Older Cats With 4 Week Old Kittens

[Dscott1173]

A little background. On or around Father's Day I had a stray give birth to 5 kittens. I had been taking care of her since she showed up in April and she started to slowly come inside my house. I have 2 other female cats. I let her out on Saturday night before Father's Day and she came back Tuesday skinny. I knew she had her babies and I was on a hunt to find them because it was going to be very hot (112!!). Lo and behold she came to my back door Thursday with a baby, and I opened the door and she took them to my hall closet. After a 4 hour time span she brought back 5 babies. Since that day I have them upstairs in my closet in a large crate. Everything has been great. Babies are almost 4 weeks old and are starting to walk out of the crate. My concern is my 2 older cats. One is a little over a year old (I found her feral at about 8 weeks old), and the other is about 2-3 (I took her in after being dumped). Will my 2 older cats harm the kittens or try to kill them? I have kept them separate and momma cat will chase them away if they walk into the closet.

 

[danteshuman]

I would keep them separate unless under supervision. How does mom get a long with the other 2 cats? That might tell you how it will go. Once the kittens are weaned/starting to wean I might try letting my calmest resident cat be with them WITH supervision. Any aggressive acts, add a couple of weeks and then try again. But I'm the over protective helicopter mom type.

I do have to add that please do not let the mama cat out and spay her after the kittens are weaned. That way she won't get knocked up again. There are many vets/places that offer free/discount spays/neuters for feral cats. If you tell us where you are located I'm sure many people on this site will be willing to help you find a local place that does. They are all kinds of helpful here Thank you for taking the mom and her babies in

 

[Dscott1173]

Momma and my 2 other cats ignore each other basically. My younger one is the more curious one and she will try to go into the closet to sneak a peak. They all 3 have started to somewhat play with each other, but my 2 older ones aren't quite sure if momma is playing so they back off.

She will be spayed after she weans, and I have the place already. That's where I took my younger cat when I found her. She does not go outside to roam. If she does go outside, it's with me in the back patio to just lie in the sun and as soon as I get up she follows me back in. She's a very young cat, probably not even 1.