# Kittens 'feeding' off the dog?!



## adls29 (Oct 2, 2009)

My boyfriend's parents' Mama Kitty had a litter of 4 kittens about 6 months ago. At about six weeks they were eating solid food, and still feeding off their mom; a normal thing in the weaning process we thought. The kittens were nearing 12 weeks old and they were still feeding off their mom (I'm not sure if she still was producing milk, I don't know much about cats and pregnancy). She was still feeding them when the kittens were four months old! Once they hit four months she started to get really angry with her kittens. She would attack them out of no where and hiss at them. We kind of had a theory that she was angry because this is her third litter of kittens, and normally by four months they were all adopted. We thought she was mad at us because the kittens were still there. 

Well, Mama Kitty ran away and we're not sure why. She hasn't come back in two months. Two of the kittens have been adopted (I took one ) and they decided to keep the last two. 

The problem: We caught the two kittens "feeding" off their female Saint Bernard. The dog has become really protective of the kittens and lays down to "feed" them as if they were her puppies. The dog isn't neutered and hasn't ever had a litter of puppies. Is this anything we should be worried about? Are they trying to find a "mother figure" again? At this age they shouldn't be feeding off their mother, so I'm not sure why they're turning to the dog.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

The Saint probably has a strong mothering instinct and the kitties are performing a "comfort behavior". IMO, if it isn't harming anything, I wouldn't interfere. Spay/Neuter everybody?
heidi =^..^=

*_I suspect that the mother cat getting angry at her juvenile kittens was her way of trying to chase them off so she could protect her resources (food/shelter) for the next litter about to be birthed. In the past, you said all other kittens found homes and this time the kittens remained much longer. It could be that she felt infringed upon and since she couldn't chase them off to protect her resources, she may have left to find a *different* place, away from her juvenile kittens._


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

This isn't unusual--with a sweet dog. My collies raised two orphans. They needed the love, even if there was no milk.  

It is common for a mother cat to smack her kittens when they are too large to nurse and won't leave her alone. I don't know why she left, but I wish she had been spayed. It was probably hard on her to have that many litters. I'm glad the kittens will have homes, but I hope they will be neutered. The result will be healthier kittens for a longer life than intact cats. 

I'm sure your friend's parents would have had her spayed, but many people don't know that it's hard on a female to have many litters and dangerous (fights, etc.) for a male to remain intact. And I'm sure they don't realize how many thousands of cats have to be put to sleep weekly. There are just too many for the shelters to keep. It's so very sad, but true. 

I hope you enjoy your kitten! They are so much fun.


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## adls29 (Oct 2, 2009)

Okay, everythings sounds good then. I'm just glad that this wasn't an unhealthy habit or anything. Thanks!

Mama Kitty was never spayed due to his parent's lack of care and knowledge about cats. The more kittens she had, the more they didn't like her. She never was spayed because they didn't like her. I don't want to say anything bad about them because I love the family, they just shouldn't have cats. 

So I took initiative with the kittens and spent a lot of time talking and convincing his parents. Now, the vet has been called and the kitties have appointments to get fixed. They didn't understand that having brother and sister kitties was going to cause a lot of problems with them and the potential kittens. But it ended up being me convincing them to just give me the money and let me take them to the vet. I called and made appointments and I'm taking them in a few weeks. But that's usually how it goes. They give me the money and I use it for food, litter and such for the cats. Before, they would buy them a new food every time they ran out and their poor digestive systems just couldn't take it.  What they eat now isn't the greatest, but it's better than what they had before with what they can afford. It's a slow process, but I'm teaching them.  



As for my kitty, she's so adorable! She was spayed just last week and has recovered well. She's bouncing off the walls again! She's in a happy home and could eat Wellness canned food all day if I let her. Right now, it's really windy outside and she's so confused. She had no idea where the noise is coming from. :lol:


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm so pleased you were able to convince them!


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