Young mother cat

Question
We took in an abandoned female cat in January. We found her mating in our barn and brought her in the house to live. She had four kittens yesterday and for a young (less then a year)
cat herself, she did real well. The only thing she really required was that I not leave the room. She had them in a box we put in our computer room and she had been in and out of the box for the past two weeks. She stayed in the box after they were born and would only get out when I left the room. I put the box next to my bed last night and they all slept and ate through out the night. When we got up this morning she took the babies from the box and put them in my the closet of the computer room. I put her box back where it had been and set them all back in there but she took them all back to the closet again and seems to want to house them there. The closet is carpeted and they are on an old soft sheet, but should we leave them there from now on or try to get her to keep them in the box? When I go to bed tonight should I put them back in the box and next to bed or leave well enough alone. She is going in and out of the closet and feeding the babies, but if they are not needing food, she doesn't seem to have much interest in them. I had a cat with a litter years ago and she wouldn't leave her kittens for one minute and never moved them, so I have nothing really to compare to... Thanks so much for you advice. We love Miss Kitty and will have her spayed immediately, I hope to have her for many many years.....

Answer
Pam,

I would leave them in the closet, for now.  Mama cats do not like their kittens moved unless they do it.  She is telling you where she wants the kittens and, if there are no problems, I would honor her wishes.

A mama cat tends to stay in with the newborns.  As they get older, she will wander away from them more and more.

You can expect a "lactation" heat when the kittens are 4-5 weeks of age. The kittens can be weaned at about 4 weeks of age.  I would not have her spayed until the kittens are weaned.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Best regards.... Norm.