new mom cat keeps laying on kittens

Question
hey we have a cat who was a stray who just had babies. seems to be great..is giving milk and neutering babies and all but one problem.She keeps laying on top of some of the babies!itll be like 3am and i hear a baby yelling (theyre only 5 days old) and i go to see the mom laying on top of one of them. shes not doing it to anyone in particular but is there anything i can do to stop it? im worried she'll kill one.

Answer
Hi Nick,

There isn't too much you can do right now. This sometimes happens. You can remove the one she is laying on. I assume it is the runt. You can try to keep it separate and return it to the litter for feeding, cleaning, and warmth. Or you can do what you are doing and keep an eye on the litter. In another week they will be big enough so that it won't matter. Good luck and let me know what happens.

Ciao, Karen