Mommy Cats & Co-Raising

autumnblueangel

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Hi Guys,

I thought I'd post this as it's good advice from my own experience.

This is advice about Two Mommy Cats co raising kittens together. It obviously won't be for everyone, as some cats are anti social towards other cats... but if you have two sisters or two very friendly kitties, it usually works well.

In my time having cats, I've had the opportunity to see two mommy cats co-raising newborn kittens - twice, with two different pairs. I've also seen how single mother cats cope with their kittens - and from my experience, co raising is so much better.

When two cats decide they want to co raise (and believe me, they will decide!) there is more warmth from two bodies, there is less chance of the kitten going cold for any period of time, there are always two mommies to clean when the kitten needs it immediately, and having a baby sitter on standby, the cats are 100% calmer.

By having a standby baby sitter, they can take it in turns tandem to go litter box or eat and drink. Rather than being stressed leaving their kittens unguarded, or going without food and water and peeing and crapping because they're scared to leave their litter unguarded know what I mean??

The two litters I've seen this happen with, at least one of the pair was super calm mommy and the other was a scared kitty. The super calm mommy calmed the scaredy kitty down, and to be honest, I think a couple of the kittens survived solely due to that, because the first one of a pair was overly anxious and at first seemed to reject her kittens... and the second one was super anxious and would attack me every time I came near before she got together with the calmer one. So it worked well.

They have less separation anxiety, the kittens grow up to be extremely active, playful and amazingly affectionate (we're talking pushing you over type affectionate) they bond with their cousin's (litter mates) and they are the most amazing little babies. The mothers truly enjoy it too. They comfort each other with their purring. When one mommy feels anxious, the other mommy will take over and calm her down.

There is more food and more anti-bodies to go around, especially if one mommy has a small litter and another has a larger. Keeping in mind, this only really works with kittens that haven't opened their eyes yet.

Because they are about the same size, they don't dominate as much. Older kittens might take more from the younger ones and this could disadvantage. But, in situations where you are a breeder or work in a rescue shelter and are low on space & resources... this could benefit everyone knwim?

Also, it works because if one mommy rejects or runs out of milk, the other mommy is on hand and will take over. One will be super calm, one will be super protective. It's like super mom & super dad all rolled into one.

I've seen single mom litters, and they are overly anxious compared to duo's, the kittens get pushed around more, and the kittens aren't as relaxed and socialized as with the duo's. It's amazing what having two moms can do for the babies, and it also gives the moms a new lease on life, changing their personalities a bit too into more calm, loving kitties than they already were.

So yes, that's my piece of advice for the day
remember, it doesn't work for all cats, the cats will decide.... you'll know if you put the litters on opposite sides of the room and go out for an hour or two... because when you come back in, they'll probably have moved their kittens into a big snuggle pile and are cuddling up against each other.

I think it's got something to do with one mommy cat hearing the others baby's crying... one of my cats who had babies went nuts when she heard the other ones crying, and wanted to take them all.

She literally forced me to co raise for the first time, because they both wouldn't let up about it. They'd cry and cry until I let them out of their rooms, and then it'd be a mad race for them to get the babies together, even when I kept trying to keep them separate lol.

I'm not a breeder, and after what happened to me recently, I won't have any more litters ever (which is a good thing) as the only males I have now are de-sexed, but this is advice from my past experience for people who might come into the same situation - it does and can work. Just don't force them to do it, let them choose.

The only thing you've got to worry about I suppose, is one cat stealing the other ones babies lol... but in that instance, I would just keep together anyway, one cat may look dis-interested but is probably just taking a break. I mean, I'm not saying you don't need to be careful with this, you do... and maybe it's just because my cats love each other so much that they're able to do this, but for some, it might actually work.
 

cutekittenkat

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Great advice! I will definatly link this to anybody considering this posibility in the future- I know a few people have asked over the last few weeks
 

c1atsite

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One TCSer had/has a cat cam where 2 female cats are raising 2 separate litters, one litter slightly older. From what I remember it was/is a definite success story and watching the co-raising on the cam was very cute. (A bunch of us actually witnessed the birth of litter #2 via cam while the owner was at work) (The mom cats are related: aunt and niece. This was recent (this year))
 

cutekittenkat

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Originally Posted by c1atsite

One TCSer had/has a cat cam where 2 female cats are raising 2 separate litters, one litter slightly older. From what I remember it was/is a definite success story and watching the co-raising on the cam was very cute. (A bunch of us actually witnessed the birth of litter #2 via cam while the owner was at work) (The mom cats are related: aunt and niece. This was recent (this year))
I remember that, that was really incredible to watch!
 
