Cat acts a little silly, thinks older cats are her newborns....

Luna, our female tabby, got her second batch of kittens today around noon.

Earlier today in the morning, we sensed already that she must be due, she looked very much as if she'd "gonna pop any time soon" and she showed a keen interest in the birthing box which we prepared for her like last time.

She must've been so in "kitten mom mode" that she forgot she didn't even give birth YET earlier today.

Every time she was away from the (still empty) box she started crying and acting confused. We at first didn't know what was going on and why she was crying.

Then she tried to pick up her OLDER kittens, now two months old and as big (if not bigger than her!) on the neck and carry them in the box.

She thought she had already given birth and confused the older children for her new babies!

She tried a few times to carry the older kittens into the box, obviously in vain because they're way too heavy and of course they just played around and didn't comply.

Hilarious..although mildly worry-some.

So since she didn't stop crying wanting her "babies" in her box (the real ones still in her belly!) we put her and the two older children in the closet where the box is..

Ten minutes afterwards, she actually got her REAL new babies, three of them. (Two who look like Siamese where we don't have the slightest how this is even possible, and one tabby).

All healthy and fine.

So as long as she is in the box with her new babies now, everything is fine.  (Yes of course we don't let the others in the bedroom, as soon as she gave birth we took the older ones out again).

Occasionally Luna comes out to drink and to eat in the kitchen.  Birth obviously is not too stressful for her. Then she gets confused again.

The "real" babies are waiting for her in the box, she is trying to grab the 2 months old ones from the living room, trying to haul them into the box, thinking it's their newborns.

Has anyone ever experienced something like this?

I am inclined to say that Luna is probably confused or simply not very bright mistaking older kittens weighing 2lbs each for her newborns.

Earlier today we also tried to replace the rather soiled towel in the birthing box with a fresh one, but this also confused her because she went to the room with the soiled towel rather than attending to her babies! So we put the dirty towel back and will replace it tomorrow.

Just wanted to share

Good grief!  She must have come into heat shortly after giving birth the first time AND gotten access to a male (cat pregnancy is approximately 9 weeks and you said the first kittens are 8 weeks old?  They must be a little older, but maybe not much.).  I have seen this in outside cats, litters close together, both batches of babies nursing on mom, but rarely does this happen with inside cats because usually there is no access to a male at least for awhile.  So please do NOT let Luna outside again until all babies are weaned and she is spayed!!

She is NOT confused, they are ALL her babies so she wants them all to be with her.  The NEW babies need her colostrum to get her immunities, so do NOT let the old babies nurse at least for a week.  They are old enough to be weaned but kittens will nurse as long as their moms allow it.  I'll attach a picture of one of our rescues from a few years back.  She only had on leftover kitten, but he was right there with the new litter.  She had been an outdoor cat.

It would probably be best that you hide the other kittens from Luna for the time being. Out of sight, out of mind may be the best approach. Put her food and water in the room with her an the new kittens, and have a litter box in there for her as well.  Unless the other babies are meowing at the door, just let them have the run of the house for now.  If they start calling her, you will need to move them to another room.  Give her at least a week with the new ones without any visits from the older ones if you can.  In fact, aren't you planning on adopting out the older ones to a new home?  They need to go to the vet for their first shots and worming also.  In rescue, we even spay and neuter them when they are 2 months old and weight at least 2 pounds, and THEN we adopt them out after they recover in a week or so.

Also, as you can see in the photo, her leftover baby from the last litter looks like a longhair Siamese.  She had two babies in the younger litter who also looked Siamese but someone else had taken them before we got her from the owners, who were giving away the momma and babies to anyone who would take them because they were going to Mexico.  Anyhow, "Siamese" is a description for "Colorpoint" i.e. the color appears on the COOLER parts of the body over time (they are born pure white) and it is RECESSIVE, which means that the gene for that kind of color must come from BOTH parents in order for it to show up on any of the kittens.  Obviously Luna carries that gene, and so does the daddy of these latest kittens.  That was true of our girl here also, and probably the same daddy sired both of her litters since she had a couple of colorpoint kittens in each litter although she's a tabby and the four kittens remaining are tabbies.

All the kittens an the mama cat eventually got very good adoptive homes.  The big kitten and one of the little ones went together.  The two remaining girl kittens went to different homes, and the last boy and the mama went together to the same home long after they were spayed and neutered.

You might want to put Luna's food, water, and litter box in the room with her, and keep the older kittens completely away from her at this point. She needs to focus on her newborns.

It's not that she isn't bright. She's very bright - she knows she has two sets of babies now, but is more familiar, naturally, with the older ones. She also sounds like a caring mom. She will settle down and be less confused soon. Her maternal instincts were in overdrive today!

By the way, having two litters so close together is not ideal for mom or babies. It is very taxing on the mom's body. She will need lots of protein-filled kitten chow and wet food to meet the nutritional demands of nursing this litter on top of the last.

