couple of questions about my new momma

My cat had her 7 kittens on July 29th! They all liveed and appear to be doing great! They are cute as can be. My momma cat is beginning to moan somewhat like she did when she was in heat. Is she in heat again or is this just her communication with the kittens? Also do I have to help her at all with the weaning and litter training processes? I have found all of the kittens good home with close friend and family (I'm keeping 2 as well). This was an accidental litter and I was told that I can't spay the momma for another couple of weeks. I have started to wet the kitten food that my momma cat has been eating for the kittens, and they occasionally take a taste, but she gobbles it down very quickly.

Robyn

Hi Robyn and welcome to TCS. I hope your visits here will be informative and fun.

It is extremely likely that your girl is back in estrus, so please make absolutely certain you keep her securely indoors so she won't escape and become pregnant again before you can spay her.

Momma cats do call their kittens with a different sounding meow (at least that has been my experience) so it could also be that, but if your kittens arrived at the end of July, then they are about 4 to 5 weeks old now and probably exploring everywhere and anywhere they can. Sometimes that makes Momma a little nervous and so she will call them to try and round 'em up so she can keep a better watch on them.

Most vets I have spoken with seem to recommend waiting until all of the kittens are consistantly eating and using the litter on their own before spaying. Given the differences in individuals, this might be anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks old - Momma can be safely spayed as soon as all her babies are eating and potty'ing for themselves.

Other than providing a good, high-quality kitten food in both dry and canned formulas for both Momma and babies and making sure you put several small litter boxes around where the babies stay and play, you shouldn't have too much to do in the way of weaning. Momma will pretty much teach her kits what they need to know.

Hope this helps,

~gf~

Welcome Robyn....if you need a low cost clinic for when your momma is ready to be spayed, click the link below:

http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html

scroll down until you find your state and click that link and you will find a list of low cost clinics in your state.

Definately keep mom indoors until you have her spayed.

Katie

When I fostered mum and kittens last year, I had to supervise mealtimes, otherwise the mum would wolf all her food, and then push the kittens out of the way, even though she still had her biscuits to go at. Might be worth doing to see how well the kittens can all eat - I had one that wouldn't touch any kind of food for about a week after the others were eating.

I thought that she was doing a pretty good job of taking care of them. I have noticed her staying a longer distance away from them recently. Also I saw a few of the kittens get in a litter box and use it all on their own for the first time today! One more question: The past couple of days she's started to be really agressive toward my children. She doesn't mind when they play with the kittens, but (it seems in play) she has been attacking their legs and feet. What can I do about this? Is she just eager to get back to playing?