Mother cat too rough?

[Malina1996]

Hi, new to the site and could really use some help.
About a month ago we took in a pregnant stray, sweetest cat. She had 3 kittens less than two weeks ago.

Today I look in on them and she’s got the smallest (still healthy weight just smallest of 3) in a headlock,bunny kicking a 1 week old kitten.
Is this normal??? I expect rough play when they’re old enough but this seems super young.

They’re in a playpen and mom has ability to come and go as she pleases. I took kitten out for a minute then put her back in. She started to roughly clean her then seemed to bite at her. I took her out again and tried calling vet, can’t get ahold of them. Put her back again and she let kitten nurse and they’re now all sleeping. Is it safe to leave her with mom or do we need to take her away? (We are prepared with supplies to bottle feed if necessary. )

Thanks for any tips!!

 

[ArtNJ]

Geez, I hope one of our experts gets to you soon, I don't have this knowledge, but I can tell you we get nervous when young cats are playing roughly with kittens under 6 weeks old. Above that age, give or take and depending on how rough is rough, and subject to some differences of opinion as well, they are generally sturdy enough even if the play looks too rough. But I've never heard of a Momma bunny kicking a kitten. To me, it sounds like something is wrong with Mama and, if so, she could hurt the kittens. Maybe I'm wrong and we'll both learn something, but I think you are right to concerned.

Maybe also post this in the pregnant cats an kitten care subforum to increase the chances someone knowledgable gets with you quickly.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I don't have much, but if the mama is OK with the other babies, then there is something going on with this runt. Is this a new mother (no previous litters)? Perhaps, this little one is biting mama while nursing - more than the others and it is frustrating the mama. Or, the runt is having a hard time competing with the other kittens, and causing some sort of issue? What would happen if you remove the other kittens and allow the runt to be with mama alone (under your supervision) and see what happens? Not for any length of time, but just enough to notice if you see a different interaction. If that works, then fine; but it is possible that the mama knows, intuitively, that there is something not quite right with this one kitten and you may have to intervene for extra, or all, feedings.

Hope others with much more knowledge than I have come along with some ideas.

 

[Malina1996]

Hi. I don't have much, but if the mama is OK with the other babies, then there is something going on with this runt. Is this a new mother (no previous litters)? Perhaps, this little one is biting mama while nursing - more than the others and it is frustrating the mama. Or, the runt is having a hard time competing with the other kittens, and causing some sort of issue? What would happen if you remove the other kittens and allow the runt to be with mama alone (under your supervision) and see what happens? Not for any length of time, but just enough to notice if you see a different interaction. If that works, then fine; but it is possible that the mama knows, intuitively, that there is something not quite right with this one kitten and you may have to intervene for extra, or all, feedings.

Hope others with much more knowledge than I have come along with some ideas.

Hard to tell on other litters since she was a stray. Being as there's only 3 kittens, I'm thinking this may be her first. This little one did seem to have a harder time staying latched than the other two but as she's gotten bigger it's gotten better. Even though she's the smallest, she's the most feisty so I'm not sure if mom was correcting her but again, at less than 2 weeks old seemed a bit extreme to me.

 

[Malina1996]

**Update - this happened again after I posted and I was able to catch it with my phone. It didn't seem as violent as the first time, not sure if that's because it wasn't or if I was just shocked to see it the first time. The bunny kicks didn't seem full force and it looked to be an open mouthed bit if that makes sense. The other two kittens were off sleeping in the playpen so it was just this baby and mom when it happened. I've never seen her do this to the other kittens. Kittens are 11 days old and weigh anywhere from 283 to 271 grams, none look or act "sickly". So far (except for this) she's been a great mom.

 

[Sarthur2]

Just keep an eye on the situation. Moms usually don’t do this behavior until the kittens are about 3 weeks old. By all means intervene if mom is too rough, but leave the kitten with mom. The kittens’ weights are good!

 

[Malina1996]

Just keep an eye on the situation. Moms usually don’t do this behavior until the kittens are about 3 weeks old. By all means intervene if mom is too rough, but leave the kitten with mom. The kittens’ weights are good!

Thank you and I will. I’m a crazy cat lady since the day I was born but this is the first batch of kittens I’ve ever dealt with. We will most likely keep them all (mom too) so we just worry that they grow up big and healthy.

 

[Malina1996]

Well I just heard back from our vet. Doesn’t seem like there’s much they suggest. It was warm in the house yesterday (keeping ac off for kittens) but today is cooler and she seems more relaxed and back to her normal behavior. Hopefully she was just hot and maybe stressed/tired.

 

[Sarthur2]

You can run the a/c, just not too cold!

 

[Malina1996]

You can run the a/c, just not too cold!

Yes I think it was a lesson learned for us (although she did grab the biggest kitten a little aggressively today). I’m thinking maybe she just won’t be the warm/fuzzy type of mom as they get older.

We’ll keep things cooler for us and her and just use more hot water bottles and heat discs for them.

 

[Sarthur2]

Make sure the kittens have room to move away from the heat sources though; they can also get too warm themselves sometimes and want to move away.

 

[catsknowme]

Are you able to keep the nest draft-free? I am so glad that you are taking in that little cat family. We'd love to see pictures

 

[Malina1996]

Make sure the kittens have room to move away from the heat sources though; they can also get too warm themselves sometimes and want to move away.

They’re good, we have them in a good sized playpen so there’s plenty of room. They seems to enjoy the hot water bottles more than the snuggle safe for some reason. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Malina1996]

Are you able to keep the nest draft-free? I am so glad that you are taking in that little cat family. We'd love to see pictures

Yes, there in a playpen lined and covered with fleece blankets so I think they’re doing ok. The big baby gained 22 grams since yesterday, she’s going to be a chunker!! Here’s the family - we love them all so much already!

 

[catsknowme]

They are adorable chonks!! Look at those plump tummies - they are doing great!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi there. We have another member who the mama is being a bit rough with one of the kittens - how is that going now for you?
Cemetery Stray | Page 2 | TheCatSite

 

[Malina1996]

Hi there. We have another member who the mama is being a bit rough with one of the kittens - how is that going now for you?
Cemetery Stray | Page 2 | TheCatSite

She’s been a lot better since I posted, back to her normal “great mom” self. I have witnessed her grabbing and kicking all 3 kittens so at this point I don’t feel like she is rejecting one, I think she may be trying to discipline them. The things she’s doing look rough at first but after seeing her do it to each of them she was actually pretty gentle compared to when she’s playing. I think I was more shocked than anything, but she seems to be a natural mom and is really doing great. They turned 2 weeks yesterday and she’s still spending the majority of her time with them.

 

[Malina1996]

I have a new question about my cat and it looks like I need to keep it in the same thread.

we weighed all three kittens around 10 AM this morning one only gained 8 grams. Because that was not a lot I weighed her again at 5 PM. There was no change in weight. I weighed all three cats and none of them had a change in weight today. I called our vet and the tech said the weight may not change much day by day but we should aim for 1/4 lb per week. I then watched all three kittens nurse and weighed them again and still no increase in weight. I called vet again and they said they could be comfort nursing and not hungry. The tech said they would cry if they were hungry and they are not crying at the moment.

I’m not sure if we need to supplement or if this is normal behavior. The kittens just turned two weeks old on Saturday. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Sarthur2]

How much do they weigh?

 

[Malina1996]

How much do they weigh?

3 of them from biggest to smallest = 372 - 364 - 337