Mom hates her babies

Hey everyone,

I've been searching the internet all morning for information to help with my situation but, so far, no luck.

My cat Smeagol is about a year and a half old, and she was spayed a few months ago after giving birth to five healthy kittens in September. We gave away three of the babies and kept two of them - Vix and Deagol (both female). Smeagol's always been a skiddish and cautious cat, getting braver as she ages, but recently she's started acting aggresively toward the two little ones. At first we just thought she was annoyed by them, that they were only bothering her at the wrong times (while she was eating, upset by something else, etc.), but now she hisses, growls, swats and gets really upset whenever they come near her at all, even just to pass by.

I can't figure out why Smeagol has gotten so angry all of a sudden. We made sure to pay lots of attention to her after the kittens were born so she wouldn't be jealous, and have continued to do so. We have other (older) cats in the house that don't evoke the same reaction from her at all.

So, please, help me understand why she hates her babies now.

Take care,
Cynthia - a fellow cat obsessor

This is actually quite common for momcats to display this type of behavior. Many times, when the mom and babies are kept together, the littermates will try and nurse on her even after they are old enough not to need to. She has done her job, and now she just needs time away from them. Give her about a 2 hour a day rest in a room seperate of them, and unless she gets really stressed about being closed in, just keep giving her the time away. This is just part of the nature of cats and is real apparent in strays and ferals, because it is just their part of life and how the family survives. They survive apart from each other.