summer and her kitty mom wasn't making enough milk and so the vet gave them all clean bills of health otherwise AND set a hand feeding (supplementing mom) schedules for each one based on how much they weighed.
It was intense couple of weeks for them, but all are now fully weaned and healthy and in furever homes!
Blessings and prayers for good outcomes for the kit family! Post back with an update!
My cat had her kittens around 3 weeks ago. She had 3, but one sadly died (unknown reason). At around 1 week old I noticed the little girl was breathing very fast. She doesn't have her mouth open and you can't really hear anything. She was fine feeding and didn't struggle to breathe. We took her to the vet. The vet took x-rays and couldn't see anything wrong with the kitten as she appeared fine. It was literally that her breaths per minute were high, like 80. The vet gave us some antibiotics anyway because she thought there could be a slight infection. After a week on the medication nothing changed.
We spoke to a different vet to get a second opinion. The vet said she may have been premature and could just be slightly deformed or underdeveloped and time would tell. So anyway. Shes 3 weeks old now. She seems fine. Is playing, feeding, wWalking around, and seems strong, but is still breathing fast. She is also a little underweight. Shes 220g. A lot smaller than the boy, at 380g.
Last night my cat was acting really weird. She kept meowing and chirping at me and the kittens, for like hours. I gave her food, changed her litter in case she needed a toilet, but nothing helped. Its like she couldn't sit still. I woke up at 3 in the morning to see she had moved them both onto my bed while I was sleeping.
I left her on my bed with them because I didn't want her to try and move them again and end up hurting one as my bed it quite high up. The next morning I moved her and the kittens down into the bed I've made them. (It's still in my room, very close to my bed.) She seemed happy with them being back in there and would lie down with them and sleep in there with them.
Tonight she is chirping and meowing again so I decided to get a video and all of a sudden she moves the kitten back onto my bed with me. It was the sick one. She laid down to try and calm it while keeping her eyes fixed on the other one. I quickly got up and grabbed the other one and placed it next to her as I could see she was unsettled. She is now fast asleep with the kittens and seems relaxed. What could be the reasoning for this? I though maybe she was bringing me the sick kitten, but she brought both up last night and is now fast asleep and seems fine. I'm just puzzled.
This is a stressful situation for your cat. She obviously loves and trusts you, and sees your bed as a safe place. That is probably why she is bringing her kittens to you.
is it warmer on your bed? Maybe if you place a grow lamp or heat lamp where you want the kittens, she won't move them
So glad you get the little girlie a vet check!
Mommy may feels she needs help caring for the babies (perhaps mourning the loss of one of her babies and the fear that she will lose the others so she seeks your help to protect or--if she is not making enough milk--feed them) or she is just tired and needs a second set of eyes and "hands".
If everything with the kits stays well, maybe have mommy checked out so she gets a good post partum bill of health!
Post back what you learn! Prayers for all!!
It certainly sounds like you are doing all you can for this mom and her babies. When you talked about one of the kittens that was breathing fast in spite of antibiotics I thought of a friend whose cat had a litter and one of the kittens was breathing fast. No other symptoms but that. A trip to the Vet in the middle of the night found that the kitten had a hole in his diaphragm. It had no doubt been there since birth, and the kitten had gotten big enough that something had slipped through the hole and taken up enough space that the lungs couldn't work properly. Sadly the kitten was very young (a couple weeks) and not healthy enough for the surgery to fix it. This birth defect can be hard to diagnose as it doesnt always show well on an x-ray. This may have nothing to do with what is going on with your kitten, but thought it was worth mentioning. Best of luck to you. You sound like a great cat mom.
It certainly sounds like you are doing all you can for this mom and her babies. When you talked about one of the kittens that was breathing fast in spite of antibiotics I thought of a friend whose cat had a litter and one of the kittens was breathing fast. No other symptoms but that. A trip to the Vet in the middle of the night found that the kitten had a hole in his diaphragm. It had no doubt been there since birth, and the kitten had gotten big enough that something had slipped through the hole and taken up enough space that the lungs couldn't work properly. Sadly the kitten was very young (a couple weeks) and not healthy enough for the surgery to fix it. This birth defect can be hard to diagnose as it doesnt always show well on an x-ray. This may have nothing to do with what is going on with your kitten, but thought it was worth mentioning. Best of luck to you. You sound like a great cat mom.
My cat just had her very first litter of 6 kittens. I have never been through this as a owner, but momma cat is worrying me because she keeps taking a kitten out of the pack and I don't know if it's the same one or a different one cause they all look alike. But she will randomly bring one out and do nothing. I put her and kitten back with the rest and then a good while goes by and she will do it again.
Tonight she brought one all the way into my room from the living room and I just grabbed her and her kitten and put them back out there. Why is she doing this? It really worries me for the kitten. What can I do to make her stop or is she trying to tell us something? Please help. I have never done this before.Aww! Congrats on the litter.
If you are concerned about a kitten being underfed or shunned, you may want to talk to your vet about the best method to hand feed. It sounds like you can't tell if is always the same one. You could try a tiny dot of nail polish on the tip of the tail. That way you could tell if no is doing this with one or all.
Hopefully it is she is just proud of her babies and is sharing the joy.
This site has all the other options: catvills.com/
Good luck! Let me know how it goes!!
She is complimenting you! She trusts you with her kittens. Thank her, play with the kitten and bring it back.
I haven't had enough litters at my house to be sure what this means. I would be worried that the mom cat thinks there is something wrong with the kitten she keeps moving. Take mom and the kittens to be evaluated by the Vet. The Vet can show you how to feed the kitten if mom cat rejects it. There are good products available for this at the pet store, like KMR kitten milk. Watch Mom and the kitten to see if she is nursing the kitten. It helps to get a scale and weigh the kittens daily to see if they are gaining weight. This will help you and the Vet make a decision about what you can do for the kitten.
My cat just gave birth and she won't stop meowing in like 5 to 10 minutes intervals. She keeps bringing her kittens to me; she won't leave me alone. She keeps moving herself and her kittens right up next to me.
She has to have contact with me or she is restless and I can't sleep cuz she is curled up with her kittens on me. What is wrong? In between the meowing she is sometimes panting.Your cat trusts you. She may also need help with the kittens. She may be tired.
The panting after having kittens is normal. You could get her a nice roomy boxwith blankets and put it near your bed and hope she will accept it. Sounds like she just needs to find her mojo. Good luck.
My 9 month old cat recently had a litter of 9 kittens. One was stillborn, one she fell asleep on, and one died this morning so I'm down to 6. They are two weeks old. I'm unsure the cause of death of the one this morning but she had brought it to me first thing this morning and I could tell it was weak but it was dead by the time I got home from church.
