momma cat steals kittens food

[pussygalore]

my kittens are 7 weeks old in 4 days.
all 4 are weaned and using the litter tray.

now i have started to seperate momma from the kittens under the vets advice, so that her milk will dry up so she can be spayed.

i keep her seperated during the day and let her back in with them during the night.
however she makes a huge fuss about it and so sometimes i let her go to them during the day and take that time off the time she woudl spend with them at night.
however as soon as i let her in with the kittens , she eats all there food, uses there litter tray and runs off again.

she does still suckle them , but not that often.

momma cat also does get kitten food of her own , as much as she wants. she however will actually leave her food just to eat her kittens food.

why does she do this?
and shoudl i just keep her seperated from them all the time now except for play times?

 

[prncss89]

OMG I was logging on to ask the same question! lol

 

[kovo]

Dont know why. But if this were a human mother, Id say it was a wierd case of over-attached. Since she cant be with her children that much, and she sees they are getting along just fine without her, she is eating their food so that they have to come back to her.

Of course, take that with half a grain of sand. But thats how I would rationalize it.

 

[jen]

well 7 weeks is too young to be completely away from mom, they should be with her until 10-12 weeks to learn all the important things she needs to teach them. I don't really have an answer to your question though. Why not just let her eat the food and be with the kittens and just refill the bowl of food after she eats?

 

[pussygalore]

i am limiting the time she is with them so her milk dries up so she can be spayed, becasue she is pregnant again.

evemn if i lock her in with them, she tried to escape. its not simply a fact that she wants to be with them. its a matter that she onbly seems to want there food, then she is off again

 

[commonoddity042]

Originally Posted by pussygalore

i am limiting the time she is with them so her milk dries up so she can be spayed, becasue she is pregnant again.

evemn if i lock her in with them, she tried to escape. its not simply a fact that she wants to be with them. its a matter that she onbly seems to want there food, then she is off again

As terrible as it sounds, put her in a seperate room from them with her food, toys, and litterbox, and visit her often so she will not be lonely, if you are intending to spay-abort. Otherwise, she will keep eating their chow.

 

[beckiboo]

I'm just guessing, but since kittens learn to eat by mirroring their Mom, I think it is just their nature for Mom to eat the kitten's food. I would either pick up their food during "visiting hours", or just be glad she is eating a lot, and refill the bowl! LOL! My Momcats have always eaten the best of the kitten food, the stuff mixed with KMR, or the canned food over the dry. I just try to put out enough so everyone gets some!

 

[semiferal]

I agree with those who have said that she needs to be with her kittens for several more weeks. Separating her from her kittens at this point puts her at risk for mastitis. There is absolutely no reason why her milk needs to be completely dry before she is spayed. The bigger risk is in letting her pregnancy progress since spaying becomes riskier the further along the pregnancy is.

So the best thing by far is to have Mama spayed immediately and let her hang out with her kittens as much as they want. She still has lots of important things to teach them and it's important for the kittens' long term well-being that they learn these things.

 

[junior67]

IK when I took Angel to my vets and we talked about spaying her after she had her kittens she told me they don't like to do it till the milk dries up since it is more complicated for the surgery and a MUCH higher chance of infection if they still have milk..........

Since the mom is still allowed in with the kittens and will be in with them AFTER she is spayed I think it is fine to separate them to get her to dry up faster. I say just either pull up the food the times mom is in there or just let her eat it and refill it. LOL Think she just wants to steal there food just like my kids do to me! LOL

 

[pussygalore]

as i am keeping all 4 kittens, and i own the momma cat. it isnt a case of wanting to get the kittens of momma any earlier than normal. in fact if molly had not of escaped a few days after giving birth, i would just leave molly and her kits to get on with it and wean naturally.
however this isnt the case at the moment, becasue molly is pregnant again. i am in a situation where no vet will spay routeenly intill her milk has dried up.

yes vets will spay if there is an emergency and the cat runs a risk of loosing its life if it isnt spayed. however becasue molly is healthy and fit, no vet is prepared to risk spaying her and risk infection or complications, intill her milk is dried up. that way the risk is less.

molly is in with the kittens at night. she is kept seperate during the day with as much wet and dry kitten food as she wants.
the kittens get exactly the same food as there mum.

however molly goes out of her way to eat the kittens food.
if she sees them eatting she calls them to her then when they have left the food, she runs over eats it so fast she is sick at times. then leaves the kittens anyway. so they dont actually get the food or the milk from mum.

i have tried removing the food when mum visits, however apart from giving the kits a quick wash. she is then not intrested if there is no food.

 

[junior67]

what a mean mommy! LOL not sure what to try. LOL maybe let the babies out with her for a visit?

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by pussygalore

as i am keeping all 4 kittens, and i own the momma cat. it isnt a case of wanting to get the kittens of momma any earlier than normal. in fact if molly had not of escaped a few days after giving birth, i would just leave molly and her kits to get on with it and wean naturally.
however this isnt the case at the moment, becasue molly is pregnant again. i am in a situation where no vet will spay routeenly intill her milk has dried up.

yes vets will spay if there is an emergency and the cat runs a risk of loosing its life if it isnt spayed. however becasue molly is healthy and fit, no vet is prepared to risk spaying her and risk infection or complications, intill her milk is dried up. that way the risk is less.

molly is in with the kittens at night. she is kept seperate during the day with as much wet and dry kitten food as she wants.
the kittens get exactly the same food as there mum.

however molly goes out of her way to eat the kittens food.
if she sees them eatting she calls them to her then when they have left the food, she runs over eats it so fast she is sick at times. then leaves the kittens anyway. so they dont actually get the food or the milk from mum.

i have tried removing the food when mum visits, however apart from giving the kits a quick wash. she is then not intrested if there is no food.

I think it is terrible that the vets will not spay until mom's milk is dried up....You know what I would do? I would call a feral cat group and see if they have a vet that they use that would perform the spay now. The feral cat clinic I volunteer at spays EVERY cat...even the ones that are lactating.

http://www.alleycat.org/orgs.html#uk

It would be one thing if you cat had not gotten out again, but I agree with you that there should be exceptions made when you need the mom spayed due to her potentially being pregnant again.