How do you deal with slightly aggressive queens?

[traveil]

Mama cat swatted my sister a few days ago for standing and looking at her kittens and my sister actually bled from her scratches. I initially brushed it off thinking maybe my sister have antagonised her in a different approach but today as I was just looking at her kittens, she actually bit me and scratched me while I tried to moved away. It came to me as a surprised as I was feeding her treats a few moments ago and lightly patting her and she suddenly went into attack mode. Now I am really scared of being scratched as she hasn’t had her nails cut since she was brought home. Feliway has already been installed in the room with her kittens..how do I calm her down? I do need to feed her and weigh her kittens everyday..

 

[StefanZ]

its in much hormonal. some become much protectve!
you can also try with calm relaxing music, aside of the feliway you slready do.

try to talk in a calm friendly voice. yawn, stretch on yourself as friendly cats do.

if you weigh, do it nearby so she sees kittens arent harmed. let it be some cloth on the scale and your hands warm, so kittens wont protest.

but if everything fails, you may be forced to just the basics….

 

[spazzy cat]

This happened to me as well. I have been the only one near the whelping box since her kittens arrived 2 days ago. I bring food and water and place it near the box 5 times a day. While she eats I sit on a bench away from the box and observe the kittens for a few minutes to make sure they all look and behave normally. After she eats she walks over to me and wants some attention so I pet her slowly and gently and then leave. I did manage to change the wet, bloody pads from the birthing while she was eating 1 time. On the 2nd day while I was petting her she went crazy and attacked me. Every time I got her off of my leg and tried to back away she would leap on me again. My leg and hand were bitten and scratched many times before I could get away. For the next feeding my husband went out and she approached him quickly before he could put the food down. He stopped and talked to her softly and then decided it would be best to leave without putting the food down. When he began to back away she attacked his leg. He had jeans on and it didn't hurt him. Now whenever we even open the door she hisses at us if she's nearby. She has moved all the kittens to a new area in the room. Nobody goes out there anymore. I can't monitor or clean the area she is in so I guess there is nothing else I can do except put the food and water inside the door and close the door quickly. I'm not really sure how else to proceed. I'll have my husband install some Feliway. Any other suggestions? Has your

 

[spazzy cat]

Has your cat gotten any less aggressive since July 9?

 

[traveil]

Has your cat gotten any less aggressive since July 9?

Safe to say..no. she’s still the same old, trying to bring her kitties to somewhere else even though she has a perfectly safe playpen. She do bite us at times but we never got scratched as we all wore jeans or had a shield made from cardboard to shield us from her attacks. She still pants from stress occasionally and honestly she stresses us even more! Her kitties are growing well I should say about 300+g going to 400g soon for a 2 weeks plus old kitty and being more and more curious outside the playpen because they like to follow mama when she lay down outside. Hopefully she will be back to the sweet mama as she was before after we spay her when her kids weaned off..

 

[traveil]

Hello all, I have been spending lesser and lesser time with the kitties as mom is showing even more signs of stress + aggressiveness and kept trying to bring the kitties somewhere else but failed. She has successfully bitten us quite painfully which made us even more scared of her.. will she become kinder someday? Also I am unable to bring kitties out for a walk because she is so protective of them. Any advises on how to bring them out to play which won’t let mom somewhat plot how to secretly kill us?

I can’t even get a good photo with all of them together because she’s constantly angry.

 

[StefanZ]

Did I mentioned somewhere calm, relaxing music being played? Classic harp music is said to be best, but almost any may work.

Cant hurt, may help...

Feliway diffuser?

 

[traveil]

Did I mentioned somewhere calm, relaxing music being played? Classic harp music is said to be best, but almost any may work.

Cant hurt, may help...

Feliway diffuser?

Yes, everything’s installed. I reckon she just want to murder us someday

 

[StefanZ]

Yes, everything’s installed. I reckon she just want to murder us someday

She is at least honest! Better a honest foe than a false friend!

 

[spazzy cat]

She is at least honest! Better a honest foe than a false friend!

Hello. I'm dealing with a very protective mama cat as well. The 2nd day after the kittens were born she attacked me when I was putting her food outside the kennel. Later, she attacked my husband before he even got halfway to the kennel. She's in our garage where we set up a nice large kennel with the nesting box inside of it with plenty of room for the kittens to grow and move about safely. We put up two cameras so we could keep and eye on her without disturbing her. But after the attack she moved the kittens to another spot and we can no longer see them. We put her food right outside the door and if she happens to be close by and sees us she hisses. It's very scary!! I am very concerned about socializing the kittens. They are 7 days old now. I'm not sure we will be able to get them away from her and we fear that even if she let's us that she will attack us randomly like she did before. We have Feliway and calming spray in the where she eats and near the nest. Not sure what else we can do. When do you normally begin to socialize the kittens?

