Mama Cat steals other's kittens.

My fluffy has 3 kittens which are about 4 weeks old (born 3/4). Mama Cat had one kitten this year (?). Now that Mama Cat has had her brood (born 3/26), she keeps stealing Fluffy' kittens and placing them in her birthing box. Is this unusual behavior?

Fluffy's kittens are just now old enough (as of last Saturday) to climb out of their box and follow me around the front room. (They look like little traveling balls of fur). Yesterday is when I noticed two of them were missing, and found them in Mama's box! And Mama's box is on top of the refrigerator! When Mama cat comes out to take fluffy's kittens, Fluffy does not put up any resistance to the thievery! But only begins to meow when she can't find all of them.:)

An update, I found Silver Prince in Mama's box again this afternoon (3/28). She seems only to take one kitten and leave the other two - but she is not particular which one she takes. What I am a bit fearful of is that Silveer Prince is old and big enough to crawl out of Mama's box and since it is about 6ft high, there is no way for a kitten to get down, he might fall in the process. Fluffy ( a torite) has been on the floor since giving birth to them.



...........wayne:cool:

Wayne,

The breeder - where I got my kittens told me that when my guys were being nursed as new borns the breeder had another mother cat with a litter and they would take turns nursing all of them. Sorta a team approach. I don't know if the Mother cats moved around or the kittens were dragged from place to place, but both nursed all the kittens at one time...then took a break....hehehehehehehe.

Do you have homes for all these little furballs? Yikes! Cats galore! I love little kittens but couldn't let my two breed since they are brother and sister!

I wouldn't worry if the Mom cats are cool with this arrangement!

:eek: :eek:

??? I have no experience with this, but will watch this post with interest. Do let us know how the mother cats resolve this. (Feels a little like a soap opera!)

Amberlee, I usually do not have much difficulty in finding homes for my kittens. I welcome any new kitties, and I will keep those who I cannot find homes for, and try to keep them safe. Now that I have just completed making my own pet carrier (because the store-bought ones are too weak and flimsy for my larger cats), to take to the vets for neutering and spaying.

................wayne

I know this is going to be no help at all but..........
I heard that cats have a super motherly instinct and if you had orphaned kittens another cat would gladly nurse them.........
Maybe Mama just looooves bein a momma?!?!?:rolleyes:

Sara. Yes, I am aware of that because last year I lost a favorite pet, Motley Cat, who who was killed leaving a litter of still-nurisng kittens. (I am sure that she was chased out onto the highway by dog, because she never went that far away from home. ) They were taken over by Fluffy. Although, these 3 current kittens are not motherless. BTW, these same 3 are some of the largest and healthiest kittens for their age I have seen.:) One I am naming Crown Princess (because of a brown spot on the crown of her head, one (probably a male), Silver Prince because of his silver-gray color, and the 3rd, well, I havn't thought of one for her yet. (She is mostly black with a brown eye spot, any ideas?) These are all long fur kittens , the first of any that I have had in the past.

............wayne

I can't be of any help since none of my cats ever had kittens. I sort of envy you! Let us know when you come up with a name for the black kitten (I can't be any help on this either :D), if I lived nearer I would be very tempted to take Silver Prince, Id'd love to have a grey cat one day.

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Originally posted by wayne0214
Fluffy's kittens are just now old enough (as of last Saturday) to climb out of their box and follow me around the front room. (They look like little traveling balls of fur).

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I can just picture this, Wayne. Kind of like the mother duck with her little ducklings paddling like mad behind her. :D Your house sounds quite lively and fun these days. :)

I can't help on either point here, but I have also heard about cats trading off on mothering and taking over for others. I would say if the mothers don't mind, it's really not a problem, just kind of a curiosity to see how it all works out in the end.

Is there the possibility of pictures of these "little traveling balls of fur"? Of course that would only feed my craving for a kitten again - after almost 16 years!

I am not of much help but interested how the out come is on Mommies. :)

I had a similar experience several years ago. I was feeding a stray (called Grandma now)who had arrived at my house a year earlier, pregnant. She was having her second litter and one of her daughters from her first litter was expecting too. I fixed them both boxes on my porch. The daughter had hers first. It was so funny because Grandma (her mother) crawled into the box with her and helped her deliver the kittens. Grandma had her own a few days later. They took turns nursing the bunch. The mothers moved from box to box and kept the babies seperate. After the babies were weined, I had the mommies spayed. I had never seen cats share each others babies that way. I thought maybe it was because they were mother and daughter themselves. Sadly the daughter cat was killed by a car but Grandma still visits me daily. I'd love to bring her in but 5 in the house is just too many. The babies all went to good homes.

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and the 3rd, well, I havn't thought of one for her yet. (She is mostly black with a brown eye spot, any ideas?)

