Cat robbing another litter

Question
Hi Ali....
We have two new mother cats each giving birth within a week of the other.  Sniff had five babies a week ago and has been a great mom thus far.  Scratch had three babies this morning (one of which died after birth). I removed the dead baby later in the morning.  This afternoon Scratch did something very odd.  She went to Sniff's nest, removed three of the kittens and took them back to be with her two remaining newborns!  She is now content to nurse the three "adoptees" as well as her own two!  Oddly too, Sniff doesn't seem to mind at all!  Do you have any explanation?  I have waited for a nasty "cat fight" to break out, but so far all is very quiet in our kitty nursery in the barn.


Answer
Nedra,

As long as both moms are content to nurse all of the newborns then there is no issue. This is perfectly normal behavior for mothers who live in colony type situations (ie: barn cats). There are even some instances where cats who are not pregnant or lactating will begin to lactate in order to perform their share of work with raising the kittens. If there is any fighting or you have any male cats nearby I would highly recommend that you confine the mothers to a safe place as male cats will kill newborn kittens in order to have the female cats become free to breed sooner. All in all, it sounds like you have perfectly healthy moms and babies. Do keep me updated if there are any issues that you are not sure how to address, I will do the best that I can to help out with any suggestions and information that I can. I would love to see pictures of the moms and babies as I really enjoy seeing the kitties that I am able to help through this site. I do hope that you find this information helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.