Help! Mother Constantly Carries Baby Around

littlebumbleb

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I am really worried about my cat (her name is Baby) and her new kitten. She had only one kitten on Monday. She did really well. She had it while I was gone to work and when I got home the baby was feeding and was doing really well. She seems to be a really good mama.

But... Monday night Baby started carrying the kitten around. She moved it to underneath my bed. I thought she was just trying to find a quieter and darker place to keep it, but she is acting very strange... If I am not in the bedroom she picks it up by its scruff and carries it up and down the hall and into the living room. She doesn't seem to be looking for a place to move it to, she is just carrying it around. She does this until I go back to the bedroom. For instance, last night she was walking around with it (and that worries me because it seems like she is moving it around way too much and maybe hurting it) and when I went to bed she took it under the bed and stayed there with it all night.

I am not sure what is going on. The only thing I can think is that since it is her only kitten she doesn't want to leave it alone, but she wants to be wherever I am at. Has anyone ever heard of this before? Should I be that worried about the kitten?
 

5catsandcountin

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How old is the mother? Is she feeding the kitten and keeping it warm...and when she carries it around, does she cry out and meow a lot? If she is otherwise feeding and caring for the kitten...she sounds concerned and nervous....which can happen. She seems like she loves you and wants to stay close. I would check on the kitten frequently. As you try and hold the kitten talk in a soothing voice with a lot of praise in your voice and show the kitten love & mother love. Check it for injuries and health. It can be a scary thing to see a momma cat carry a bay, but it is usually perfectly safe. If you have a kitchen scale, watching the weight daily is a good idea on the baby.
 
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littlebumbleb

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She is 1 yrs old. This is her first baby. She doesn't cry alot when she carries it, but if she does come out from under the bed without it she meows and cries to me. She is feeding and keeping it warm. I checked its neck last night... there was no blood or signs of wounds... only slobber.

When she brings it out she won't let me hold it. She doesn't let go of it unless she is trying to get a better grip on it.

Last night before I went to bed she had it in the living room and jumped into the chair my roommate was in. She laid down in his lap and started nursing it right there! I don't get it!
 

hissy

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It sounds to me like you should leave her confined in a room, with several nesting boxes. Low lying plastic containers, like the type you store under your bed are good. You can get them inexpensively at Target or Wal Mart, fill them with soft bedding, and put them someplace warm, dark and quiet. Don't allow this new mom much in the way of traveling space. Keep her confined to one room. When you can, just go in and sit quietly on the floor, and read or write a letter until she gets used to being a mom. I do hope you will get her spayed once this kitten is weaned.
 

cjandbilly

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Originally Posted by hissy

It sounds to me like you should leave her confined in a room, with several nesting boxes. Low lying plastic containers, like the type you store under your bed are good. You can get them inexpensively at Target or Wal Mart, fill them with soft bedding, and put them someplace warm, dark and quiet. Don't allow this new mom much in the way of traveling space. Keep her confined to one room. When you can, just go in and sit quietly on the floor, and read or write a letter until she gets used to being a mom. I do hope you will get her spayed once this kitten is weaned.
is exactly what I was thinking as I was reading. I've always kept CJ's kittens confined, but I do let CJ out now and then. And now, since they are older, I bring them out to play sometimes. But for now, it sounds like she doesn't feel her kitten is safe, so as my suggestion, I'd do just what hissy said and confine her. Go in there and give her love now and then, too; that certainly won't hurt. Good luck!
And post pics soon!
 

gailail

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or you should get a litter cage to put her in until ahe get use to the noise around her
 
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littlebumbleb

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Okay, she is confined to my room. She really wants out though! Oh well, she will stay there for a while.

She is doing better with the kitten. She is still feeding it.

She is, however, acting strange... or at least I think so. Yesterday she carried the kitten out from under the bed and dropped him in the litter box. I guess she might be showing him how to use it, but it is only 3 days old! And this morning she brought it up on top of the bed where I was laying to feed it. Any ideas as to why should be moving it around so much within the room instead of leaving it in one nesting area?
 

evnshawn

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Hmm. Sounds like maybe she wants to be where you are. It probably comforts her. And since you don't have any other cats (right?), you're her family. Our cat that just had kittens, Pepsi, prefers not to be alone with her kittens even though she's doing a wonderful job taking care of them.

As to the litterbox thing ... I dunno. Cats (like people) are strange sometimes.
 

momof6mews

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Ohh my cat did the same thing. But with 5 kittens instead of one...it drove me NUTS! My vet said that they move the kittens so much because they dont want the scent of the kitten to be left anywhere. That way predtors cant find the baby. I ended up just letting her do her thing. She knows whats best.
 

cjandbilly

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She probably put the kitten in the litter box to ward off predators, making them think her kitten is an adult kitten (her). Since she is moving the kitten where ever you are, perhaps if you have an old blanket you use, or buy a cheap blanket, and lay on it for a few days, then give it to her. It will have your scent and smell on it, and it may comfort her. Worth a try?
 

hissy

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If a mama cat leaves a new kitten and abandons it, then she is leaving it for predators, but it is usually far away from her nest, and is not in a litter pan. If she were not nursing it, then I would suspect your kitten is quite ill and she doesn't want him around her. That is instinct, but she is not just dumping him and then running away right? If she is, get that kitten to the vet NOW- but if she stays, and nurses and cleans the kitten, then it is likely she is just to young to give birth and not sure what to do-
 
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littlebumbleb

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Maybe I didn't explain that well... she didn't leave it in the litter pan. She put it in there with her and wait a minute then took it back out and clean her and fed her.

When I came home tonight the kitten was lying on my bed in my spot... wonder where I will sleep?
lol
 

loveysmummy

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Was she laying with the kitten? or was the kitten alone?
Maybe Hissy is right and the cat wants YOU to take care of kitten as she doesn't know how?? I am no expert...This is all very interesting.
 
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littlebumbleb

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Well, Baby gets up whenever I come into the room... so there isn't really a way of knowing. I am sure she was laying with it though.
 
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