Agressive Mother

My kittens are about 5 weeks old and the mother is still taking very good care of them. Although sometimes when she thinks its time for a cleaning she will grab ahold of them pretty roughly and kick with her back legs. She doesn't always do this but sometimes she does. WHen she does the kittens will cry and i feel like i should step in. So I have been. But i am not always here. And also she cleans their butts and takes care of their waste which is nice so there won't be any accidents I have been actively trying to get the kittens litter trained so that the mom will no longer need to feel the need to clean them so actively. Is this normal behavior of a mother cat, or should i continue to step in when this is happening. It doesn't seem like she is actually hurting them but the kittens just dont like it.

I think I'd start separating mom a little more from the kittens. At 5 weeks they should be training to litter pan. Are they starting to eat solid food? Mom might be getting frustrated with things and taking it out on the kits.

Is she spayed yet or will be soon? Is she still nursing them. Its ok if she does, just start separating them for a few hrs every other day.

That sounds almost like some playing behavior. Trina and her kittens would often do that--the difference was that it was all in good fun and the kittens cries were never in pain or upset and they reciprocated.

As long as the kittens are distressed by this, you should definately separate them. At five weeks, they're old enough to be weaned off of food. Are they eating yet? If so, when you're away, I'd recommend not having the kittens in with their mom to keep the kittens from coming to unintentional harm.

Yes they are eating solid food. But they are also feeding on the mom. I have been trying to litter train but i am having trouble. They have no interest in the litter pan. Should I lock them in that room after feeding and while im gone til they get it?

What seems to be the problem with the litter pan? Have they seen their mom use one? That might help, because they might not know what to do unless they've seen mom use one. If you don't have a litter pan in sight of the box, I suggest moving one to them.

Also, if you were to stimulate them with a damp cloth to go over their litter pan, that could help them learn where it is they're supposed to go. If you find any kitten stools around, you should put it in their litter box, then put the kitten in after that to scratch around in it.

That's generally all I've had to do to train kittens to use their litterboxes. If you see one using it, you should lavish them with lots of love after they get done scratching around a bit. Don't do it during, as that would probably confuse them. Oh, and if you see a kitten going elsewhere, you can pick them up and set them in the litter box. They generally pick it up pretty quickly, considering they have a natural instinct to bury their waste. =)

I use a more shallow cake pan (tinfoil) when starting out as normal litter pans might be too deep for them to climb in.

Usually they watch mom use it and copy her. If they pee or poop elsewhere, then pick it up and put it in the pan to attract them.

Let them still nurse - many times mom's will nurse up to 8-10 weeks if you let them and psychologically its better for the kittens. But start giving mom some more alone time away from the kittens.

Just cause they are nibbling at food at 5 weeks, doesn't mean they are or should be totally weaned from mom.