Grandma Cat Kidnapped Kittens

[CaptPickleChips]

I have 2 cats, Macy and Amy. Macy is Amy's grandmother. Both Macy is recently fixed, but Amy just gave birth to kittens. It caught my eye because Macy was eating the placentas after the kittens were born instead of Amy. Since the first night Amy has distanced herself from the kittens and is letting her grandma nurse the kittens.

I have never had a cat give away their kittens to another cat before, so I'm not sure what, if anything, I should do.

 

[CaptPickleChips]

To clarify Macy is spayed, Amy is not.

 

[Kieka]

I've seen it happen twice in foster homes I follow online. So long as the kittens are gaining weight and mom nurses them there is nothing wrong with another female helping to care for the kittens. If Mom stops nursing you may need to step in to bottle feed them.

 

[CaptPickleChips]

We're on day two and biological mom has almost exclusively left them in grandmother's care. The kittens are suckling from grandmother, she cleans them, and sleeps with them. Macy has essentially hijacked all motherly duties and Amy won't stay with with them.

 

[lacy2000]

Make sure you weigh them everyday to make sure they are eating enough. I have heard of cats co-parenting or taking over the mother’s job and it being very successful before. It’s quite bizarre!

 

[breezy85]

Wow I've never heard of that happening, but hey aslong as the babies are getting enough nutrition and are gaining weight properly then I wouldn't worry. It's great that Macy was there to feed, clean, and parent them otherwise you may have ended up bottle feeding. Great job Grandma Macy with the Grandkitties

 

[kashmir64]

I'm not familiar with momma cats (I've always dealt with abandoned kittens), so this may be a stupid question. But how is it that Macy is lactating if she hasn't recently lost kittens?

 

[breezy85]

Honestly I'm not quite sure, that puzzles me as well. I normally Foster bottle feed kittens until now I have a pregnant mama cat. Hopefully someone will be able to help you, there's a lot of great ppl on here.

 

[CaptPickleChips]

I'm not familiar with momma cats (I've always dealt with abandoned kittens), so this may be a stupid question. But how is it that Macy is lactating if she hasn't recently lost kittens?

Because Macy had been pregnant when we had her spayed almost 3 weeks ago. We knew Macy had gotten outside so we had her spayed, but it wasn't until later that we realized Amy had gotten out well. At this point we felt it would be too late to have her spayed, so we were waiting for her to have the kittens to do so. I think it's for that reason that Macy has decided to take in/take over Amy's kittens.

 

[StefanZ]

I'm not familiar with momma cats (I've always dealt with abandoned kittens), so this may be a stupid question. But how is it that Macy is lactating if she hasn't recently lost kittens?

Yes, and this is why its double important here to weigh the kittens daily and watch out extra, to be sure they add and get real milk, and not just some milkish fluid...

 

[CaptPickleChips]

Been almost two weeks now, the kittens are starting to walk around a bit, eyes all open, and they've been gaining plenty of weight. I'm just glad things are going well, and wanted to thank everyone for the replies. Like I said, never had something like this happen before, and am glad there are people to ask for advice/answers.

 

[FunnyFaceFamily]

Wow that's amazing! Would love to see pictures Please?