Question about blending our other furbabies with stray momma cat and her kitten

Hi all,

I took in a stray cat who gave birth to 8 beautiful kittens 3 weeks ago. They are all doing very well. I am definitely keeping momma cat (Shenzi) and possibly one of the kittens (Rabbit). The issue is this: Shenzi is very protective of her kittens, will she remain that way if I keep one? Is there a way to introduce her and Rabbit to our other pets without her fighting them because one of her babies is still in the home?

Obviously, I am keeping them all confined and away from our other animals now. But what can I do to help them all transition? is it possible?

My other animals are 2 cats and one dog. They are all very laid back animals. I feel confident that if all of the kittens were gone, I could gradually introduce Shenzi into the family. But, I would really like to keep one of the kittens too and I only will do so if Shenzi will eventually allow the other animals around her baby.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? I know this would have to be done on a very gradual basis. Will Shenzi be less protective when the kitten is bigger and more able to defend itself or will she always be super protective and fight the others in effort to keep them away from the kitten?

Sorry for the repetitiveness of my post, LOL, I am sleepy.

Thanks for any thoughts and advice!

As the kittens get older the mom will drive them away. Funny Face would hiss and growl at her kids everytime she encountered them in the house or outside after they reached 14 weeks of age. It is normal for cats to do this-

Originally Posted by hissy

As the kittens get older the mom will drive them away. Funny Face would hiss and growl at her kids everytime she encountered them in the house or outside after they reached 14 weeks of age. It is normal for cats to do this-

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LOL, does that mean that she will not want to live in the same home as her kitten? I hope not!

My foster Sugartoes was great with my dog before having her kittens. I tried letting the dog in her room once the kittens were 7-8 weeks old, and she freaked out, hissing and spitting.

Your Momma cat is going to be very protective of the kittens for another month or two. But once the kittens are grown, that will settle down. Also, you will probably be getting Shenzi spayed when she quits nursing the kittens, and you will keep her separated from the kittens while she heals. This will also help lessen her tendency to be so protective, I think.

You are a good person to save this little kitty family!

Happy birthday!

She will eventually treat the kitten as she would any other cat. I had a mother and son whom I kept and they were fine together - the mom just hissed at him and swatted him for a while to stop him nursing on her, then they became friends and would sleep and hunt together, though they also fought occasionally and competed for the same basket etc, as any other two cats would do.

My sisters stray cat had two litters before she finally had her spayed she kept two from the first litter and one from the second litter. It's so funny because the mother still lets one of the big boys nurse from the first litter even when she had the second litter of two he is bigger then her

My stray mama cat loves my dogs (Great Danes) but doesn't care for my other cats so when they come in contact I pet everyone and give them treats, to let everyone know it's alright we can all live together. I don't keep everyone sparated I feel the babies need too learn at a young age to like other pets, but you should always be there to supervise. JMO