odd behavior of mom and gma

rolling thunder

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Hi, just wanted a little advice. Back in Dec. a stray "wild" cat came to my sister in law's farm and had kittens. The two females are just 7 months old. SIL has been trying to catch them to get them spayed but it was too late. Both were pregnant and I guess both had litters around July 5-6. We didn't know this until Saturday. We found 8 kittens under a shed we were moving. We had to move them since the shed was moving too. My first question is, is it common for two moms to keep their litters together? All kittens are the same size/age, just opening their eyes. We are sure both were pregnant and now both are not! Moms moved 4 kittens but left the other four for more than 24 hours.
Now for the odd behavior of gma...when the moms take the kittens to hide them, gma has been seen several times "stealing a kitten" from the hiding place and bringing it back and dropping it out in the yard and leaving it. Then a little while later, one of the moms comes frantically searching and takes the kitten back. We've got to get her away from them because who knows where she could leave them next (they are hiding in the corn field). We have seen her with 3 different kittens and she just drops them at random places. What would cause her to do this?
Last night all but 2 kittens were hopefully with their moms. The two near the house, were ones that we found, dropped off by gma! We know they were with their mom at some point because they were warm and fed. Any advice helpful. Besides the obvious, get gma away! We can't catch her or the moms.
 

beandip

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I don't know the answer to your 2nd question, but on the first one - yes I would say it's common for 2 closely bonded or related moms to keep their babies together. They'll probably swap babies for nursing sometimes.
 
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rolling thunder

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Thanks, we can't tell who goes with which mom but as long as they are cared for it doesn't matter. Both moms are taking care of them. We just didn't know if there was another litter somewhere else.

We are basically searching the yard every so often to see if gma dropped any more off. SIL told me just now that all kittens are gone. Hopefully that means they are all with the mommys. If any more show up we'll know gma is at it again. Crossing my fingers.
 
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