Cuddles update and Rags gets mean

Cuddles is a good solid 92 grams today. He is holding his own and I have high hopes that he will start gaining soon. I stayed away all day today so that I wouldn't be tempted to check him every hour like yesterday. I checked this morning before I left and the scale wavered between 90-92, so I'm guessing he was about 91 grams then ( the scale weighs in 2s). The scale jumped right to 92 and stayed there when I checked this evening. I was actually worried that he would have lost weight today if he didn't nurse enough, but he seems to be doing fine.
I know I got Rags on edge yesterday when I was in there so often. She has the kittens in a different corner of the room, so when I go in there now she can't see right away who it is and she starts growling and hissing. Tonight I was in there with my niece and Rags suddenly flew at her hissing and swatting at my niece with her paws. She didn't ever draw blood but now my niece is upset. I told her not to take it personally because Rags is just an animal and she was feeling defensive about the babies. Rags is sort of a touchy cat. I'm pretty sure that she was never socialized properly. The day before she gave birth I was petting her and she was purring, then she turned suddenly and bit me. I think after the kittens are weaned and she is spayed I can work on calming her down. I worry that she will never get along with my other animals though. I might need to keep her away from kids, too.

Oh gosh, Gayle, I've been dealing with similar issues. Houdini started attacking my dog about a week ago so I have to keep them totally separated (they got along famously before). And sometimes I'll be petting her, she'll be purring away, then she'll suddenly attack me with claws and teeth. She's never broken my skin with her teeth, but her claws are razor sharp and she's left long scratches down my arms (same as when I had to give her the ear drops for mites)

I've been reading in the 'Caring for Strays and Ferals' forum and this seems to be common when you bring a stray/feral into the house...especially when they are protecting kittens.

I too am hoping that once the kittens are weaned and she is spayed...that she will mellow out.

We'll keep our fingers crossed. We can keep each other posted about our little moms' cattitudes.

When Elsa had her kittens, she had the whole basement for herself and the kittens, so there were no people, dogs, or other cats bothering her. She was very comfortable with that, and she had only been in a house for 3 weeks before that.

Oh I hope that she calms down! At least no one was hurt! I think they're just as protective as we are!! I remember when I had my daughter my SIL was holding her and she started crying... I about lunged after her to get my baby back!! I think after a while the "MY BABY" thing will go away a little bit!

Ms Friskers will do that exact same thing, where I'll be petting her, and she'll be all mellow and seemingly really happy, but then she'll suddenly turn and bite me. Not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough that if I yank my hand away, I end up with nasty bites. Roomie hasn't learned to just relax to have her let go and has a LOT of bites on her hands. *rolls eyes* Friskers was a stray, so I think it might be that she doesn't know how to say "I'm done now" without resorting to biting. I've also read online that sometimes cats will bite when they're very happy.

I've been taking the advice that I read over in the behavior forum, and blowing in her face when she does it. She definitely does NOT like that at all, but it's not violent or physical, and I think she gets that it's punishment, but also acknowledges that it isn't harmful. She'll usually go off and sulk for a minute or two after I do it, but then will come back for more petting. And even having done it for a couple days, I noticed she was doing it less, but rather would just look back at me crankily, and I would stop petting her.

Cuddles weighs 94 grams this morning! I don't think I have to worry about him. He's just a little runt, but he is doing OK.Since he's gaining, he must be getting enough to eat. Whew!

I'm glad your little guy is gaining weight. I found this look at that little runt. He turned out to be a healthy but small cat in the end.
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/4114/therunt.html

Thank you so much for that article! Braveheart is SO cute!

Runts are my favorite!! Years ago (decades ago actually!) I adopted a runt kitten from a shelter. Her mother had died of rhinotracheitis and most of the litter didn't make it, but for some reason this little runt pulled thru (she had to be bottle fed since mom died right after the birth).

She was a little funny looking since one of her eyes was completely ulcerated (from the rhinotracheitis) but she had the best personality and always looked like a kitten (she only grew to 5 lbs). We don't really know if it was the disease or the fact that she was a runt that stunted her growth, but she was an awesome little gal!