Cats being terrible after having thier first litter

Question
Hello, My name is Zabrina and my cat just had her kittens but now she is using the bathroom everywhere. Also i had left her with my parents and her kittens but we had took one and gave it to my aunt. Is she just missing me and her kitten or is she staying like this for ever?? Pleasee help me i dont wanna haved to give my baby away!!!

Answer
Zabrina,

You need to give the newborn kitten back to the mother cat. When kittens are this young it is absolutely crucial that their mothers care for them...Human beings are poor substitutes for mothering kittens. Newborn kittens depend on their mother for warmth, stimulation that will help them to use the toilet and antibodies that pass through mom's milk to the kittens will help them to remain healthy until they can be vaccinated. I always recommend that kittens are kept with their mother for a minimum of 10-12 weeks. The mother cat will wean her kittens on her own around 6-8 weeks of age. The remaining 2-4 weeks is crucial in terms of socialization, and learning to be a cat. It is never okay under normal circumstances to take newborn/young kittens from their mother. In the event that it is necessary to help the mother cat in raising her kittens it is generally best to allow mom to take care of her own babies as much as possible. The only circumstances that merit hand rearing kittens without their mothers are in cases where the litter has been abandoned by the mother or owner, rejected by the mother, the mother dies or is unable to provide sufficient nourishment...Your cat may be responding to the totally unnecessary removal of her kitten, she may have a medical issue causing her to house soil or she may be anxious about the potential for other kittens in her litter to be taken away. The most important step to take immediately is to give the kitten back to her mother so that she can nurse, care for and provide warmth and antibodies to her kitten....Kittens who are hand reared are at a substantial risk for contracting viral and bacterial infections, having issues with vitamins, minerals and proteins being insufficient in their diets, failing to thrive and other serious issues. It is not in the mother cat's best interests to have her kittens taken from her prior to weaning simply because she can develop a serious infection in her mammary glands called mastitis. If giving mom back her baby doesn't remedy the house soiling situation within a fairly short period of time then I would recommend that mom be taken to a vet to be assessed for medical issues including an infection of her womb or vagina, a bladder infection, a deceased kitten that wasn't born for one reason or another decomposing in the womb or crystals in her bladder or urinary tract. The best thing that you can do for the mother cat and her kittens is to provide them with a quiet, dimly lit room that isn't constantly having people come into and out of....In this room I would recommend that you provide the mom with plenty of clean, fresh water, a good quality kitten food so that she can support the rapid growth of her new family, a comfortable place for the kittens and their mother to sleep in (a cardboard box lined with old towels works well, so long as mom is able to come and go easily and the kittens aren't able to leave the nest yet), a few toys and a kitten sized litter box so that when the time comes mom can teach her babies how to use the box...It is very important that anyone going to see the kitten do so quietly. Hand washing is an important tool to prevent the new mom and her babies from becoming ill so I suggest that anyone going into the room where mom and babies are wash their hands thoroughly before entering the room or handling anything that mom or babies will have contact with...The bedding in the nesting box must be changed frequently to prevent bacterial infections from developing in mom or her kittens. I don't recommend that any children under the age of about 9 be allowed in to see the kittens without first washing their hands and being supervised by an adult...To minimize the chances of mom rejecting or killing her litter due to anxiety and stress it is important to minimize handling of mom and her litter at least for a week or so to give her an opportunity to settle down again....

I would highly recommend that you have mom spayed as soon as possible to prevent further unwanted/unplanned litters that will add to the serious pet overpopulation issue worldwide...All too often pregnant female cats, intact male cats and countless litters of kittens are abandoned, admitted to shelter systems or euthanised for serious medical/behavioral issues that are preventable by spaying and neutering. The medical benefits of spaying or neutering a cat include preventing serious infections of the reproductive organs and mammary glands and uterine, prostate, ovarian and testicular cancers. Spaying and neutering also lowers the risk of cancer in the mammary glands (breast cancer). Spaying and neutering also decreases the risk that your cat will wander away from home and either need medical treatment or die as a result of being attacked by predators that include domestic dogs, infections or abscesses that are caused by bite wounds or fighting, human cruelty, being struck by a vehicle, poisoning and other serious issues. There are also a number of serious behavioral issues that can occur in cats that aren't spayed or neutered including a substantially reduced risk of your cat using urine or feces to mark their territory, wandering, fighting or caterwauling and howling to advertise their availability to mate. All too often cats and kittens are euthanised each year because time or space has run out in a shelter system, they develop behavioral issues that were easily preventable by spaying or neutering or they sustain injuries that are either untreatable or the costs of treatment are so high that an owner or shelter simply can't afford treatment. Please, help to save countless lives with one minor surgery. Be a part of saving lives and preventing your cat or her offspring from becoming another grim shelter statistic....

I hope that you have found this information helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns or you would simply like to send an update or some pictures my way, please don't hesitate to contact me again.