Expert: Dear Tabbi - 3/18/2009

Question
why is mother cat packing off one baby she has three.we keep putting it back with the other two but she still packs it off it is not the smallest one neither

Answer
Susan,

A lot of times a cat will do that if they instinctively sense something is wrong with the baby, or the others if she is just nursing the one. And sometimes they feel they can't take care of more than what they want to nurse. Cats do not have any sense of logic or the ability to reason. They go by instinct, but sometimes that instinct is screwed up.

She must be a first time mother. They do some bizarre things! A lot of times a first time mother is not really maternal and she isn't sure just how to program works when she has babies. Sometimes a first time mother will have babies in two places and nurse in both places. I had one new mother that had no idea what to do when the babies cried. She just hit them over the head with her paw and would leave and not nurse.

Sometimes you need to let Mother Nature take it's course and hope for the best. You can't force her. You can bottle feed the baby, but that is a lot of work and a lot of time, and you need to know how to do it correctly.

Try putting her in a new big box in a quiet area. Sometimes a new place will make her settle down. Or lock her in a quiet room with the babies and hope she will take care of them. You can also try putting a little tuna juice on the babies. When she licks them to clean them, it may kick in the maternal part of her. Just don't put too much on them where she wants to eat them! That way they will all smell the same and she may not pick one out again.

Make sure you feed her at least 3 times what she ate before and try to give her Kitten Cbow while she is nursing. Also a lot of fresh water. She needs the extra food and protein to produce enough milk and to replace what the babies drain out of her.

Tabbi