cat behaviour after having kittens

Question
Hello, My cat just had 6 kittens on the 11th of feb.  We have lost 2 so far. 1 was stillborn and the other was very small to begin with and only survived 2 days.  My cat has been acting soooo strange.  About 2 days before she had them she started to become very needy.  She started sleeping either on top of my boyfriend or me, or laying right next to us as close as she could get.  Then the night she had them, we were asleep in bed and she woke me up because she wouldn't stay still. so I turned on the light and she was having a kitten.  I thought maybe she was having troubles but on the second contraction it came out fine.  When the kitten started to meow she grabbed it up and headed for under the bed, so I put her in a box and scooted it under the bed.  That is where she has had her last 2 litters.  Two days later in the middle of the night, she moved all of the kittens on top of our bed right in the middle.  We thought that it was soo cute, so we left her there for a that day, when we went to go to bed last night we put them back into the box and set the box next to our bed.  Well it wasn't 3 min till she jumped up on the bed and curled up to my boyfriend, then she heard the kittens meowing and jumped down picked one up and moved it to the same spot in  our bed!  So we put them back in the box and put it on the bed to the side of it.  She did the exact same thing.  We tried this about 4 times and needless to say right now she is in my bed with her babies.  I don't understand why suddenly she is so clingy.  With her other litters she always kept them hid under my bed.  What is up with her?  What can I do to get my bed back without upsetting her?

Answer
Hello deanna,

Well this story not only made me laugh but it is also beyond cute!

I do not know what environmental or physical factors were present during her last two litters so I can only theorise I'm afraid. And to put it simply Deanna it just seems that she feels more comfortable and safe on the bed with you guys! Feline behaviour dos'nt always have to be a complicated affair and this is a prime example of that fact.

Of course I understand you want your bed back and there is the very obvious risk of injury to one of the kittens if one of you rolls over or something in your sleep. But there is only one thing I can really suggest, because if I'm honest with you I don't think this will last long anyway, and she will soon move them somewhere else. What you could try is to tonight, take a spare pillow or duvet, anything that has the same feel to your bedclothes and sleep with it, basically to get your smell onto it as much as you can, then place it under the bed or in the box and put her and the kittens inside it. It may help.

And Deanna, there is nothing up with her, many cats when pregnant or with kitten usually go one way or the other, really clingy or really distant and wanting to be left alone. The fact that a cat may be distant during one litter dos'nt necessarily mean she will be the same during the next litter.

I think it is a testament to how safe she feels with her kittens around you guys and you should be proud of that, and do not worry too much about your bed because I'm sure it won't last long. The only thing I would suggest is to try and re-create the feeling she gets from your bed (scent, texture etc) and place that somewhere else in your room instead.

I hope this has helped a little

Thank you

kelly