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o.k. this may sound like a nerdy name but I looove it..........
my mom-in-law has a chihuahua named Spanky:D He is white with a brown spot on one of his eyes...... they were wanting to name him after the dog in THE LITTLE RASCALS but they accidentally named him after one of the kids instead of Petey the dog........

Sara, Spanky is a good name for her. So, from now on she will be called "Spanky". Thanks for the input, as I knew the "girls" on Pet Talk are better at choosing names for kittens than I am.

I do have a cheap camera, perhaps I could purchase some film for it and take pictures of my managergie, and send them to whoever to place on the forum. Now that the mulberry trees in the front yard are beginning to bud out, I'm thinking of taking some pictures of Snow cat and Tigress in the tree with all the green leaves for a background to his white and tan coat, and Tigress' ice-white and lilac-purple. I must capture her (hawk) blue eyes on film because they are so striking, and is the most prominent feature about her.

......wayne

Wayne,

Go for it! That sounds like it would be a very striking photo. I look forward to seeing it.

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I do have a cheap camera, perhaps I could purchase some film for it and take pictures

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Oh goody...................... I know everyone would looove to see some pictures!!!!:D :)

I do know for a fact that feral cats (true ferals, not wildcats or abandoned housecats) DO cooperate in raising each others' young.

I was watching a TLC special on feral cats. A mother/daughter team had kittens at the same time. They took turns nursing, the only problem was that one of them had a tendency to move the kittens. When it happened once, one mother couldn't find the kittens. Apparently, if a mother loses her litter (sometimes, we all know of exceptions to THAT one), she loses her mothering instinct and goes back into heat.

Moving mama wound up having to raise two litters without help!

I believe that Mama cat is extra-kitten motherly-conscious because she is now sharing nursing all the kittens. Although, Fluffy's are now begining to nibble on dry food - at 4 weeks of age, Mama cat is still treating them as younger kittens. They don't argue or hiss at each other but gladly allow Mama to share in keeping the little ones fed. I am supposing that if Mama's one kitten was old enough to put on the floor, Fluffy would help nurse him/her also. BTW, Mama's kitten is another blue with a white steak on his/her nose. Her eyes are not opened yet, so therefore, I do not bother her until she is older.

.........wayne

Saturday, Mama cat carried her one kitten down to floor level into Fluffy's box containing the other 3 older kittens, and began to care for all of them with Fluffy watching nearby. Apparently, this is what is happening, that both queens are now working together to care for their collective broods. I believe Mama cat is the instigator of this activity however, as she appears to have a super-mom kitten-caring personality.

:) ............wayne

I've heard this is normal when Queens share the nursing duties . . . watched a special on TV all about colony cat behavior, and the females within a colony had a special nursery set up in a barn whereby they could keep all the kittens together and take periodic turns caring for them . . . like a human day care center!

If any males tried to intrude, the females ferociously chased them away. Unfortunately, a Tom did sllp in when no female was watching and killed many of the kittens . . . very sad . . . :( . . . but again, normal feline behavior according to the show . . . wish I could recall what channel and the name of it.

Sounds like you are having much fun with all the kittens, and so glad to hear they will all have good homes!:)

Although I try to keep the toms away from the little ones, sometimes they get too close to the litter. Yesterday Mama cat and Fluffy had cornered both Fawn and Snow Cat from being too close to the box. Thinking to myself " you had better leave those kittens alone or she will box your ears down". So far, they havn't been back to "bother" the litter. Surprisingly, Tigeress is allowed to watch the kittens, without opposition from the two queens.

Last Saturday the kittens have discovered that they can run, and now I have to be more careful not to step on them because of their extra-mobility :)

..............wayne

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Originally posted by wayne0214
Last Saturday the kittens have discovered that they can run, and now I have to be more careful not to step on them because of their extra-mobility :)

..............wayne

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LOL! Wayne, your fun is just starting. Wait until they learn to climb...and get stuck in high places. Babies are so fun! I sure miss having them around.

Iris, the COTD today has a website which I couldn't resist checking out . . . :D . . . and the thought never crossed my mind that the shelters and rescue groups might be in need of volunteer foster homes for their pregnant cats . . . what a wonderful idea!!!!!:) Has anyone else ever heard of or done this??

Momoffuzzyfaces, maybe you could foster a mom-cat-to-be in your area . . . sure would satisfy those kitten-cravings!

The only drawback for me would be getting so attached to them, knowing I couldn't keep them all, and having to choose just one . . . I KNOW I couldn't possibly give them ALL back . . . :rolleyes: :) :p :D

momoffuzzyfaces, That is the reason why I leave a hanging blanket in their play area because all of my kittens, even those of past years, thoroughly enjoy playing "climbing the blanket". Also, they play "chasing the lump"; when one gets inside the blanket fold and begins to climb the inside. All of this is so much fun to watch. Yesterday they began to wrestle with each other. Their development is going OK.:)

.............wayne