Two cats share custedy of kittens

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  • 8 April, 2015 at 7:00 am #829698
    Farah
    Participant

    Hi everyone, I have an issue , not sure if its a problem or a good thing, I will explain it to you and you decide for yourself (NOTE: MY cats live outside the house, not inside):
    I have an old cat (Sotia), she is over 8 years old and her kittens usually have bad health and rarely reach adulthood, anyway, she gave birth to 3 kittens about 10 days ago, two died and one remained.

    I have another one and a half year old cat (Tuna) who was expecting , the strange thing is, she gave birth in the same box that Sotia has placed her last remaining kitten, she just took advantage of Sotia’s absence and gave birth to them and also adopted the kitten as well (She gave birth to 3 kittens, two died and one remained).

    Now, A third one year old female cat (Lifa), she has not kittens of her own, is sitting with the kittens and is taking care of them, she can’t feed them but she just comes and cleans them, even with the mother around.

    I want to know, should I try and keep Lifa out and let Tuna take care of the kittens? will the smell of Lifa on the kittens make Tuna abandon them?

    Also , I have two small tomcats who also come near the kittens and lick them.

    Its the first time this happened to my cats, usually, Sotia would adopt a kitten but not share custody with several other cats.

    it might not be a problem but I want to know if its normal or may pose danger to kittens.

    The image is of Tuna (Orange cat) and Lifa (Calico Cat) in the box with the kittens

    8 April, 2015 at 6:02 pm #829718
    Rafi
    Participant

    It is totally normal. When I was a child we had a mother and daughter who gave birth simultaneously, in the same cat house my dad built for them. We never knew whose were whose! Both mamas fed all the kittens.

    Also, my adult female Silver, who was spayed as a kitten has strong maternal instincts and has helped me care for rescued feral kittens in the past. She washes them and loves them tho she can’t feed them. Many cats will actually care for kittens, my other adult at the time was a male and he also washed them a little and played with them.

    And… I saw a documentary some years ago about barn cats, that showed kittens wandering to another mama and being allowed to nurse.

    So no worries, just keep an eye on them, especially the young toms, as they might get carried away and get too rough.

    Please consider getting your cats spayed. There aren’t enough homes for them all. You don’t want to be responsible for kittens being euthanized.

    8 April, 2015 at 6:23 pm #829720
    CheetahBoysmommy
    Participant

    Shared mothering is perfectly normal. What you do need to worry about is the toms. They have been known to kill kittens. Intact male animals often kill their kittens, pups, etc. It’s what they do in the wild to make sure only their own DNA gets passed to the pack.

    9 April, 2015 at 12:31 am #829734
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It’s wonderful that the moms are chipping in to care for the kittahs. Multiple pregnancies are very hard on cats and can shorten their lives not to mention that every pregnancy creates more strays to breed more kittens. Can you have them spayed? Cats can be spayed soon after birth. Now, it all depends if the mom cat is going to be kept indoors and away from any unneutered males. A cat can come back into heat – and get pregnant – even while nursing her kittens. If she’s at real risk for getting pregnant again, then she can be spayed when the kittens have started nibbling solid food and can be without her for a few hours. Spayed cats who have been nursing WILL be able to continue nursing her litter. If she’s at no risk for getting out and getting pregnant again, then it can be postponed until the kittens are about 6 weeks old, which is when Mom will start weaning them anyway.

    pg

    9 April, 2015 at 8:22 am #829749
    Farah
    Participant

    Thank you so much, I want to mention that the Toms are really gentle and also, my cat Lifa keeps watch over the newborn kittens , I saw her yesterday defending them from two stray toms who came way too near and chased them away, and another update this morning, the number of kittens increased as another cat gave birth to two kittens and left them, I found them this morning cold and screaming with the mother standing by doing nothing, then the two mamas came and took them as well, now they have FOUR kittens to take care of.
    I have mentioned before (in other posts) that the situation in my country limit (or prevent me altogether)from getting the help of a vet due to dangerous security situations.
    I will attempt to do so if things calm down.

    Thank you so much again, it was great thing for my cats to care for the abandoned kittens as I can’t take care for them and may die with my care and also was worried they might hurt them or even abandon them as well as their moms

    9 April, 2015 at 8:35 am #829750
    Farah
    Participant

    Also, this is a pic I took of the kittens, the grey with strips (biggest one) is Sotia’s kitten, the Orange one is Tuna’s and the last remaining two are my cat’s Misha (she abandoned them)

    http://s17.postimg.org/ophvmxzun/IMG_0763.jpg

    9 April, 2015 at 9:36 am #829751
    Farah
    Participant

    And as a bonus 😀 , here are my cats:

    http://s22.postimg.org/t4oo7dmr5/chart.png

    p.s. Hitler is named due to his mustache , nothing more

    9 April, 2015 at 6:01 pm #829773
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I’m sorry you can’t access vet care, Farah. You are doing a good job providing for them.

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