nursing queen behaviour

Question
hi i wonder if you can help me.  i have 6 cats all of  which get on together.  The youngest cat (18 months) has just had her second litter of kittens.  The first lot died all in the first day, but they were all very small and looked very weak.  she has just recently (4 weeks ago) had another litter of kittens.  this time she had 6, one didn't survive the birth, 2 of them were very weak and died on the second day, even after we had revived them once.  the other 3 kittens looked healthy and of a good size.  in the 2nd week, 2 of them died quite unexpectedly.  the remaining kitten was very lively and well looked after by the queen and the other 4 cats (2 male, 2 female.. the 6th cat is an old dear and doesn't have anything to do with any of the other cats.)  we got home yesterday to find the kitten dead in its favourite cushion on the sofa. we seem to think that she may have smothered it.  there didn't seem any problems with the kitten, no scratches etc, although we were wondering if its neck had been broken.  it was still warm so after much time trying to revive it we finally accepted the fact that the little one was dead.  she spent the rest of the day looking for it, but today seems to have forgotten all about it.  normally she is a very placid and loving cat, even with the other cats, as they all helped rear her when she was born.  but for the past 2 weeks she has been very aggressive, to all of them and often just chases after them attacking them. could she have killed all her kittens and have something like the equivalent to post natal depression.  i have no idea.  obviously if this continues we will take to the vets; we need to get her sterilised soon anyway, but cant afford it right now.
have you got any experience with this sort of behaviour?

kind regards

Karen

Answer
Hello Karen,
This to me does not seem like very common behavior for a mother cat. I have never allowed my cats to breed, as they have all been spayed or neutered. However, the fact that all of the cats she produced have died, and very few have appeared healthy, is not normal. It isn't uncommon for a kitten to die long after birth if it is weak, but two-thirds of a litter being weak any dying soon after birth is a bad sign. Although you cannot have your mother cat spayed right now, do your best to prevent her from breeding until you can manage to pay for it. It does not appear that she is an ideal cat for breeding, either due to genetics or her own physical health.

As for the behavior, I can only speculate. Cats do not function like humans, and post-natal depression is very improbable. Mothers will forget they even are the parents of kittens if they don't recognize their scent. If the kittens are handled too much by people, especially out of a mother cat's sight, she may not recognize their scent and forget that they are hers. I don't think the last kitten was killed by another cat, unless it was an accident. It seems to me as if the mother cat may have some problems, either physical or genetic, that prevent her from having healthy offspring. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but the way cats think and feel is not as complex as a humans - it is unlikely she would kill her own kitten, whether she recognized it or not. It may have been an accident or simply a health defect in the kitten that took a while to present itself. My best recommendation is as I said before, do your best to prevent her from breeding until you can afford the spaying. Whether or not it is because of the mother's health or genetics I can't be 100% sure, but it sounds like a safe bet. Weak kittens will likely be neglected by their mother, and the care and attention they need will be missed and severely impact the kitten's chance of survival. Best of luck, and I hope things with your cats get better soon.