Expert: Dear Tabbi - 4/8/2009

Question
i have 2 cats who are sisters and both got pregnant b4 i could have them spayed...one had her kittens b4 the other and they are now 2 weeks old ..the other cat is due to have hers any day now and she keeps stealing one kitten from her sisters litter.....she will only take one kitten and she is not partial to which as long as she has one and has now has taken one outside and has disappeared with her and now the mother of the litter will not care for her kittens and i am not sure as to what i need to do .. i have tried very hard to keep her away from them but nothing is working her mind is set she wants a kitten now...how do i encourage the mother of the litter to begin to care for them ...shiver will have her kittens soon and can not make enough milk for both litters and how can i keep her from kittennapping..i still have the obstacle to find the missing kitten ahead of me as well

Answer
Kristie,

Listen for the kitten to cry. It will when it is hungry or cold unless the pregnant cat is taking care of it.

Kitten stealing is very common. I had one pregnant cat that would steal another's kitten and run with it. When she had her kittens she still wanted the other's kittens and when the 1st mother would leave the box, the newest mother would leave her kittens and go to other kittens to nurse them. I also had a mother that would steal any ORANGE kitten that another mother had...only the orange ones...no matter the size or the age. It is a quirk in some maternal cat's makeup.

You can't keep her away from the mother's kittens because her maternal hormones are in gear and she probably thinks they are hers too. I would try putting both cats in one room. That may force the mother to take care of the kittens, plus the pregnant one can help,  and maybe she will leave them there if she doesn't have a chance to get out with them. Mothers and kittens are interchangeable and there usually isn't a problem with them doing that. As long as the kittens are getting milk and being cared for, that is what is important. The mother should nurse the kittens when her nipples get full and bother her.

The mothers need to eat about 3 times what they normally do to produce enough milk and to replace what the kittens take out of them nutrition wise. It is good to give the mothers free choice feeding (a bowl always available) of Kitten Chow until the babies are weaned. They need the extra proteing, vitamins, etc. in it. Then the babies need Kitten Chow for the first year.

Also to remind you, a cat can get pregnant again 14 days to 2 weeks after having kittens, so you might want to watch them, and get them spayed when the kittens are 8 weeks old.

Tabbi