New momma kicking out a kitten

Hi. I have a new momma cat with 5 kittens and she keeps taking a different kitten and putting them outside of her box and separating one from the other 4. It's a different kitten each time. And she will go out and feed it separately. We keep putting the one back in with the others eventually. What's going on?

That's a new one on me! Hopefully an expert will answer you soon. It's usually one kitten they pick on, and that one usually has to be hand raised. As long as she is feeding them all, I wouldn't be too worried. Hopefully the 'outside' kitten will yell if they are left out too long and she will bring it back. 

B brendacrn

I have heard of this. Sometimes a mama cat senses a kitten needs one on one, and sometimes she's just confused. All you can do is let her feed the kitten separately, then put it back.

Is the nest big enough for mama to stretch out all the way? Sometimes the size of the nest can make a difference.

Also, how long ago did she have them? Often it takes a new mama a couple of days to settle down fully.

And with 5, you may have a runt who needs time on a nipple without getting shoved off so they can get enough milk.

Yeah, it may be a wise momma, whom instinctively understands 5 at once is one too many, so she does a sort of roation scheme.  Which we too recommend sometimes with big litters, having two groups rotating.  Having an smaller extra nest, where you can the satisfied babies to sleep their midday-nap, and she may give quality time to the rest...

Sometimes, if one is sick, the momma takes it out - usually abandons it - and if you want to try and save it, you must handraise it.

But sometimes she instead gives extra care to the weak one.

But this is NOT the case here, as she takes them different each time.

She only had them two days ago. And she has gone and fed one separately. They do seem to fight over her "milk bar" occasionally. Maybe she just gets fed up and kicks one out for a while because she is not very big. She is so good with all of them. We just will continue to watch her. We have a camera on her at all times to make sure everything is ok without bothering her too much. Thanks for all the advice!! We will be spaying and adopting them out when the time comes. She was just a sweet stray that needed a warm place to have babies. And she will never have to be on the streets again!

So sweet.  Thank you for helping this family!  Are you weighing each kitten daily?  And will you be keeping any of them?

Im intrigued by the looks.  First of momma, a broken mackerel tabby as it seems, but with some less usual twists and coloring.  Btw, what is the exact color of her eyes?

Could we get an exact photo of her face?  Is the backside of the ears, and the tail, of different color nuance than the body?   (I have some idea she may even be a point beside being a tabby)

But the bombshell falls with the looks of the kittens.  Black and white everyone!   Momma is no black and white, she is a tabby!

A foster momma could easily has this situation.   A biological black and white momma could too, easily...

I suppose dear daddy was black and white.  But still, momma is a tabby, so what is going on?   True the statistics arent ironclad, but...

As said, normally seeing such a photo I would presume she was a fostermomma, or  adopted them already outside...

I was floored too, when I saw the babies. That is unusual! You would think there would be at least some tabbies! Daddy must have had some strong genes.That black and white coloring will make it easy to find homes for those beautiful little ones. Keep us posted!

Beautiful mama and babies! [emoji]128149[/emoji]