Concerned about mother cat and kittens

Hi,
We had a stray cat adopt us who turned out to be pregnant. (Rest assured - I'm in contact w/ SPCA, will spay mother and make sure kittens are responsibly taken care of, etc.)

Anyway, sometimes the mother cat will grab one of her kittens, bite its throat, and start kicking at it -- similar to how kittens fight with each other. This seems to only happen when one of the kittens wanders out on its own. It's rather alarming, and in the three times it's happened so far, we've taken the kitten away and put it with the other kittens. The mother cat is great with the kittens every other time.

Is this normal? Is the mother cat just needing to "hunt" something -- i.e., we should play with her more often than we already do? Would love any advice anyone can give.

Thanks!

hmm....Is it just one of the kittens or just whoever wanders off? When one of my kittens wanders off she just picks it up from the back of the neck and carries it back.If it is just one of the kittens try bottle feeding it.

I don't really see what bottle feeding will do, you didn't say the mother disowned the kitten and won't feed it right? I had a female do this, sometimes she was playing and sometimes trying to be a little rough and teach them a little lesson about wandering off. If she is still taking care of the kitten, feeding it, not hurting it and only does this when he wanders away, I wouldn't worry.

as long as she isnt drawing blood on the kitten , then all is fine.
she is telling him/her off so to speak for wondering off, some mother cats hate it when there young start to wonder while others dont seem to care much about it, as long as shes feeding them cleaning them etc. then please dont do what the OP suggested and take them away as there is no reason to.