Kitten Stealing/sharing

[shazzgal]

I have 2 new mums in my house that had their litters within 24hrs. I ended up putting mum 2 in the bedroom to have her litter to keep her seperate. Mum 1 has always liked to be with other cats whilst she sleeps so kept coming in and lying down with mum 2 after she had the babies. I was worried at first but she didn't seem to be interested in stealing or hurting the babies and mum 2 wasn't phased. So after 24hrs of watching I put mum 2 in the kitchen with mum 1 and babies as mum 1 spent more time in with mum 2 than her own babies. I had to move mum 2 back to the bedroom after she transported her babies back their. Later that day I noticed mum 2 stealing mum 1's baby when she was in there. This happened twice. Due to the fact that mum 2 pooped in our bedroom last night ( we had everyone in, 5 cats, 6 newborn kittens and 5 dogs as they were poisoning in the area) we left the bedroom door open for air. When I went to bed their was mum 1 in the box with mum 2 and babies and 1 of the babies was suckling on mum 1.
I really need to get them out of the bedroom.... is it ok to let the mums share the feeding as long as all the kittens are being fed. Im thinking of putting the both boxes back in the kitchen area if it is. As I write this I just watched mum 2 go to the box of mum 1 and steal another kitten. THe kittens are just coming on to day 3 of life

 

[Mamanyt1953]

If the mums are happy with the arrangement, there is no problem at all, so long as everyone is well-fed. It isn't at all unusual for cats to share mothering responsibilities. You can very often observe this in barn cat colonies, for instance.

 

[shazzgal]

Thanks, Ill put them togeather tonight and see if everyone stays happy

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Just keep a close eye on things for a bit. But I really have seen many mama cats share duties, and with rats...well...they will pile five or six litters together and one or two does stay and mother and nurse while the other forage. Communal infant care isn't that rare in the animal world.

 

[shazzgal]

Thanks, Its been nearly 2 full days since putting them togeather. It started with the 2 boxes facing each other for the first night and then yesterday I put them all in 1 box. The mums are good. I generally find them both in their togeather. 1 for moral support and 1 feeding. Then in the evening 1 goes out and hunts for mice and the other stays and feeds through the night and the morning the other goes out for a few hours. So it all looks good. Im still making sure both feed though at least once a day to keep milk flowing. We have a problem of our new mums being hit buy cars when the kittens are bout 4 weeks ( even though they don't normally go on the road) so I will have a substitute mum ready if it happens.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Oh dear. Please, please keep both moms 100% inside! They can get pregnant again within a week of delivery, and their kittens need them.

Do you need help finding somewhere to have them spayed when they are ready?