Cat mom and kittens

[Sharlena-]

I have a 15month old cat mom and her 5 kittens, she was only 9months old when she got pregnant and had them 3 days before her 1st birthday. They are about 14 weeks old, on July 12th my dad had passed away and for a week we've had people coming here and usually we dont have so much people here and a few days after the funeral my cat mom had taken her babies away from here for about 4 days, I was a nervous wreck. But eventually she had brought them back home, then a week later she had taken them away again so I got tired of the crying and worrying so I bought a gps tracker and I put it on her and I found the kittens within a hour after putting it on her. The second time she took them I'm pretty sure it was because unfortunately we have raccoons and coyotes around where we live and 2 raccoons came up the back porch and tried pretty hard to come in the house, I was screaming at them and swatting a broom at them but they didn't budge until my boyfriend came and shooed them away, abby was swatting and hissing at them protecting her babies so I'm pretty sure that scared the crap out of her, but after we got them back we built a catio right away and now they're safe but the first few days abby was trying to get them to escape so she can take them again, we look after them wonderfully and actually spoil them lol, but now abby has been randomly hissing and growling at her babies even when they just walk by her or if they're just sitting in front of her, and she is still feeding them like a couple times a day but they are all eating cat food, I know some times she does this because they chase her sometimes to feed but she doesnt want them too. We plan on keeping all of the babies cause they are just to adorable to give up! I have an appointment on the 20th for abby to get spayed, does anyone think any of this behavior will change and have an opinion on why she keeps trying to take them away? Also the place she took them was way close to where the coyotes are too.. any suggestions??

 

[FlabbyTabby]

Stress can be a cause of issues. If a mother is threatened by other cats, people, noise or other stressful situations she may develop aggressive tendencies towards them. First-time mothers may also be more prone to behavior problems. I did a little research, hope this helps!

 

[Sharlena-]

Yeah shes been getting more aggressive with them within just a couple days. She just swatted at one of them alot and was hissing at all of them just because they came in the window, do I have to keep them separated?

 

[lutece]

How is she getting out to take them to the place where the coyotes are? Does she have free access to the outdoors (outside the catio)?

 

[fionasmom]

I am also unclear on whether or not she has been able to exit the catio or not once they were put inside. How big is it? I agree that stress could be doing it and most certainly she needs to be spayed, but there could be other factors.

You have tried to be very kind to this family; I am sorry about your father's passing. The mom's response to having strangers around was normal, but nothing that you could control at that time.

 

[ArchyCat]

Please. make Abby an indoor only cat. The There are too many threats! Other cats, dogs, coyotes, raccoons, and cars.

 

[Sharlena-]

Yeah abby has access to outside, but shes starting to get used of the catio, but when she starts hissing at them and when they start bugging her she wants to go outside so I let her outside.

 

[Sharlena-]

And we just built the catio after we found them when she took them the second time

 

[lutece]

It's not unusual for a mother cat to get a bit grumpy around her kittens when they are this age. As long as they are not having serious fights and everyone has enough space, it's not necessary to keep them strictly separated. After she is spayed, I would separate her from them for the first week or so while her incision is healing.

If you can get the kittens spayed and neutered at the same time as Abby, that would be ideal. If you can't get them in so soon, you will want to get the kittens fixed by 4-5 months of age to prevent accidental pregnancies.

It's great that you were able to build a catio for the cats to get some outdoor time and still be safe from predators. With raccoons and coyotes in your neighborhood, it's really best if you can keep Abby either indoors or safely in the catio, too. Our neighborhood has occasional coyote visits, and it's really sad when I hear about coyotes killing neighbors' cats.