Help Please!!!

[C4rl1245]

So my cat gave birth to a litter of 4 on her previous pregnancy and I kept one of the kittens and just recently she gave birth to a litter of 5 kittens and her previous kitten has been hissing and being aggressive towards her. Can someone help me please ?!?!?

 

[Jcatbird]

Hey! Don’t panic. It’s a natural reaction to her Mom having more babies. It’s probably a combination of things. Mom has new babies so there is some jealousy. Was the first baby ever completely separated from Mom? Mom also smells different now. The babies are there too. Interlopers. A dominance thing can be going on as well. A lot of kitty turmoil. If you are giving Mom lots of extra attention that can figure in as well. If you can give Mom and babies privacy right now it might be a good idea. I would try to give first baby a lot of loving attention as well. If there is a fuss you might try picking first baby up and talking to her in a reassuring voice. Tell her it’s okay and try to calm her. I would take her out of the room at that point. She needs to understand that you still love her but that she must not attack Mom. When she is with Mom you might sit down with them to smooth things a bit. Keep the peace and if things get tense, separate them. Any chance the first baby could be near heat? Those hormones can make things escalate. If first baby is not spayed, it might be time. Hopefully with you acting as peacemaker, they first baby will settle down. She probably just doesn’t like all that is going on with her Mom. It’s not uncommon. If you cannot calm things then you really need to keep her from the new babies if they are very small. As they become active and playful, maybe first baby will learn to like playing with them.
You can also try having Mom alone with first baby at meal time so first baby still feels like Mom is hers. No sharing with other babies. I usually see this when first babies don’t want to share Mom with strange new little creatures that they don’t recognize. You didn’t give the ages of any of the babies so I am wondering if this is all kind of recent. Give it time, be patient with the first baby and hopefully as the kittens get older and Mom is less confined with the little ones, she can also give a little attention to first baby. You can kind of compare it to a human mother bringing a new baby home to her toddler. At first there may be some conflict. You have to make everyone understand that there is enough love, attention, snuggle and playtime for everyone. You kind of need to fill in for Mom until she is freer to do more. Please update with any news or changes and as things go along the advice may evolve some. Hang in there. It will work out as you go.
I’m glad you wrote in. It’svery Nice to meet you. Welcome to thecatsite! We’ll be here if you need us!

 

[lutece]

It's safest for a mother cat and her babies to have their own space where other cats won't bother them. I recommend setting up mom and babies in a bedroom or spare room. You'll also want to keep the mother cat confined so that she doesn't get pregnant again right away, since mother cats are capable of getting pregnant again even while they are nursing new babies. How old is her kitten that you kept?

 

[talkingpeanut]

Yes, is the first kitten spayed yet? Would you like help finding a low cost spay clinic in your area?