Oh Ms Friskers...

Ms Friskers is getting a new title: Not the worst mom, but not the best mom.

Day one to two of the kittens lives consisted of her moving them about my bedroom, sometimes all of them, sometimes just one of them, as though playing a fun game of "Find the kitten" with me, just in case I had nothing else to do. She also just tossed them in the middle of my floor and then went to sleep on my bed a few times. Way to go, mommy cat.

Then she shifted into uber-mom mode, moved them all into the closet box, climbed in there with them, and didn't leave. It got to the point where I took her out and shoved her in the litter box, because I was afraid she hadn't even left to use the bathroom! So they got about a day and a half of the milk-bar being available whenever they wanted it.

Now they're back in the closet, but she's just sleeping on the floor and my bed, and mostly ignoring them. *sigh* No good, Ms Friskers! I just brought them out to her and now she's carrying them all back in, hopefully to stay in there with them and give them some food! (Particularly since I am hopeless at feeding them with the bottle...)

She also kind of stinks at carrying them around, and will often end up picking them up by their feet, or tummy, or head, instead of their scruff!

*sigh*

It is really dangerous for her to move them around so much. Get a big dog crate or cage and confine her and the babies to it. This is what I did with Sophie.

i agree Some cats dont always get the how to pick them up lol, and because of this she can hurt the kittens by keep moving them.
A lot of mums dont stay in the box with the kittens but will go in to feed and bath them , then go straight back out again, all are different, As long as the kittens keep gaining weight dont worry so much.

Thanks guys -- I didn't know she shouldn't be carrying them around, so I'll keep a closer eye on it. She seems to have stopped now that they're in the closet, so hopefully confining her won't be necessary -- I don't think she'd react well to that, at all.

As far as weight gain... I don't have anything but a bathroom scale, so I've just been judging based on largeness -- they *look* like they're growing like normal kittens. And at worst, I can "trick" her into nursing them by giving her a treat (KMR usually) in with them, at which point they generally swarm her and she lets them nurse a bit.