Must I Force My Lady Cat To Love Her Teen Kittens?

weech

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Our house has officially settled down, for the most part. Four of our kittens have gone to good homes, and two have stayed with us. Everyone's spayed and neutered, our matriarch Sasha is looking healthy, and our two boys, Laszlo and Tim, are just as empty headed as always.

Only one thing stands in the way of a happy house: Sasha's categorical refusal to stop hating her children

Now, I've read that mama cats generally stop recognizing their kittens as their kittens once they reach a certain age. But now that everyone's been fixed, everyone's been calming down but her. Simon, our old man cat, gets grumpy at them on occasion but also cuddles and grooms them.

Sasha, on the other hand, yowls and hisses if they even look at her. Most of the time the kittens react as if its play and her body language doesn't strike me as hostile. There's no folded back ears or fluffed up tail or bristled back. But she yowls and snarls and swats at them if they get too close.

Sometimes they do seem to play, with no yowling and them just wrestling and chasing each other. But it always ends with her yelling at them and leaving.

The kittens don't seem scared and certainly haven't been made to avoid her in any way. They don't get up in her grill constantly but don't seem wary or nervous around her aside from walking slower and more carefully if she starts growling.

The vet recommended pheromone plug in sprays, which we got and put up. Didn't seem to do too terribly much.

She's definitely calmed down since everyone's surgeries, but I'm not sure what to make of her behavior since? While it sounds and looks dramatic, no one's been injured and the kittens aren't scared of her, but she doesn't cuddle or groom them and even our Old Man Cat does that at this point.
 

Willowy

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As long as she's not chasing them away from food/water and litterboxes, or attacking them unprovoked, or making them cower in the basement, they're doing just fine. In the wild she'd be having another litter and would have to chase off all the tomcats for the babies' safety. At some point she'll figure out she's not having more babies and should calm down. Or maybe they try to nurse if she lets them close, so she's yelling at them to stay away. That should improve with time too. They may not ever be cuddly but she should stop yelling as much anyway ;).
 

ArtNJ

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Just sounds like grumpyness and communication to them to leave her be. She doesn't hate them, and you can't make her be less grumpy about having kittens swarming around.
 

cataholic07

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Try more play time with the kittens to burn off energy and adding more resources like cat trees, litter boxes so she feels more comfortable. She's probably just sick of them bothering her. Kittens could be playing too rough so it's her way of saying ow that hurt GO AWAY. How old is she do you know? recent vet trip to ensure she's healthy?
 
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