9 month old kittens attacking mother cat

We have a cat and three kittens (one male and 2 females) that we found under our house last July. We took them in and they have been indoor cats since. We are guessing the kittens were about 5-6 weeks old when we found them. The mother cat was spayed about 6 months ago after the kittens were weened.

A few weeks ago the mother cat started hissing and batting at the kittens when they got too close. We just assumed she was trying to teach the to be more independent.

Last Friday the two female kittens were spayed. The night after they came home from the vet all 3 kittens jumped the mother cat. Ever since then it has been a war in our house. One of the female kittens stays hidden and scared to come out often. The mother cat hides a lot and when one of the kittens come around she hisses and growls at them. The male kitten hunts the mother cat down but he doesn't seem to want to hurt her he just stares at her like she is crazy while she is hissing and growling.

They often fight in the night and we get woken by the screaming and yelling of the cats. This also scares the kids like crazy.

Is this normal or have my cats gone nuts? We don't want to get rid of any of them if we can. I have 4 kids and each claims a cat. On their own they are great cats and the 3 kittens get along just fine.

TIA

Are all of them fixed now?

When you brought the babies back from the vet - they smelled different. Often when I bring a kitty home from the vet, my other hiss/attack the vet kitty.

You can try putting vanilla at the base of their tails & on top of their heads (I think that's the right places). Just a little bit. On everyone. Makes them all smell the same. You can also try Feliway diffusers to help calm them down.

You may have a number of things going on in your household.

First of all, if 2 of the siblings went to a vet last Friday, they came home smelling differently and it is very common for cats that live together for long periods of time to attack each other after one is at the vet. This seems to happy even more so after an extended stay involving surgery.

You've got a bond between the 3 siblings that may be stronger than the bond to their mom.

At 9 months old, the mom is well beyond trying to teach them their independence. This usually happens in the first 3 months. I have heard of mom cats trying to run off their kids when they have hit their "teen age" time (starts about 9 months), but that is usually when they are unfixed and wanted territory to mate again.

Most likely the balance is upset by the fact that 2 of them were at the vets for a spay. They simply may no longer recognize each other. Scent is one of the strongest senses in cats.

There's a great thread about introducing cats. Even though yours have lived with each other for 9 months, many folks use the tips in this thread to "reintroduce" their cats after vet visits. The one tip that seems to be the most helpful is using vanilla extract on them to make them all smell the same.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67321

Try some of these things and if they are not working, please ask more questions.

The females are all fixed. The male is our next priority. I will try the vanilla idea and let you all know how that works. I will also check the other thread.

Thanks everyone responding so quickly!

The other thread describes exactly where to place the vanilla extract.