What is a mother to do???

pauline · May 3, 2008

I have a female young cat, just under a year. Pauline. She had a best friend, Ollie who escaped on 3-7-08 and disappeared never to come back

. We have been missing Ollie.

In the mean time, Pauline started to exhibit some strange behaviors. Walking around Prthing (the sound a mom cat makes when calling kittens). Carrying socks. Stuff like that. I thought that she was lonely. Her bff is our border collie Percy, but she loved Ollie.

Today I brought home a just 8 week old baby boy. The minute she saw him she started to lick him. and lick and lick. I thought AWESOME she loves him. Then she started to bite him and scratch at him with her rear paws. Then lick again. He was sorta stuck under a chair and she grabbed at his neck. He screamed and I yelled and she ran off...

I am afraid she may hurt of even kill him. Mind you , she has not once hissed at him or even ran from him. Just lick bite, scratch.

Advise Please!!!!

skimble · May 3, 2008

I can't help because I am fast learning about cats myself. Others here have great advice with much more experience to share. I wanted to say that I have two orphaned kittens that are less than a year old and they do the same thing with each other. Bite, lick, kick (bunny rabbit kicking). I don't know what it means, but they have done this all along. I am sorry for the loss of your other baby and the void that all must be feeling.

white cat lover · May 3, 2008

You can't bring home a new kitty & expect them to get along right away. Cats are stubborn like that.

My main concern would be size, it will be many months before I would leave them alone together.

Set up the kitten in a small room with food/water/litter/toys. Swap out blankets between the two. Supervised visits, etc.

Search the forums for "cat introductions" on how to do it. Even if they seem to be getting along, better safe than sorry (and it's not a bad idea to read up on intros for future reference!)

Good luck!

kluchetta · May 3, 2008

Originally Posted by Pauline

I have a female young cat, just under a year. Pauline. She had a best friend, Ollie who escaped on 3-7-08 and disappeared never to come back

. We have been missing Ollie.

In the mean time, Pauline started to exhibit some strange behaviors. Walking around Prthing (the sound a mom cat makes when calling kittens). Carrying socks. Stuff like that. I thought that she was lonely. Her bff is our border collie Percy, but she loved Ollie.

Today I brought home a just 8 week old baby boy. The minute she saw him she started to lick him. and lick and lick. I thought AWESOME she loves him. Then she started to bite him and scratch at him with her rear paws. Then lick again. He was sorta stuck under a chair and she grabbed at his neck. He screamed and I yelled and she ran off...

I am afraid she may hurt of even kill him. Mind you , she has not once hissed at him or even ran from him. Just lick bite, scratch.

Advise Please!!!!

Keep a close eye on them, but in my opinion (I've had only ONE momma with a litter) this is the way a mother cat disciplines her babies. She has adopted him and is making him her baby. I don't know if I'd leave them alone for several hours, but it sounds normal.

Keep an eye on them, and let us know!

pami · May 3, 2008

Originally Posted by kluchetta

Keep a close eye on them, but in my opinion (I've had only ONE momma with a litter) this is the way a mother cat disciplines her babies. She has adopted him and is making him her baby. I don't know if I'd leave them alone for several hours, but it sounds normal.

Keep an eye on them, and let us know!

Thats the way my Mother cat disiplined her kittens, too. It use to freak me out until I realized what she was doing.

missymotus · May 3, 2008

Sounds pretty normal, she's showing him who's in charge. No hissing is a very good sign

I'd make sure to keep her nails clipped so she can't accidentally scratch him to hard.

goldenkitty45 · May 4, 2008

Is she spayed?

pauline · May 4, 2008

So, in the middle of the night when I got up to feed the new baby, I fed Pauline as well (first). The kitten ate his mush and Pauline ate her's. Then the kitten went over to Pauline's food and started to eat with her. Pauline continued to eat. Pausing every once in a while to like the kitten.

After they ate, Pauline, I swear, was trying to get the kitten to follow her. Calling her and walking away, stopping and waiting.

I picked the kitten up, went back to bed, Pauline ran after us, hopped up on the bed, and we all went to back to sleep. They were at opposite ends of the bed, but everything for Pauline, was normal. sleeping on my Husband's legs. LOL.

We will see. I am hoping for the best, but will prepare for the worst.

kluchetta · May 4, 2008

Sounds to me like she's adopted him...

pauline · May 5, 2008

I think so! Its actually really cute right now. The three of them, the dog, cat and the kitten all eat together and play together. I am so relieved. I did not want to ruin the dynamic in our house.

Here is the question. So this kitten is only 8 weeks, now after reading all the info about adopting a kitten, I feel bad for taking him so early. He is absolutely thriving, but still. Should I bring him back for a couple of weeks? He is definately spoiled and well cared for here, but it does not replace the love of MOM. What do you think?

Hey Kluchetta, Colorado, Huh! I use to work for Jeff. Co.

mrblanche · May 5, 2008

Since you already have him, I'd just make the best of it. The main thing is that he needs to learn to not play too rough, and it sounds like your older kitty is teaching him that.

yosemite · May 5, 2008

Since you already have him I wouldn't take him back now. It seems as though your older kitty is already teaching him things his momma would have taught him had he stayed longer with her.

It really seems as though you have good dynamics going with the 3 of them.

cat_lady · May 5, 2008

time is all you have to give. they will get along trust me! my aunt brought home a dog when my cat lived with her it took oreo a year to get to trust the dog. but they got along great! oreo use to sleep on the dogs stomach!

emmylou · May 5, 2008

Those sound like excellent signs. I've also seen an unrelated female adopt a new kitten as her own... as in your case, it took only a day. Pretty much happened the moment he came home.

Now, a year later, you'd be hard pressed to convince either the mother or the son that they're not related to each other.

Since your female is acting as the kitten's mother, I wouldn't worry about returning him to his original mother.

pauline · May 5, 2008

Cool, thank you, b/c I would hate for him to go through the adjustment again.

I just can't believe how quickly things turn around.

What is a mother to do???

pauline

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skimble

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white cat lover

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kluchetta

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pami

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pauline

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