Female cat fighting issue

Okay I foster. And I took in two female sisters. I have an older once was mother is fixed but still likes to tend to the queens(she's a comforter and attends all my foster cat births so everyone loves her) any who one sister gave birth(Zena) to 3 kittens ,well 4 one stillborn. She has been a neglectful nurser. Her sister(Salem) whom we didn't know was pregnant was taken aswell because they were in same kennel and I didn't want to stress out the queen. They are very close and snuggly and get really mad when separated(which is one issue) the sister Salem started producing milk because again they snuggle and the kittens were sucking Salem as well. Well Zena started getting worse on the neglect wouldn't even lay down to nurse them so Salem took on the full duty basically. Well salem went into labor. Which I was shocked she had no tummy. Well a vet checked her she literally had one large healthy boy. But issue is now. Zena is being bipolar aggressive. Towards everyone she licks on and purrs then starts fights. She attacked Salem a few times now and of course Salem's mom instincts are on hyper drive right now. My older cat comes and breaks them up (grabs ones scruff and pins down long enough for me to grab the other one-yes be jealous of my feline assitant) anywho. Salem nurses all four kittens now. Newborn is growing perfect weight if not faster than expected. And my older momma though doesn't start fights seems to pull the kittens away from Zena and hid them until Salem gets them. I want to separate Zena from the kittens since she's not nursing but just starting fight out of the blue,even my older mom seems not to want her near the kittens. But she cry's and has a panic attack if I seperate her. She was so bad she deficated herself while pacing the door freaking out. I tried to give her just her kittens in another room but she wasnt feeding them or cleaning them. I've tried even bottle feeding them but then there's the issue of one kitten on Salem will greatly affect her milk supply. I don't know what to do. This cats driving me nuts. I'm 28 weeks pregnant and really can't keep dealing with fighting cats. I'm almost tempted to just say no to letting her nurse getting her fixed and hoping she will calm down but I'm scared the trauma of it will be bad because she's panicking as it is. [emoji]128542[/emoji] I just need her to calm down..

okay, this idea came from another thread here on TCS -- and it worked in a similar situation to yours. here's a link to that thread --

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/323382/older-kitten-stealing-mothers-new-babies

you might try giving your Zena her own "baby" -- toy, stuffed animal "baby". like cat beanie baby or other small stuffed animal (toy).

it might be possible that Zena is experiencing some medical issue related to having given birth to her kittens. has your vet looked at her, and have you discussed the starting fights/aggressiveness? this might be a symptom of illness in Zena.

T twckittenmom

Whew! You've got your hands full!

It's good that Salem is willing and able to nurse all four kittens.

Zena sounds hormonal and immature. How old are Zena and Salem? And how old are the 4 kittens?

I am leaning towards Zena getting spayed soon as well, but I would like a bit more information on ages of the sisters and the kittens.

sarthur2 said:

T twckittenmom

Whew! You've got your hands full!

It's good that Salem is willing and able to nurse all four kittens.

Zena sounds hormonal and immature. How old are Zena and Salem? And how old are the 4 kittens?

I am leaning towards Zena getting spayed soon as well, but I would like a bit more information on ages of the sisters and the kittens.

Click to expand...

from what I was told they are about a year old. The older kittens are 6 weeks and the newborn is 4 days old. If I knew how to post pictures I'd show you the Lil chunker. His legs are about as big as the runts of the 3(the runts proper weight just short and smaller than the other 2.)

mickNsnicks2mom said:

okay, this idea came from another thread here on TCS -- and it worked in a similar situation to yours. here's a link to that thread --

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/323382/older-kitten-stealing-mothers-new-babies

you might try giving your Zena her own "baby" -- toy, stuffed animal "baby". like cat beanie baby or other small stuffed animal (toy).

it might be possible that Zena is experiencing some medical issue related to having given birth to her kittens. has your vet looked at her, and have you discussed the starting fights/aggressiveness? this might be a symptom of illness in Zena.

Click to expand...

she won't take toys I've tried that already even tried a beanie cat with cat nip. She goes straight to the room with her kittens in it when let lose from the other room. But she's not attentive to the kittens mainly just follows them and does mommy meow purr. Won't let them suckle. She has milk but they have been teething since 3 weeks I've noticed.

At this point since her kittens are 6 weeks old, and have been mostly reared by her sister, I would go ahead and get Zena spayed. There is no reason not to.

It may take a month or so for her hormones to completely calm down, but it should make a big difference.

Are the 6-week-olds eating wet food and kitten chow now?

sarthur2 said:

At this point since her kittens are 6 weeks old, and have been mostly reared by her sister, I would go ahead and get Zena spayed. There is no reason not to.

It may take a month or so for her hormones to completely calm down, but it should make a big difference.

Are the 6-week-olds eating wet food and kitten chow now?

Click to expand...

one is the other two have no interest in it and try to convince me to bottle feed them formula. At which my response is to give them to Salem who will nurse them.lol

sarthur2 said:

At this point since her kittens are 6 weeks old, and have been mostly reared by her sister, I would go ahead and get Zena spayed. There is no reason not to.

It may take a month or so for her hormones to completely calm down, but it should make a big difference.

Are the 6-week-olds eating wet food and kitten chow now?

Click to expand...

I'm also trying not to wean them to soon since Salem has only one kitten. I don't want her milk supply to go away.

That's okay. Just make kitten chow and wet food available. They will transition to it soon.

Time to get Zena spayed!