Cat aggressive towards her kittens

I'm doing research for mother cat aggression towards her 4 mos old kittens.  I have had the kittens & mom all spayed/neutered/, rabbies, and micro-chips all at the same time (2 weeks ago). That was a real pleasure.....NOT. They came back from the veterinarians all attacking one another. I had to keep them in crates over night  to resolve the aggression. I did research n it said to put vanilla drops on them so they'd recognize each other, as they picked up other animals scents. Did the vanilla drops, and still unsuccessful. I spent the next week separating them all until the veterinarian smell wore off. Finally... Peace...they were all getting along, and mom was back to cleaning n loving her kittens.

WELL, it lasted all but 2 weeks. The mom has become very aggressive towards her 3 kittens, attacking them viciously to the point I have to put her in the entry way or outside...unfortunately, she's so wise she can open the indoor doors. I'm at my ends wit as to what her aggression is from, and how to resolve it... any ideas; I'm open to all recommendations & suggestions! Thank you in advance.  

BTW...If you're planning to take multiple cats/kittens to be fixed... I strongly suggest you do some reading up on it first. I do believe they recommended letting them all share a sock prior, bag it, n then take it back out after surgery...to keep the scent familiarity. Perhaps, had I read it first, I might not have had such a horrific experience with their return home!!! 

Very sorry about the aggression issue after taking mom/kittens in to the vet. I have been so lucky over the years and have never had this problem but it does exist and is common. You did right by separating them and glad to hear that for a time they were back to getting along. It is possible that mom is just DONE with her kittens and that the kittens could be still wanting to nurse from her - maybe when you are not looking? This would cause her great discomfort after being spayed. Maybe the two weeks they got along she was tolerant but now has had enough. I would think that the kittens would just respect their mom and leave her alone and just play amongst themselves. I hope that in time this will be the case for you. You could try adding in Feliway diffusers. They really do work for some cats and for other's, no effect at all. But, something to try anyway.

The other possibility is that mom is not feeling well? Might there be something going on with her medically, I am not sure. Is she eating well, using litter box normally, grooming herself? Keep an eye on her because sometimes aggression like this could be from her just not feeling good. I do hope that this resolves itself as it already did once before between all of them. :cross:

p.s. I think this thread may get more experienced replies in the Pregnant Cat and Kitten Care Forum.

That's odd hearing about kittens having to be separated after getting spayed/neutered. I've had 35 TNR cats spayed/neutered in addition to four of my own, and I've never had that problem. I just had two four month old females spayed a couple of months back, and they were sleeping in the same box together during their recovery.

I sometimes wonder about vets and anesthetic dosing. Too much ketamine can have some lingering side effects. I had to restrain one of my own cats for an hour after her spay surgery to keep her from hurting herself, but since I started using a shelter's spay clinic, I've had no problems. Since all they do is spay surgery, they seem to be better at it than my regular vet.

The mother cats may be weaning her kittens, but that's also unusual since most kittens would be completely weaned by 4 months.

The kittens are just at the age when mom would be turning them out of the nest to fend for themselves, and it is normal for her to show aggression now. It does not always happen, but depends on the number of kittens, the space the family have, and the natures of the individual cats. It will pass, and if you are keeping them then the mom will eventually accept them as adult cats, not as kittens for whom she is responsible. Give them as much space as you can, including separate feeding bowls and enough beds/cushions so they are not competing. Give the mother time out in her own room for a while sometimes, she is probably just feeling that she has done her duty and all this has to stop!

I agree with Jennys analysis.  I too was thinking this way, but Jenny said it better.   @toosly4u1  

Feralvs analysis is good to.