Expert: Tina - 10/17/2009

Question
dear tina i have two cats a 1 year old named duski and her mother  a 2-3 year old named star.duski had six kittens a few months ago star did not take to the kittens very well she kept hissing growling and paws them roughly. i have given away 3 of the kittens but still 3 remain. before duski had the kittens ever since she was a kitten has been very unfriendly when she had the kittens she was very friendly star has ran away but has done this a number of times before and did not fail in coming home i have always tried to give duski as much attention as possible when i pick her up she growls and claws frantically to get away do you know why she is like this and how i can fix it??
 yours sincerely   kate

Answer
Hi Kate,

At a few months old, the mother cat is naturally driving the kittens away because the kittens are now reaching sexual maturity and the male kitten(s) could impregnate her. In nature, kittens stay with the mother 2-3 months then they are supposed to go off independently, the mother cat will often drive them off to find their own hunting ground.

First if you have not already done so you need to get the mother cat AND the kittens spayed and neutered. You can have kittens spayed or neutered at age 12 weeks and they recover faster when younger anyway. Then allow the kittens and the mother cat to live in separate rooms for at least one week, while she recovers from her spay. Then gradually re-introduce them as if they were strangers, as in this article:

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/introducing_cats.html