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kittens
May 30, 2019 1:14:52 GMT -5
Post by bingpot! on May 30, 2019 1:14:52 GMT -5
hi, so, one of my cats, charlie, had five kittens about 2 weeks ago. she didn't move them for the first week, but once they started to be able to kinda crawl and their eyes opened, she kept taking them out of the box. one time, she put one in my bed while i was asleep and meowed until i let her out of the room. earlier, she took a different one out of the box and tried to kinda kick at it and bat at it with her paws. is she trying to hurt them or something? i haven't had kittens in my house for about 3 years. this is her first litter, and idk if that's normal cat behavior or not??
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kittens
May 31, 2019 13:57:01 GMT -5
Post by Artilantè on May 31, 2019 13:57:01 GMT -5
queens commonly move their kittens around during the first few weeks. they usually do so immediately after birth, for safety, since predators can smell the odour clearer at the site where it happened. afterwards, they may continue to move their kittens to different locations if they feel the current one is unsafe in any way, be it uncleanliness, too bright, too cold or hot, auditory disturbances, etc.
it's reported fairly often for queens to move kittens into beds, whether the human is there or not. it's theorised to be because the cat feels safe with their owner and takes comfort in their presence and scent, which would be prevalent in a frequently-used bed.
as for the batting/pawing behaviour, that could be because the kittens are teething. at two weeks, the first ones should be coming in. your queen could be feeling pain if the kitten is accidentally nipping her, and responded by reprimanding the kit. it shouldn't be a problem in the long run, as she should know not to be too aggressive-- though it may come off that way since first-time mothers tend to be particularly anxious and overzealous as a result.
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Post by bingpot! on Jun 1, 2019 3:35:24 GMT -5
but what if she's taking 3 of the kittens (the three biggest, i think) out of the box and putting them on the floor, but then goes back into the closet to let the other 2 kittens nurse? is that normal too?
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kittens
Jun 1, 2019 21:12:24 GMT -5
Post by Artilantè on Jun 1, 2019 21:12:24 GMT -5
well, it doesn't sound abnormal. she could be feeling overwhelmed with so many kittens, so separating them to nurse would be a solution. it could also be that their scents are putting her off if you or anyone else have been touching them.
it could be any number of things. it's best not to worry since cats are usually pretty intuitive and figure things out themselves well enough. it's recommended that the kittens be weighed once a day though, to make sure they're growing properly. if they aren't, then they might not be nursing well in which case you may have to interfere so they don't grow sick.
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