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autumnblueangel

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Yeah it's truly amazing.

My Cats Myahe` & Kaidaia are mother and daughter and co-raised a litter together. The litter were 5 days apart in age. Myahe` soothed Kaidaia and it was so sweet to watch.

My Cat Shayla was a very nervous mommy who kept moving her kittens, two died as a result (one fell behind a pillow whilst I wasn't home and one fell behind her and mustn't have been able to get free) then Sapphire (not related but raised together) had her babies and soothed her. The litters were 7 days apart in age.

I've seen cats struggle with single births. They get so nervous and anxious. I breathed a sigh of relief when Sapphire & Shayla took to co-raising, because it was easy the first time with Myahe` & Kaidaia and easy this time as well because of it.
 

taryn

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Goldie & Biter(sisters) took care of each others kittens. I have no idea who belonged to who and how many each had but there were 9 total that showed up when they were 4 weeks old(they were all around the same age) so I don't know if there were more that died or not. I woke up one morning to find 12 kittens(Mama brought over her 3, that were a few weeks older, as well) on the porch. Mama was very clear that she wanted nothing to do with raising her grand kids(Goldie & Biter are her daughters.) I'm wondering if they kept all their babies(Mama included) in the same spot.

It was awesome to watch how they were each willing to groom and flop over for whoever wanted to to nurse. Biter(Goldie had disappeared never to be seen again not long after her spay when the kittens were 10 weeks old and she too was still nursing them when she vanished) was still nursing them at like 12 weeks I was wondering if she was ever going to wean them. I'm sure this was both of their first litters but they were both great moms.

Taryn
 

catkiki

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When I was a kid, we had a mother/daughter pair. Both of them had kittens on the same day! One had 6 and the other had 5. They immediately put both litters together and took turns taking care of them. You never knew which mommy gave birth to what kitten. And pity the poor dog who came in our yard while mommies and babies were in the yard. I saw one dog actually trying to climb a tree to get away from 2 very angry mommies attacking him!
 

cutekittenkat

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Originally Posted by Catkiki

When I was a kid, we had a mother/daughter pair. Both of them had kittens on the same day! One had 6 and the other had 5. They immediately put both litters together and took turns taking care of them. You never knew which mommy gave birth to what kitten. And pity the poor dog who came in our yard while mommies and babies were in the yard. I saw one dog actually trying to climb a tree to get away from 2 very angry mommies attacking him!
Poor doggie- one mother cat is bad enough!
 

pinksjill

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I had two grown female stray cats in my yard. They trusted me and I fed them every day and gave them clean water and medicine if they needed it. One day they or at least one of them gave birth but maybe they both did I don't know. Anyway every time I saw them they would take turns nursing the kittens and one would keep watch while the other would nurse all the kittens. They were probably sisters because they trusted each other. I had never seen this behavior before and I thought it was the sweetest partnership!
 

Truth

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I searched up why my cats were so comfortable around each other even though one had lost her kittens and the other still had hers. This explained so much for me. This may also be a way for a mother that lost her litter young to deal with it.
 

C one paw at a time

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Hey I’m new here... and Thank you for sharing the
Mommy Cats & Co-Raising.
article, I have two female kitty’s (sisters) I Got them on 4days and bottle fed them.and they did this. I was worried at first but now I’m better 🤣
I raise at least 30-50 animals a year I love it.

but

this was very helpful as for I came across this situation for the very first time.

and it’s beautiful

4160705C-85DE-471E-86FA-0AC2F16F46D4.jpeg
 
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