# pregnant cat tying to 'steal' her sisters kittens????



## mistafeesh

Hi everyone. I'm new here, so please be nice!

We've got two females that got pregnant close to each other. They're from the same litter, and were born here too. Teddie's kittens are about 4 weeks old, and Strawberry is about to pop. All's been fine Strawberry and the other cats have all had a nose at the kittens, but mostly left them alone. 

But now Strawberry is showing far too keen an interest in them. She's picking them up and walking around with them, getting in the box they live in and it looks like she's trying to feed them. 

She seems to be dominant over her sis, so Teddie's just letting her...


Is this normal? Strawberry's always been a bit potty, so we're not entirely surprised. We're just trying to keep them separate, but in a big farmhouse with open doors/windows in the summer and busy lives that's quite tricky.

Any ideas?


Cheers,
Dan


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## chaoticborders

That could be a sign that she is getting ready to pop. With any of the pregnant fosters I've had, right before they went into labor they would try dragging the other (adult!) cats by their scruffs to thier chosen nests. So keep an eye on her.

Another thing is, sometimes when female cats have litters close to each other they will "share" in the kitten raising duties. So make sure when Strawberry gives birth that the older kittens do not nurse off of her and take nutririon from the babies. A mother's milk goes through different stages to in relation with the age of the kittens.


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## Sol

It's quite normal for females to help each other if they're good friends and she's probably filling up with mother's insticts now.

However, don't let her nurse the older kittens. The first milk, the colostrum, is very important for her own newly borns. It's full of antibodies and other healthy molecules that'll protect the kittens from diseases. If she's stressed out by you not letting her have some kittens to care for, try to civer the nipples. Some types of band-aids work very well to cover the nipples with.


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## madcat

Hi new here... but have had same "trouble". Sol is right: take her away
from the kittens. She is going to disturb mom nr 1. But when she then gets her kittens be sure that they are going to move together.
I think that it is nice, plus they are going later to take watches over
kittens and get little free time.Being cat mom is a though job...

I went totally mad carrying mom nr 2 two days before her babies came.
I would not recomend long trips or to leave these ladies alone...
If my English is funny it is because I am living in Finland/Europe.
So sorry...
Madcat


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## mistafeesh

Thanks for your replies. Good to know it wasn't totally wierd behaviour!

She's given birth now, and it's got even wierder. 

She's much more interested in looking after her sisters kittens to the point that she's let two of her five die.  She seems to look at her own and think they're not proper kittens like her sis's.

We tried shutting her in a room with her kittens and she just waited by the door. We tried letting it play out and she starts feeding the others and carrying them around, just ignoring her own.

She keeps taking her sisters kittens up to where she's got hers. 

At the moment we're just letting her out when we can kleep an eye on her and keeping her shut away from her sisters kits the rest of the time.


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## Sol

Don't let her out at all. Not as long as she hasn't bonded entirely with her own babies. It seems likes she's stressed out and she needs to be "encaged" with her own babies and she needs to forget about het sisters babies. If she's not to interested in her own babies, try to make her interested in them by sticking something tasty on the kittens. Tuna water, butter or anything else she might think tastes good. If she starts licking and cleaning them she might just discover that her own babies are just as interesting as the sisters.

If it really doesn't work out with her and her own babies you can try to switch babies but that's really the last thing to try.

Weigh the babies and if they don't start gaining weight or they start to get tired you have to feed them (if the mother doesn't). If you don't have kitten formula at home some homemade pedialyte with lots of sugar in it is good enough to keep the kittens going.


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## mistafeesh

Thanks. We'll keep her 'encaged' for now. She seems to be improving - the three remaining kittens are growing now, although she still tries to feed the older ones if we let her out. 

Maybe she couldn't cope with five kittens of her own, as she seems a lot more relaxed with the three left. 

Do you lot reckon when they're older it would be a good idea to combine the nests and let them share mothering duties?

Thanks for all the help - it's very appreciated,


Dan


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## Sol

When the kittens are older it's probably fine to let them all live together, but wait at least 3 weeks. The first 3 weeks are critical for the kittens. Any small disturbance might throw them off and make them start losing weight and you don't want that to happen.


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## mistafeesh

Thanks. Will do!


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