Re: Mother Cat Behavior

Question
Recently I my cat give birth to four kittens. At first she wouldn't take to the first two born besides hissing at them until my other pregnant cat got in the box with her and helped her with them and helped her deliver the last two. The kittens will be 3 weeks old Tuesday March 23. On Saturday she decided to move them to a closet but it was not really a safe one so I moved them back to the box. She insists on moving them so I let her in another closet the was more comfy and safe. The problem is she just doesn't seem to be spending as much time with them as before and she just seems a little rougher with them. Two of them are plump and two are smaller but they seem to be developing ok. She begs for food all the time and I feed her often as well as dry food always being available. I guess I am just wondering if this is normal behavior? Is there anything I should be worried about or intervene in any way? She just seems strange to me. Also as what point should I have a litter pan more available since ours is in the kitchen away from where she has put them now? Thank you for any insite or help you can give me.

Answer
Amber,

At 3-4 weeks of age, the kittens should be started on solid food. so they can be weaned. We like to start them on a good meat baby food (just strained meat and broth/gravy, no other additives).

We start them on a finger, put a little in their mouths, and, eventually, they6 will take to it.  They can then graduate to a spoon and then a plate.  Once they start eating solid food, I would use a kitten sized litter pan for them.  There is always one who is stubborn about eating, but they do tend to take to the baby food within a week.  You can then mix some canned with the baby food and graduate them to cat food.

A good way to entice them to the litter pan you have provided is to start it with your normal litter and a bit of litter from mama's used litter pan.  That way they will know what it is for.  Since kittens sometimes have a propensity for eating litter, you need to avoid the clumping type as it can clog them up!!!!!  You may have a couple of accidents until they get the knack of using a litter pan, but they all eventually figure it out.

To answer your question about the mama's behavior being normal? It sounds normal to me.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Best regards... Norm.