Mother cat gone wild after having kittens

Question
I had 7 cats, 2 had kittens about 4 weeks ago.  The one mother cat which use to be very laid back and still was until the other day. For some reason it started attacking one of my male cats to the point that now he's in hiding.  I caged her and her kittens but left her out this morning to eat.  She in turn started in on another one of my adult cats.  Now all my cats are on edge and she's back in the cage.  Why would all of a sudden she turn on the other cats like this? She's not protecting her kittens as since they have been born the other cats didn't bother her or her kittens and we held them constantly.  Please help my house is in an uproar.

Answer
Diane,

Actually the mother cat that you are talking about seems to feel threatened. It really doesn't matter to her that the other cats have not actually tried to hurt her or her babies. You may want to consider putting this mother and her little ones into a room that is dimly lit and quiet that has a closed door. I would suggest that you not allow the other cats access to the mom or babies. You should be aware that if the mother cat is stressed too much she will kill and eat her kittens. Mom will need a litter box that the kittens can get into easily, food, water, and a comfy bed (a cardboard box with old towels for bedding should work nicely). Some mother cats are fairly protective of their kittens. You should be aware that any unfixed male cats who are not the father of her kittens will attack and kill them to get the chance to mate with her sooner than she would be receptive if she raised the babies and weaned them. In general it is standard practice to isolate the moms and babies until the kittens are old enough to be weaned and separated from mom (about 12 weeks). It will not help to have your momma cat caged within sight of the other adult cats, she is just acting perfectly natural and trying to protect her babies, if anything the mother cat who is acting laid back is acting oddly. I think that you will find that once you allow mom to calm down in a quiet and dimly lit room by herself with her kittens she will settle. I would also recommend that you seriously consider spaying and neutering all of the cats in your household who are old enough. You don't want to continue to contribute to the serious pet overpopulation issues. Unfortunately there are way more cats and kittens in shelters than there are good homes so the euthanasia rates for cats and kittens are staggering. There are also medical benefits to spaying and neutering including less fighting, lower incidence of mammary tumors and infections, drastically lowered risk of reproductive infections and cancers as well as reducing unwanted behaviors like spraying and wandering. If you are not in a financial position to have all of your pets altered it may well be worthwhile to check and see if your local SPCA offers a program called SPCA Cares which offers low income families with pets subsidized or free spaying and neutering as well as routine vet care. It is a program that allows you to keep your pets and provide the best possible care for them. Hopefully this information helps. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.