Keller rejecting babies

Two of the baby kittens are eating wet food mixed with KMR (one is using the litterbox). Keller has started to be mean to the two who are eating. Is she trying to push them away already? She actually bite one and rolled him away when he came to nurse. She continued to do that the the other one as well but let the other two nurse away.

Yup - I take my kittens away from their mothers at 8 weeks old because my girls always get annoyed with their babies bothering them.

How old are they? She could be just teaching them how to play.

They are just 4 wks old. They are wrestling around and are so cute. I was just worried that she was thinking they are grown enough since they are eating and using the litter box.

Originally Posted by AMYSCRAZY

They are just 4 wks old. They are wrestling around and are so cute. I was just worried that she was thinking they are grown enough since they are eating and using the litter box.

Click to expand...

I am not a kitten expert but I would say she is starting to wean them ... I think she is on schedule for that ..

I was going to suggest that also, although my moms never really did that. It does sound reasonable to assume that she knows they're more independent of her and would like to start the weaning process with the ones that ARE eating the solids. The other ones she still nurses, she knows they need her milk still, so she allows it and will continue.

I also pondered the fact that since the ones that are eating, they may be biting her nipples when they nurse, and since they are teething some pointy teeth at this age, this is hurting her.

If she is still interacting with them, bathing, playing, cuddling, etc, then I would think that she is not rejecting them... I guess it would be a problem if they were losing weight, or if she were getting hostile toward them all the time...

It is fascinating to see how moms interact with their kittens, isn't it?!

She is now letting them nurse again. She was pretty rough but she can't hear them so maybe she didn't know she was hurting them that bad. She seems to only deny them around the time they have been eating, maybe she is encouraging them to spread their wings some.

Now that they have teeth, it's probably starting to hurt Keller...