Do you plan to have Lola spayed soon? Since she obviously went into heat right after giving birth, perhaps you should keep her inside and away from any intact male cats. She can then be spayed once this new litter transitions to eating on their own. You probably know that she will be happier and healthier and lead a higher quality and longer life after she is spayed.

Do you have forever homes lined up for the kittens? If not, do you have plans to spay and neuter the kittens as well?

Enjoy your new litter! We'd love to see pictures also!

PS: Looks like I was busy typing as red top rescue posted.

Yes we just put food, water and a litterbox in the room (like, why didn't we come up with this earlier, we did this last time).

So what happens, she is in the box with the new kittens for a while. They're sleeping right this moment, and despite everything in the room she still meows and occasionally wants out of the bedroom. This would be ok, our cats are social and usually mingle with each other.

Now she's in the living room, and immediately what she wants to do is pull one of the older ones (BIG now!) in the bedroom, like she is not aware her other children are in there.

The older babies are not drinking milk for AGES, they're really all grown up now...but I am sure the she knows they're ALL their babies. I just don't want her to ignore those she just got. It's just weird she getting out of the box and then trying to get her old kittens... I guess she is so worked up and exhausted today hat her instincts just take over and overwhelm her?

Yes we've been thinking about spaying her. This is not our first litter and we're aware that more cats would be a catastrophe.

Keeping the cats "inside" is difficult if not to say impossible. We have cats coming and going here, they spend most of their time actually outside. But right now of course we don't let anyone into the bedroom but her and no males and not the other "children". With the food, water etc. in the room I hope she won't have this urge to come out.

PS. Right now we're debating whether she still has one or two "inside" even with the first birth already happening about 10 hours ago. She was much thinner last time after she had them.

She may want to come out of the bedroom, but don't let her so she can bond with her newborns. Especially now that she has all her supplies in there. It may be easier for her to settle down if she just stays in the bedroom. Be sure to go in and pet her when she meows, instead of letting her out. My mama cat stayed in for 8 weeks after giving birth, until I had her spayed. She was vocal at times, and even went into heat, but I gave her no choice in the matter!

If you aren't going to keep her in, she'll surely get pregnant again. So it may need to be a spay that includes a termination of pregnancy, or she will never get fixed because she will always be pregnant.

Are your other cats who come and go fixed? And what are your plans for the older kittens? Won't be long before they are sexually mature.

The Humane Society performs low-cost spays/neuters. Do you have one nearby? I just had four 12-week-olds fixed at my local Humane Society. They are much cheaper than a private vet.

How many kittens did she have this morning? She is likely done. With each litter her uterus gets more stretched out. She will never be as small again as she once was.

Hello again

The litter about 9 weeks earlier she had one tabby (looks exactly like the third one from the left on the picture above) and a "Siamese", extremely pretty cat. (Those two are a total handful, let me tell you...) She actually had a second Siamese (in that earlier litter) but this looked like it came too early, so sadly it didn't make it.

THIS time she had one tabby with amazing pattern and TWO "Siamese". The kittens do very well, they're drinking and moving and screaming and everything...this was a very hassle-free and quick birth.

So, she is still a little confused at times, but we have her in the bedroom now and I basically constantly "force" her into the box so she sees the kittens in there, then she usually stays.

But sometimes she gets distracted (like when we leave the room or when she hears another cat outside the room)...then she still wants to leave the room. We try to keep her in there tho.

Yesterday at night, we slept in the bedroom together with her in the closet where the box is. SHE IS EXTREMELY AFFECTIONATE especially towards me, not so much my wife. She is so affectionate that she again spent a good time outside the box on the bed or just by my side when I was reading a book, rather than in her box. At 2:50am I awake because she is digging herself into my armpit like crazy. She also has a habit to lick/bite my chin, just crazy affectionate. I still need to take her on occasion and basically "shove" her into the box, then it's like it's clicking with her and she realizes there are three kittens in it and then she stays. I would actually wish the kittens screaming more when she's gone (like was the case with other litters), but the kittens only get vocal once she jumps into the box and otherwise spend a lot of time sleeping. Once the kittens start crying she of course is all wound up and then puts her attention towards them and lies down...  So..I still need to "help" her on occasion to get into the box and to calm down...otherwise she's just distracted by all kinds of other things, especially should she leave the bedroom. Trying to to keep her in there and have her focus on the babies, like you guys said, without any distractions...

Great update! Glad to hear you are mostly keeping her in the bedroom, and working with her to settle in with her kittens. It is for her own good and that of the newborns. The older kittens do not need her.

Kittens frequently mew when mom returns to the box as they all rearrange themselves and look for nipples.

Just make sure she is nursing frequently enough. Sounds like it though from your description.

I hope all continues to go well. We are here if you have further questions.