mean mama

Lydia has been acting very differently lately, she keeps to herself, & seems very agitated. she's been absolutely vicious to her kittens. anytime they come withing a couple feet of her she starts growling, then she jumps up & hisses & swats at them. She attacks them, pins them down & bites them, she won't even stop when they are crying. she doesn't let them get away either. I don't understand what could be wrong with her. I think she may be going a little crazy. she seems to be possessed. I don't recognize her at all anymore. Any ideas out there?

How old are the kittens?
This sounds to me like mamma is getting ready to come into heat again, or she's weaning her babies, or both.

yep that would be my guess- are the kittens still nursing? If so, give mom a break from them for about 2 hours every day- not all at once. Just let her wander about 20 minutes in other parts of the house. If the kittens have been weaned, get her spayed.

Could be the she might already be pregnant, too.

This sounds a lot like a queen I know of right before she goes back into estrus. It is instinct-driven in that the queen knows she cannot care for the current litter if she must use the energy and resources to find a mate, breed and then care for the new litter.

Or it could also be that she is teaching them the feline social graces such as hunting and stalking prey. Do you really feel she is going to do them harm or is she reserving her strength and size over them?

Arlyn brings up a good question. How old is the current litter now? Are they eating and using the litter all on their own now?

The current litter will be 6 weeks tomorrow. I hope she wouldn't actually do them any real harm, she's been such a wonderful mother until now. I don't know what's gotten into her all of a sudden, but she seems very agitated. 2 of the kittens have been eating, drinking on their own more, & more, the other, has yet to attempt it. I thought I had to wait until kittens were completely weaned to get her spayed. One is still solely dependent on her. Thank you so much for your speedy replies! I will call the vet 1st thing Mon., hopefully, the kittens are ready by the time he can get her in. Any ideas what I can expect from her following her surgery? How I can get the kittens ready faster? Again thank you!