Expert: Marcia Owen - 12/31/2011

Question
Hello, my question is I have a female who had 2 kittens on dec 27th and the other female just had 7 kittens this morning dec 31st can i put them both in the same area or should i keep them seperated, could one feed babies from the other mom, just worried for the bigger litter, want to make sure they all get enough milk.
Thank you,
Sue

Answer
Dear Sue

Congratulations on the two litters, a lovely end to the year.

When I have had two litters that close together I have tended to put them together in the same room as long as the Mums are happy with it, so if they are good friends its usually not a problem.  I then find that they tend to share the kittens so make a large box available to them and usually find they move their kittens all together so the Mums can be together too and they feed off either Mum.  For the Mum with the bigger litter it will give her some help.  

If they are the same breed, it is important to make sure you know which kittens are from which Mum when it comes to pedigrees so if you have similar colour/sexes in both litters then you will need to identify them in some way.  I tend to use the slim pony tail hair bands (small ones) until the kittens start to show little differences.  Of course that may not be an issue with your kittens but something to think about.  Its also a good system for quick reference when it comes to weighing the kittens.  You can consider food colouring or nail varnish on their claws if you don't want to use the hairbands.

All this does depend on the Mums and whether they are good friends and happy to share.  I find its really lovely to see friends helping each other out and the kittens don't mind who provides the milk as long as it keeps flowing.

Regards

Marcia