# Nest relocating: Quirky, Normal, or bad?



## Kevin (Aug 28, 2009)

Apologies in advance for the long read - and if this should have gone in the General or Behavior category. I've just been having a weird problem with my new litter.

I'm just cutting and pasting something I wrote on another forum. (doesn't seem to be a huge amount of traffic there)-

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24 Aug 2009 at 8:05am
We just had a litter 8 days ago. Everything went well and seems to be going great, but last night when I checked on them, one of the kitties was missing.

I looked around for about 5 minutes until I finally checked our other bathroom, and there it is, in the bathtub. I didn't know what to make of it, so I put it back with the others. She's currently on her second nesting place - she moved them from our bedroom closet to a hall closet early on. I figured maybe she thought the bathtub would be a better spot, and was making another move (is this normal?)
This morning I checked and of course, there was one missing, and it's in the bathtub. She did not bring any others in there over night. I don't know for certain that she isn't giving it attention anymore, but it seems odd that she'd move one out.

It's perfectly fine if she wants the bathtub, we don't use that one anyway - but isn't this weird?

* on a side note - the mom's eating and drinking just fine, but she doesn't drink the KMR that the girl at petsmart told me she should. Is that a concern?

In case you couldn't tell, it's our first time.

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Today at 5:00pm

It's been a couple days and things are back to normal, sort of.

About 30 minutes after I wrote the first post here, I watched as my cat brought another one into the bathtub. I figured she was relocating again, so I put a blanket in there and made a makeshift ramp out of a floorpillow so she wouldn't have to jump with the kitten in her mouth. Then I went to work.

Back from work, I check the tub - and there's no kitties in there. Perhaps she didn't like my blanket or ramp. All of them were back in the hallway closet area. I say closet area because it's a small closet, and they're sort of spilling out or wiggling away.

Today's another chapter. It's almost becoming a game of hide & seek. No kitties in the closet, none in the bathtub, and it took me a while to find them in my office.
They were in a box that I had on the floor when I cleaned the closet out for her the first time (the one closet she never used). So now, the box and the kitties are in the closet I had originally planned her to stay in.

I can't say it's permanent though, but that would be nice.

I'll have to give these forums another look around, because I still have questions. Everything I read on the internet is somewhat helpful, but many are also contradictory.
Some say that a series of shots is unnecessary and could even be a bad thing, others stress keeping up to date on everthing. Most say to start the immunization at 6 weeks, another says 3 weeks. And the general rule on spaying seems to be 4 months.

I have 3 of the 5 awaiting their new home already, and I'm keeping one. I just want to make sure that I do everything I can to insure the healthiest happiest kittens I can.

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Today at 8:44pm

alright.
It's 50% funny, 50% irritating now.
I just checked on them, of course, 2 were gone.
I look under my bed and there she is with a couple kitties and looks at me like, "what?"

As I sit here complaining, she just walked off with another.

I'd really like it if the cats can just find a spot. I'd rather it not be under my bed. Is there something I can do?
Is this common?


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Kevin said:


> I'd really like it if the cats can just find a spot. I'd rather it not be under my bed. Is there something I can do?
> Is this common?


Welcome to CatForum, and yes, it is common for mamma cats to move their nests. The main reasons they instinctually move their nests are safety, resources, kitten growth and cleanliness.
Now, as to _what you can do_....limit her choices.

I foster, tame and socialize feral, semi-feral, stray and poorly-socialized cats for a local adoption center. I have only had three cats kitten in my home, my entire life. Once in the early 70's when I was a child, once in the mid-70's when I was a grade-schooler and just a few years ago with a foster-cat in 2004. 
So, my only *practical* experience, is with one litter from 5yrs ago.

I took Shadow in when she was hugely pregnant. I prepared the Master Bathroom for her and her kittens and she gave birth w/in 10dys of me bringing her inside. I used a large cat-carrier, though now I think I would prefer a large cardboard cube-box. 2'x2'x2' so it is roomy enough for Mamma and all of the kittens to shift around and get comfortable. I would cut a hole for Mamma to enter/exit and have that hole at least 4" above the bedding so if a kitten won't let go of a teat when she tries to leave the nest, the lower edge of the opening will bump the kitten off and it will remain in the nest. By the time the kittens can get through the opening on their own, they are ready to explore.

So, choose a room that is easy to clean and has limited opportunities to move kittens around in.
Provide a roomy and suitable nest. 
Use folded towels put in a pillowcase for bedding and change/wash as needed. The towels will be soft and comfortable but the smooth pillowcase will prevent kitten-claws from getting tangled in terry-cloth towel loops.
Have food and water available in addition to a litterbox. 
Keep her contained in that room. Period.

Mother cats spend most of their time caring for their litter so they do not need an entire house/room for exercise. They just won't do it. When I tried to open the bathroom door for Shadow to give her the bedroom to be able to exercise, she tried to move her kittens under the bed. _Absolutely not acceptable. I could not have kittens inaccessible to me and neither did I want them pottying on the carpet fibers wherever she chose to 'nest' them under there._ So, I kept her in the bathroom and visited her frequently, allowing her into my bedroom when I was there to supervise so she wouldn't move kittens. 
When the kittens were able to explore and play, I cut a cardboard barrier and put it in the bathroom door opening so Shadow could escape them if she wished. By the time the kittens could get over that barrier, they were ready to play and explore in the Master Bedroom. Shortly after that it was weaning and time for spay/neuter and to go to the adoption center.
Shadow was spayed but she didn't do well at the adoption center so we decided to keep her and she is a great kitty.

I also wanted to comment about the KMR the Mamma kitty isn't showing an interest in drinking. Usually it is offered to nursing mother cats to help them nourish their litter, but if she won't drink it, it isn't nourishing anything. Instead, you could feed the Mamma kitty a premium kitten food and that will give her plenty of nutrition to maintain herself and nourish her litter.
Best of luck, and it sounds like this is going well, other than the minor frustrations you were having with her.
heidi =^..^=


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## Kevin (Aug 28, 2009)

Thanks Heidi

I'll move them to the bathtub. I never really thought about it before, but there are very few doors in my house. The only place I can really have her contained is the bathrooms. 

I have a box that sounds very much like the one you described. I can line the tub with a comforter, put the box on one side of the tub, and all should be well.

I found a way to get that KMR into her anyway . I just mix it with some soft kitty food and she devours it. I also keep a bowl of hard kitten food for her.

They're getting to that point where they're looking around and responding. Not walking yet, but I know that's comin up pretty soon. I'll have to get some doors around here afterall....


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Kevin said:


> I'll have to get some doors around here afterall....


 :lol: I'm sorry, that made me LOL! Who would have thought that kittens would require home remodeling?! :lol:


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