Cat seperating just one kitten- and moving tomorrow- help please!

Question
QUESTION: Hello. Two weeks ago I took in a pregnant cat which I found outside and a day and a half later she had a beautiful litter of five kittens. This Sunday the kittens will be two weeks old. They are growing just fine, gaining weight opening their eyes ect. (However one kitten only has one eye open and the other looks almost as if its stuck. What can I do about that?)
The mother gave birth in a kittening box we made for her but recently for the past week and a half she's been moving them. she'll move only one and then nurse it and then leave it to come get attention from me when I come into the room.  And its not like she's moving one specific kitten, she'll pick any one and move it. Sometimes under the bed. She and all of her stuff along with her kittens stay in mine and my husbands room (we live in an apartment with others so its the only place where they can be where we can keep it warm and quiet in there)
When she moves one and when she leaves it I put it back in the box b.c I don't want it to get cold alone. Some days she doesn't even move any. I've moved the box about 2 times trying to find a place where she feels they're good. I found a place she seems to enjoy and for a couple days she didn't move any but then started again. Why is she doing this and what can I do?
And we are moving tomorrow. I'm going to take them all before we move anything else and get them all set up in our new room. What is the best way to do that? Do I carry the mom in a seperate box or along with the kittens?
Thankyou

ANSWER: Jackie,

I wish I knew exactly why females choose to move kittens <sigh>.  We used to think it was because they were not sure they were in a safe place and their idea of safe is not the same as ours. However, I think they do it, sometimes, just to manipulate us further <ggg>!

Anyway, you just have to go with whatever mama wants as she usually knows best.  Sometimes covering her birthing box part way with a towel makes it seem more den like and seems to relax the mama a bit more. But, at this stage, it may not matter.

When you move the box, make sure you use the same bedding as she has now, so the box and the bedding have a familiar scent. This will help mama settle down and help the babies as well! If after the move, she becomes restless and frantically carries one or another kitten looking for someplace familiar, you may have to separate mama from the babies for about 3-4 hours.  She should be so glad to be back with the babies she should forget about moving them.  As you have properly surmised keeping the babies warm is very, very important. They cannot regulate their own body temperatures for the first week or two, so warmth from mama's body is important, primarily in the first few days.

We always move mama and kittens separately, so she does not accidently rollover on them during the trip to the new home or the vet or wherever. We have found a topless shoe box with some familiar bedding a good form of transport, as long as someone can hold onto the shoe box to make sure no one gets out. Often the separation makes mama more appreciative of the kittening box when you arrive at the new home. I would put the kittens in the kittening box first and then mama.

As to the sticky eye, gently massage the sticky eye with a soft face cloth soaked in warm water until the eye begins to ease open. A visit to the vet with the kitten to get some ophthalmic antibiotic drops would be a good thing to do. I would administer the drops in both eyes as I have seen these things start in one eye and move to the other. It is also possible that one or more of the other kittens may come down with a sticky eye. I would not treat any kitten with the drops unless it shows signs of having a sticky eye.

Please let me know how the move goes and mama weathers the new "digs"!

Seasonal regards... Norm.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello,
Thankyou so much for the quick response.
First of all I massages the 'sticky eye' as you said and it opened beautifully and has never looked 'sticky' again :). All five kittens have their big beautiful eyes open and their ears up.
We moved the next day and Callie seems to love the new place. Just the way she acts here is alot calmer and she seems more protective of her kittens. She hasn't tried moving them once!
This is the third week of the kittens life and I read that this week they will begin to develop teeth and this week they should start learning to use the litter box, is this correct? If so what do I need to do other than move the litter box close to the kitten box? The litter box is a normal size but the sides of it seem so high for the kittens, can they tackle that height?
Its cute because now Mama seems to be encouraging her babies to come out and walk, she sits or lays right outside the box and purs or meows gently to coax the kittens out of the box to feed. :)
I also have another question, Ive been reading so many different times on when I can let other people (aside from me and my husband) in the room to handle and start to play with the kittens. I know its very important for them to be socialized with humans but im not sure when that time is.

Thanks again,
Jackie

ANSWER: Jackie,

We always use a "kitten sized" litter box in addition to mama's. A little used litter from mama's box will tend to give them the correct idea.  They will have some accidents along the way, so make sure to place each of them in their litter box one at a time after they eat, so they will get the idea. Some catch on faster then others. After they start to eat solid food, they will be much more interested in the litter pan. It is good for the kittens socialization to get lots of handling in short bursts as kittens tire very easily.

One tip, the best way to play with the kittens is to hold them one at a time, stroke the kitten gently and speak to it softly.  If the kitten begins biting/scratching behavior, put the kitten down and stop the "holding/stroking/soft talking" game. It should not take the kittens long to learn that us relatively soft skinned humans do not enjoy kittens scratching or biting us. Also, I would avoid "wrestling" with the kittens as they tend to forget their socialization if they get too excited! Additionally, I would not use teases until the kittens all understand how to properly play with humans and they are at least 8 weeks of age.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Seasonal regards... Norm.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: One more question.
We keep the queens litterbox in the bathroom of our master bedroom and when she 'goes' she doesnt cover it and so it stinks up the room (i then cover it). why doesnt she cover it?
and, my husband wants to get one of those litterboxes that are fully covered, with the little flap/door because it stinks and she kicks litter everywhere. if we get this for the queen will her kittens still learn to use the litter box?
Thankyou

Answer
Jackie,

We use covered litter pans and do not use the flaps.  I would wait with the kittens until they are litter trained to introduce a covered litter pan. You do not want to throw too much new at them to quickly.

We use a good quality plastic dishpan (like a Rubbermaid) inside the covered litter pan, and the cats go in the dishpan. This makes for easier cleaning, and the covered litter pans last almost forever.

You can always put the flap on later if you still feel you need it.  We have also found that the so-called charcoal filters do not seem to work very long and are not very effective.  The best thing we have found for odor is an ionizing, ozone generating air purifier.

Seasonal regards... Norm