Mom isn't taking care of her babies

She gave birth this morning (her first time)- and they have not been cleaned at all-- it has been 4 or 5 hours. She hasn't even eaten the afterbirth. She won't even be near them, when I walk over to where they are with her, she just starts to growl and wants to be pet.

What should I do with her and the babies?

Make sure you have an afterbirth for each kitten. It is dangerous to have any left inside.

You need to clean the kittens up, cut the cord (someone else can tell you how better than I can) and get some bottles and KMR. You may want to see if the local shelter or a cat rescue has a nursing mother that could take them in on a temporary basis. That would be easiest.

I would clean up the kittens with a warm washcloth and then make a new nesting box for her. Once the kittens are cleaned up, she might change her mind about them. If not, you will need to act quickly so they don't start going downhill. You will need milk replacement and maybe a heating pad.

I would also try to coax her into staying with the babies by continually putting her in the nest with the babies and helping them find a nipple. You may have to spend a few hours with her putting her back in but I think that once they start to feed, she'll get the idea.."oh I'm supposed to do this? yeah this feels right"

Cutting the cords to remove placentas is as easy as using tooth floss tied up about 1 1/2 inches away from the belly button. Do this as gently as possible and then with sterilized scissors, cut the cords at least 1/4" away from the floss on the placenta side of the cord.

Good luck

I was able to do what you said about half an hour after I first posted.. I'm glad I did the right thing--

I continued to put her back with her babies and she ended up moving all four of them to a different spot- she didn't want to at first, but did with some coaxing.

I had to lay next to her while they nursed for about an hour or else she would leave. But now this morning, she is laying next to them happily.

Thanks so much

That is great news. Sometimes new moms need a little extra time to figure things out and know that everything will be ok. I'm sure it a scary experience and it is good that their human mom's can help them thru it. Please get pics posted as soon as possible. We would love to see the furr balls.

What a relief to hear that momma is feeding now. I think that she'll do fine now with them and they will grow and prosper.

Keep watching her closely to ensure she's stimulating them to potty after meals. She may not know to do that either, but I am having a gut feeling that she's been doing it.

Good luck with the little ones and please, for us moms in waiting, post pics

So today 3 of the 4 kittens died. They seemed fine this morning- I think she smothered the two of them and the third one just wasn't being fed, I believe. I tried helping the third but it didn't do any good.

Hopefully, this last living kitten will stick it out. He's nursing, anyway. The mom cat seemed to favor this one in the first place. Oh well.

Sometimes mothers reject kittens who have something wrong with them.