Cat keeps moving one kitten at a time!

dealiberty

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Hello!

I’m new here and am a first time cat owner. We adopted a pregnant stray about a month back. About a week ago, there was an emergency at home and we had to move out to stay at another place for a week - which is, of course, where mama gave birth. Her babies are a week old now, and we just moved back home. When we first moved back, she was really panicky but soon settled in her nest with the babies where she’s been all day and most of the night.

This morning, she’s been picking up one kitten, moving it to a darker and less accessible spot - seeing me - bringing the kitten back to her nest. A little while goes by and then she does it again - walks across the room with a kitten, hangs out in the dark corner for a bit and then brings it back again.
I really don’t know anything about cats... before she adopted us, I almost have never really interacted with cats!

Is she okay? Is there anything I need to worry about?
 

BellaGooch

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That sounds normal to me. Mother cats will move their kittens around multiple times to make sure they’re in a safe place.
 
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dealiberty

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Thank you! She never moved them when we were in the other place, and this morning, all she’s done is move one. Move it back. Move it again. Move it back. Over and over several times now. She found another corner, moved two kittens into it, freaked out and panicked, and we (she and I) moved them back into her current nest.
I’ve now covered her little bed with a blanket in the hope she’ll feel a bit more secure there and she can stop trying to find somewhere else for her babies and getting increasingly frantic over it. I really hope that’s the right thing to do.
 

BellaGooch

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Interesting.
Does she have a nesting box? That might help her feel more secure.
Honestly, you might just want to let her be for a day or two. Not that she doesn’t trust you, but she might be stressed. Then again, I’m not an expert. Some people with more expertise in this area might come along and give you more advice. :)
Make sure she has lots of water and food available. And we’d love to see photos of the kittens! ❤
 
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dealiberty

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She’s definitely been under a lot of stress in the last 24 hours with moving places.
She had a nesting box that we brought with us where she and the kittens were all week. When we relocated, she settled in another box/bed type - which I’ve now added extra covering over to give her a bit more privacy and a bit less light.
She seems to have settled though did just now bring the same kitten out. Move it to two different spots. And has now put it back with the others in the new nesting spot.
She’s also giving me some mixed signals! I thought she might want privacy so left, but when I came to feed her, she was very vocal in her displeasure and wouldn’t let me leave again! I really need to learn to speak better cat!
Here are some pictures of her and the kittens. DC206950-BFA3-42F5-8F4F-E0E022C7AECB.jpeg
184C5E54-4DFE-42AB-8F83-FC837AD189D3.jpeg
 

BellaGooch

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Yes, I’m sure that would be very stressful for her. Also thank you for adopting her.
In my experience, cats are the best at giving mixed signals! :lol:
Oh my goodness, so precious!! Mama and kittens are both so adorable.
 

Sarthur2

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It’s all about moving houses and changing nests. She’s feeling insecure. Hopefully she realizes she’s safe and settles down, but keep a close watch for now.

Covering her nest to give her less light and more privacy as you did was exactly the right thing to do. Cats need a dark, quiet, and private place with their kittens the first 3 weeks. Put her food, water, and litter nearby too so she does not need to go far.

She and her kittens are beautiful! Thank you for taking her in!
 

StefanZ

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Hello!

I’m new here and am a first time cat owner. We adopted a pregnant stray about a month back. About a week ago, there was an emergency at home and we had to move out to stay at another place for a week - which is, of course, where mama gave birth. Her babies are a week old now, and we just moved back home. When we first moved back, she was really panicky but soon settled in her nest with the babies where she’s been all day and most of the night.

This morning, she’s been picking up one kitten, moving it to a darker and less accessible spot - seeing me - bringing the kitten back to her nest. A little while goes by and then she does it again - walks across the room with a kitten, hangs out in the dark corner for a bit and then brings it back again.
I really don’t know anything about cats... before she adopted us, I almost have never really interacted with cats!

Is she okay? Is there anything I need to worry about?
One possibility is, she wants to give own quality time for a baby at a time. This is quite often seen when they have big litters, and the kittens fight for the nipples.
In such cases, momma sometimes takes one of them out, nurse it in peace somewhere else, and brings it back. It may a weaker kitten, or it may be randomly just one of the batch...
Here its "just" 3, but still.... She may feel she want to give them individual nursing sometimes.

Beautiful momma and childs!
as all are points, the daddy was point too.

They may even be purebreds of sorts. Or "purebreds", when somebody wanted to get pointed kittens to sell.
Anyway, the result got adorable. :)
 
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dealiberty

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Thank you! That puts my mind at ease... I’m really new to cats so it’s very easy for me to get worried!!!
We think dad is a white street cat that lives on our road. He might have fathered her previous litter too. But obviously since she’s a street cat we can’t really be sure! Her previous litter were all points too. We adopted them out to people we know who send us updates on them all the time. We will likely do the same with this litter once they’re old enough... we might keep a kitten but mama is definitely staying. She is also off to get spayed as soon as the kittens are managing solid foods. In the meantime, she’s upstairs with us so no chance she’ll get out and pregnant again before then.
 
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