increased heart rate

hi, my female cat seems to have a really increased heart rate when she is feeding her kittens. is this a normal occurrence?? Also the kittens father keeps pawing at the kittens d i need to separate them or will they be OK?? the kittens are only 5 days old at the moment. Any comments would be helpful

Thanks Jon

I'm not sure about the increased heart rate thing. Are you sure she isn't purring? Most cats purr when their kittens are nursing.

The tom cat should be separated from the babies and the mother cat. He can get her pregnant again very soon after the kittens are born, and it would be unhealthy for her to get pregnant again so quickly. And some toms will kill baby kittens. . .they probably think they're mice or something. Best to keep him away from them.

Originally Posted by first time owne

hi, my female cat seems to have a really increased heart rate when she is feeding her kittens. is this a normal occurrence?? Also the kittens father keeps pawing at the kittens d i need to separate them or will they be OK?? the kittens are only 5 days old at the moment. Any comments would be helpful

Thanks Jon

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I have the same question as Willowy: can it be the intensive purring?? If you are sure it is not, best to ask your vet.
You can probably phone for an advice.
There is also the Internet vet ads on our Forum. I havent tried them, but the ads seems promising. Try! (dont forget to report to us).

The tom father. How seems this pawing? If it is gentle and seems helpful - you can probably let him be.
I know of studs who were acting help mothers, although not even being the actual fathers.

But if you are not sure about a wholehearthy helpfullness, better to isolate the tom from mom and kittens.
Besides, if they are not real good friend, he will stress the mom.
This MAY be the reason for her high heart rate (IF it was a high heart rate).

If he hadnt done them any harm yet, he probably wont. But - as said - if you arent entirely sure about his love to the kittens - separate.
Better safe than sorry.

Good luck!


ps. Are you a breeder? Do you want more litters? If you arent really eager to get more litters, please plan on neutering the cats. Father as soon as possibly, mother preferably after the kittens are weaned. Best so for all concerned, believe me!

Hi again! It is you from the other thread, the mom moving the babies around because she is prob stressed?

HOW you are doing, please answer in the first thread.

But here we possibly see one of the reasons for the stress - the tom cat being around.
They can be stressed for less, unless the tom cat is really friend with the mom.

Originally Posted by first time owne

the kittens father keeps pawing at the kittens.......the kittens are only 5 days old at the moment.

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Thinking on. This pawing - if he doesnt recognize them immediately as something nice and want to help -

pawing may end in eating up. My cats do paw on pieces of meat...

Nay, thinking twice, my strong recommendation here is you do separate them ASAP.

UNLESS he is lying with them now and licking and washing, and so on.

In all other cases - separate, NOW.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the reply's and the help i am sure i have sorted it now as she and her nest have been moved to a different part of the house she was actually in. I have workmen in the road outside and am convinced there noise in the day is stressing Arwen out as they where not there when she chose her nest site. I think it was increased heart rate due to a bit of stress from the noise all seems OK now but no doubt i will have further questions in the future. The tom sometimes licks the cats and will happily lie next to them but every so often he starts to paw at them so i have made the decision to separate them when myself or my partner aren't around and then let them have run of the house when we are in and all seems to be OK.

Thanks Again

Jon

Hi Jon . I would most definitely keep the tomcat away from mom and kittens, please..... There is no reason he should be around them anyway and it is too risky. I have heard of this before and then all of the sudden he will snap and grab one. Have you considered getting your cats spayed and neutered? Are you a breeder of show cats?