Hello, this is my first time posting here and I hope someone can help.
I have a 2 year old cat who gave birth on Feb 8th. Two of the kittens have gone to loving homes and two of the kittens I kept, they are males. My female has been nursing them as often as they want and sometimes calls them to come and nurse, they are 4 months old now. Last week she started acting a tad strange, and I thought she was going into heat. Is it possible for a lactating cat to go into heat? She is an escape artist and has gotten out many times since this behavior started ( three kids who do not understand the words shut the door lol) . Now when I finally catch her and bring her into the house, she is very aggressive towards the kittens. If they even just start to approach her from across the room, she hisses and growls. If by chance they get close, she literally attacks them biting, or swiping at them. She is not aggressive towards me or the children, but she is aggressive towards the dog also.
She has always been a very laid back cat, not so much loving, but tolerating the kids. I have never seen her display any type of aggression before this.
Today I caught her in the act with a male cat, but was not aggressive in any way towards him. I caught her and brought her into the house, and she immediately started hissing and growling even though the kittens were not around.
Is she being aggressive because she's in heat, or because she is ready for the kittens to be weaned? Will she always act this way towards her kittens, or once her heat cycle is over, will she act normally again? She is/was a very good momma to her kittens, so this is really strange. I am afraid for the kittens, as she is so violent towards them. Should I also be worried about her turning on me or my children? I have a severly disabled 5 year old that could not get away from the cat or even understand what is happening.
She was scheduled to be fixed, but due to my husbands health problems, and lack of paycheck coming in, she was not.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
I have a 2 year old cat who gave birth on Feb 8th. Two of the kittens have gone to loving homes and two of the kittens I kept, they are males. My female has been nursing them as often as they want and sometimes calls them to come and nurse, they are 4 months old now. Last week she started acting a tad strange, and I thought she was going into heat. Is it possible for a lactating cat to go into heat? She is an escape artist and has gotten out many times since this behavior started ( three kids who do not understand the words shut the door lol) . Now when I finally catch her and bring her into the house, she is very aggressive towards the kittens. If they even just start to approach her from across the room, she hisses and growls. If by chance they get close, she literally attacks them biting, or swiping at them. She is not aggressive towards me or the children, but she is aggressive towards the dog also.
She has always been a very laid back cat, not so much loving, but tolerating the kids. I have never seen her display any type of aggression before this.
Today I caught her in the act with a male cat, but was not aggressive in any way towards him. I caught her and brought her into the house, and she immediately started hissing and growling even though the kittens were not around.
Is she being aggressive because she's in heat, or because she is ready for the kittens to be weaned? Will she always act this way towards her kittens, or once her heat cycle is over, will she act normally again? She is/was a very good momma to her kittens, so this is really strange. I am afraid for the kittens, as she is so violent towards them. Should I also be worried about her turning on me or my children? I have a severly disabled 5 year old that could not get away from the cat or even understand what is happening.
She was scheduled to be fixed, but due to my husbands health problems, and lack of paycheck coming in, she was not.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