 

[Sarthur2]

Since the kittens are only one week old, you should do nothing until they are 3 weeks, when they begin to regulate their own temperature and can begin to toddle. Just leave them be with their mom for now. In another 2 weeks you can try handling them, but know they are still dependent on their mom for nursing. They can be handled and socialized better around 3-5 weeks when they are ready to wean. Not all kittens wean this early when they have a mom , but you should be able to begin socializing the kittens by handling them at this age, even if they are still nursing.

 

[spazzy cat]

Thank you for your reply. It was very helpful. That gives us some time to figure out how to begin handling the kittens without fearing for our lives. lol. We feel like we need a suit of armor! Spazzy is currently allowing my husband to pet her a few times when he puts the food out for her. But he is well away from her kittens. We just never know when she's going to attack again. She was a stray and when my husband first befriended her (with an injured paw), a few months ago, she bit him. We took her to the vet and treated her paw (which healed nicely) and then kept her in our garage for the 10 days to determine if she had rabies. Then we took her back to the vet for her rabies shot along with other vaccines. After that we began posting her online to see if she had been lost. We found out she had bitten our neighbor. Once her paw healed and she wasn't hungry she became very sweet and my daughter (age 35) was going to adopt her. Spazzy had climbed onto her lap and she was petting her very nicely when she suddenly hissed and bit her. On another occasion my son, (age 23 and a cat lover), was sitting next to her and petting her and she bit him. I was walking past her and she hissed and scratched my leg for no reason at all. We keep making excuses for her - she was hungry and hurt and pregnant and now she's protecting her kittens. At this point I'm too scared to be around her. I don't want her kittens to be feral. When the kittens get bigger how are we going to spend time socializing them if Spazzy won't let us get close to them. We don't want to risk her disowning them while they are still nursing.

Hello all, I have been spending lesser and lesser time with the kitties as mom is showing even more signs of stress + aggressiveness and kept trying to bring the kitties somewhere else but failed. She has successfully bitten us quite painfully which made us even more scared of her.. will she become kinder someday? Also I am unable to bring kitties out for a walk because she is so protective of them. Any advises on how to bring them out to play which won’t let mom somewhat plot how to secretly kill us?

I can’t even get a good photo with all of them together because she’s constantly angry.

View attachment 480907

I have seen that same look on Spazzy's face! Same green eyes and pointy ears. Ours is a calico. What a nice, cozy place she has with her kittens! How many kittens are there?

 

[StefanZ]

This with biting while being petted is a not so unusual phenomen. Its as if they suddenly got overwhelmed... The recipe is, usually they show immediately before they had had enought for now. If you are observant, its possible to avoid the last moment... And quit cuddling in time....

Anyway. Re kittens. If she doesnt calm herself, consider to remove them from her when they are about 5 weeks. And so you foster them yourself, as if they were orphans.

That is the same idea as with very shy, protective ferale moms... Its one of the few exceptions from the holy rule of at least 8 weeks, but preferably longer.

The other exception is dire emergencies, when there is no momma and you must try to save whatever there is to save...

Not nice, but if its the only way to foster the kittens into somewhat normale, social kittens fully possible to adopt out?

 

[Sarthur2]

Mom may be perfectly fine with you sitting on the floor and letting her kittens climb on you and play with the ribbon you will be swishing back and forth for them once they get active. It may help her to learn to trust you more. Ultimately, she will tire of her kittens and be happy for you to take over, especially once she is spayed.

 

[traveil]

Hello all but random update, here’s the 4 playful kittens being exactly 1 month old today. I am finally starting to have the courage to bring them out rotationally to have a look outside their playpen even though their mom has been clawing and meowing the door asking me to give them back. They were so scared and kept shivering in fear but I hope they will get used to our human touch one day 🥹

 

[fionasmom]

That is a very common reaction with young kittens and they will get used to you. They look very healthy and happy.

 

[traveil]

Hello guys. How many weeks old can I truly determine the kitties age?

**WARNING**

I will be posting the kittens buttocks, pls do not scroll down if you do not wish to see.






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I am guessing 3 females 1 males.
What do you all think?

 

[traveil]

Hello all. May I know if it’s worrying if 1 or 2 kittens isn’t interested in food else then mama’s milk? They’re 6 weeks+ now. Gave wet and dry food and even place in front of it and they don’t eat.

 

[Sarthur2]

Not unusual at all — many kittens will not wean to soft foods until 8 or 9 weeks, and even then will continue to nurse. Just like human children who develop at different paces. Be patient!

 

[traveil]

Not unusual at all — many kittens will not wean to soft foods until 8 or 9 weeks, and even then will continue to nurse. Just like human children who develop at different paces. Be patient!

I see. I have one particular kitten that doesn’t want to try wet nor dry food. I thought it was worrying as his siblings were happily munching wet food while he shunned away from it. I shall be patient and hope he weans soon!