Expert: Dear Tabbi - 5/29/2008

Question
my mother cat ha her babys bou a month ago and had lost 2 one at birh and the other at 3 week old, well now she has 2 left one boy and girl the girl is fine she's big and now eating on her own. the boy on the other hand is still small and will not eat the food and want's he nipple still, we are doing our best to help him in fact we have o vet vist on friday well last night i seen that the mother cat was giveing the boy a lick bath and it also looked like she was trying to hurt him she had him by the neck, (the frount not he carring spot) and he was crying a little well my husband seen it to o he then removed the kitten from her and she grawled at him for doing so. so my question is was i right about her trying to hurt the boy or was i in fact wrong and she was just playing to rough?
please help


Answer
Bridget,

Mother cats look like they are being mean and rough sometimes, but they are usually teaching their babies about life. When the kittens get older you may think she is beating up the kittens and hurting them, but she will be teaching them how to fight. Their form of kitty communication, which looks brutal to us, is normal to them.

She was probably cleaning the baby and was biting a flea off him. They are so tiny that she probably had her mouth open more than what was needed, but I doubt she would intentionally try to hurt him. The babies will cry because they have no idea what is going on, not from being hurt. It is good that she growled at your husband. That means she is a protective mother and cares about her babies.

Don't worry about the little one not eating yet. As long as he is nursing he's getting his nourishment (if you are feeding mom good). It may be awhile yet. He will eat when he is ready. And even if he does start eating solid food I would let him nurse as long as mom will let him and his sister. Don't wean them before 8 weeks and preferably not until 12 weeks. The mother feeds them up to 8 weeks, then from 8 weeks to 12 weeks she teaches them kitty life skills and behavior. That helps the kittens become social and friendly. When a mother is ready to wean her kittens she will, but it is usually comforting to her and she lets them. It is also comforting to the babies. It doesn't hurt anything to continue to let them nurse. Problems with personality and behavior are commonly caused by kittens being weaned too early.
I had one cat that still nursed when he was bigger than his mom! As long as she didn't mind he kept doing it...until FINALLY she had enough and wouldn't let him do it any more. It looked silly though!

Kittens can grow and develop at a different pace. Even though the kittens are brother and sister they may have different fathers because a female can have a kitten from each tomcat that bred her during her cycle.

I hope this was helpful.

Tabbi