Expert: Karen Craft - 3/3/2008

Question
my cat had kittens feb. 21st. first time mama with 5 in her litter. i have them in a box with a hole in it (doorway) that shadow (mama) can come in and out to check and feed them. i had an episode with her where she jumped up in my bed and got under my sheets with one of the kittens and tried hiding the kitten up my shorts...needless to say that it scared me and woke me up from a deep sleep. i had moved them from the original box that she gave birth in but had put them back in the original box and that issue had been resolved. its been over a week now since that little issue ended on her tryin to hide the babies but now she is scoping out places like my dressers underneathe them and biting the corner of the box. i don't understand why she is doing this? i have been with the kittens since they were born and i was there with her when she had them. she wouldn't let me out of her sight. i don't want her to think i am a threat to those kittens thou. she lets me handle them and watch over them and everything else. am i doing too much that she feels threatened or something? when will she get out of this stage? how do i know the sex of the kittens? when can other people hold the kittens because i am the only one that she will allow to go near them or even pick them up?

Answer
Hi Amy,

There is something about that is upsetting her. It may be just something that she can smell or hear. This is why she is trying to move the kittens closer to you. She knows that they are safe with you. As they get older she will stop this. After about 2-3 weeks you can have other people come and handle the kits. But not too many at once. You will be able to tell when she is upset about too much handling.

Sexing kittens is pretty easy. But that's not to say mistakes can't be made. I have two named Toby and Spike that are females. Lift up the tale and look for the anus. That will be the big "O". Then look below that. If it is a little "o" below that, it is a male. If it looks like it has a tiny line with an "o", it is a female.

Good luck with the little ones.

Ciao, Karen