Advice for first time fostering a mom and newborns

I'm fostering a mom and 4 newborn kitten for the cat rescue. This is my first time fostering newborns. They were born on Friday. I have them in a crate since mom is not completely friendly. I can pet her when I have food but any other time she hisses. Can't blame her. She was a stray that someone was feeding on their porch and they brought her in on Friday to the rescue. So in one day she went from living outside to the rescue to my house and had kittens too. She's a good mom. She has a litter pan and all the kitten dry food she wants. She's eating about 3-4 (3 oz) cans of canned a day. And of course unlimited water. I put it in a shallow bowl so a kitten couldn't fall in and drown. So any advice from the experts out there? What should I be watching for or doing? Right now I'm really working of making friends with mom. She's not going to be happy with me though. I really need to take her and the kittens out and change the blanket. She won't let me change it with her in there I haven't been handling the kittens but one of the ladies from the rescue said it was ok so I feel a little better about picking them up to clean. I promise I'll take pictures and post them

Good for you for fostering Mom and babies! I also foster cats and kittens and currently have a family I am fostering as well. Where the family just arrived there on Friday the Mom is probably still very scared and unsure as to what is going on. She is trying to protect her babies. I'm sure after a few more days she'll calm down quite a bit. My current Mom that I am foster wasn't agressive with me when she came but she would dart out of the foster room and try to attack my other cats! After a few days she really calmed down quite a bit, once she got used to her surroundings and realized no one was going to hurt her or her babies. Good luck and I can't wait for pics!

I agree with Kaillie. It will be much better and easier when she calmed down, ralized it is safe with you. Ie after say one week. It goes rather quickly.
And you yourself do realize this. It went shockingly quick for her. She is doing marvellously well anyway.

Taking a drastic example for comparison:
It is entirely possible to foster ferals this way - AFTER the mom "landed". It is not sure if such a feral mom will be fostered into being tame, but you can be sure her children will be both tame and even nice homecats. And the mom doesnt mind, as long she realizes everything is for the best.


Im dont think you should hurry on with that cleaning. Not now...

But do make an alternative bed. With a little luck she will move the kittens herself into the clean bed if she thinks it begins to be smelly...


You can also use a Feliway diffuser if you want to speed the process a little...

You are doing excellent!


Good luck!

It sounds like you're doing everything very well I, too foster, and it' difficult when the moms are scared. It's definatly good to gain her trust, and let her know you won't hurt her babies. Try coaxing her out with some food, and have a clean blanket ready. Let her see you the whole time, and just put the babies on the new blanket while you're cleaning the inside. If she let's you pet her at all, scratch around her ears and under her chin- this should calm her a bit. Just spend a bit of time sitting with her, and don't make any sudden movments. Chances are she'll never be fully tame, but you can get her more comfertable with people. Good luck with these babies, it's such a great thing, what you're doing

Thanks for the advice. I can pet Almond (the mom cat) but only sometimes, like when she's eating. This morning I went in to feed her before I left for work and I must have startled her. When I went to reach for the food bowl to put a can of food in she bite into my hand and held on. I yanked my hand back (and out of her mouth) and she just hissed at me. Used the litter scoop to get the food bowl toward me and she calmed down a little when she saw I had food. Once the food was in there I could pet her and she was fine. I know she was just protecting her babies so I'm not upset with her. My hand hurts like heck though. Here's the strange thing I've noticed. She's more likely to hiss and smack at me if I have my work clothes on (when I first get home or before I leave). If I have my pj's on or my "hang around the house" clothes on she seems not to mind me as much. It's not like I work at a vets office, I work at a library. Could it be that she smells my other cats on my clothes and is ok with that smell? I do try to not handle the cats or let the dogs rub up against me when I have my work clothes on. Don't want to take to much fur into work with me

Other wise she and the kittens are doing well. The kittens are getting bigger and I was holding one of the kittens last night and she didn't mind at all. I think in time she will be a sweet cat but right now she's scared and VERY protective of her babies.

It is the holy duty of all mothers to be protective to their babies, and to do everything they can to give them safety. This way or another... Either by biting all possible dangers, or by pleasing themselves in, or both...

She did bite you and it hurts. Does it bleeds? Ie, did you got punctated?

If yes, good if you see a doctor asap. Cats bite can be nasty.

If not, it was rather a strong warning. NOT a real bite. If a cat wants to bite, it goes straigh through the skin, and usually some muscles too. It is a tremendous force in a full cat bite! Their sharp biting teeth making also their work!
You mentioned her hissing and swatting, yes? So she is actually not at all hostile, she is merely very pedagogic and cautious. Swatting (with soft paw) IS important for teaching lessens among cats.

Yes, cats are very smelly- orientataded. So your home smell is apparently more friendly for her than your work smell.
A friendly library or not...

I see it goes forward and forward!


Good luck!

Yikes, cat bites do hurt when they bite hard! Maybe if she hisses, don't approach her more, but just stay where you are and speak to her softly until she calms down a bit It's probably the unfamiliar scents of the library that's getting to her. She seems to prefer the scent of you and your house, which is a good sign that she's getting a little more comfertable. Just keep trying; it sounds like you're doing a wonderful job!