How much interference is too much?

[Neece]

Hi,

My 3 year old cat Bellatrix has just had her first (and last) litter of 4, 3 days ago. The birth went well and she’s an incredible mummy cat, the kittens are feeding well, she spends probably 98% of her day lying with them, cleaning them and caring for them. Only comes out for food, drink and toilet.

Apart from weighing the kittens, my partner and I are content to leave her be. We check in every couple of hours and overnight as the nest is in our room.

Should we be doing more? I’d hate for anything to happen to her babies because we weren’t doing more.

 

[Furballsmom]

Keep a sharp eye on the weight gain. If that's going well for all of them, you are doing exactly the right thing

 

[StefanZ]

Some mommas show clearly they wants company of GrandMa. Others prefer to be mostly themselves with kids.

 

[Sarthur2]

This is textbook wonderful! No need to do more. Mama cats tend to stay very close the first 3 weeks, but do begin to take breaks outside of the nest as the kittens develop.

My mama cat (a pregnant stray I took in a couple weeks before delivering) moved her 4 kittens from a closet in my daughter’s room to my room at 3 weeks old. From there they stayed in my room for another 2-3 weeks, then they began to explore downstairs. Mama eventually would leave them with me to babysit, while she went upstairs for a well deserved nap without her babies. She continued to nurse them for a long time though.

Things sound lovely for now; just know that things do change as the kittens mature.

Ask questions as they pop up!

 

[Neece]

Brilliant! Thank you for the replies!

We’re definitely going to keep an eye on weight gain but it’s good to know we can leave her to it. They all seem so content and she’s so hands on, it’s been amazing to watch

 

[Furballsmom]