Expert: Tina - 7/20/2007

Question
Hi, I have a Maine Coon mother who was spayed in May after she had a litter
on Feb 1. We kept 1 female who was spayed 2 days ago. The mother was
extremely upset when I took her kitten away. When I brought the kitten back
yesterday everthing was fine. Tonight she attacked it, growled at me when I
picked her up and then danced around swatting and nipping at my feet.
The day before the kitten went to the vet she was still acting as she was
nursing her mom. I have separated them, is this normal?


Answer
HI Jeff,

Yes this is often a result of traumatic experiences like visits to the vet. It could also be that since being spayed the hormones of both cats are re-balancing and the mother cat may feel the need to make sure  her kitten understands she is no longer a baby and needs to go out on her own.

You can help by taking a towel and rubbing it all over the mother cat, especially on her cheeks where there are scent glands. Then take the towel and rub it all over the kitten. Repeat a couple of times until the kitten again smells enough like mom (rather than vet clinic and betadine wash etc).

Also you may want to get soem Feliway for short term use while your cats are settling back in at home and sorting out their new social status (now that the kitten is essentially an adult). Feliway helps reduce anxiety and inappropriate urination by cats, it mimics relaxing pheromones that cats exude from their cheek glands. It is not detectable by humans at all (the spray smells like rubbing alcohol when you first use it, but that quickly evaporates) and is nontoxic. It is sold in most pet stores and online, for example at www.drsfostersmith.com.