General Chat

My daughter's cat has had her first litter of four. She is being a good mam with feeding and washing her kittens etc. However she is acting strangely with one of the litter. We don't know if she is playing with it or trying to hurt it. She picks it up by the neck and shakes it or throws it about. Today she has started holding it in her front paws and hitting it with her back legs, probably the way a wild cat would hold prey. My daughter is getting very concerned about the kitten as it is the last born and the smallest of the litter. Maureen

HI HUN,very often with dogs ,if the kitten has something wrong with it,they will kick it away from the litter,i think shes doing this. she may kill it if you dont remove it,and when shes feeding the others ,slip it in for a feed.xxxhope this helps.xxx

I am no expert, but would agree with Jax, sounds like classic signs of rejection, you probably need to remove the kitten asap and bottle feed

Ask your daughter to call the vet a.s.a.p. it sounds to me like the mum is rejecting her kitten as some do with the runt of the litter. Your daughter will probably have to hand feed the kitten with a formula you can get from the vets. I would keep a good eye on them until she speaks to a vet. There may even be some advice on google Jax xx

Strange thing is she's allowing it to feed. Just seems as if she's treating it like a toy sometimes but getting rougher with it. Thank you for your replies.

think i would remove it,then put on to her to feed every 2 hours.till its a bit stronger.hope it survives.best a luck.xx

I agree with all that's been said ,remove the kitten into it's own space and rear it by hand for it's own safety. It's sad i know ,but then nature can be cruel,but it is after all ,survival of the fittest. My new kitten [missy] is one of these kittens ,but is now doing well and rules the roost lol.Fred.

Aww poor wee thing. How is it today? Marion

Thank you all for your concern. I've just spoken to my daughter and at the moment cat and kittens are snuggled up together. I read on some websitelast night that sometimes mother cat will keep pushing the runt of the litter away so that it has to work harder for a feed and so get stronger. As the cat is still feeding the little one maybe this is what she is trying to do. Will keep you up to date. Maureen

I would take the kitten away. As Jax has said, sounds like the runt of the litter and being rejected. It is normal for them to shake their kittens by the neck as discipline, but if poor kitty has done nothing wrong, then it doesn't sound right. I would hand rear her/him.

My cat had kittens four weeks ago. Mum can be very rough with them sometimes, Even when they were really small. I used to really worry that she would hurt them, But they are fine. She did the shaking and kicking at them bit too. As I said, they are ok. Dont know if it's the same, So maybe keep a close eye on them. Are the kittens being weighed daily? Thats how I first knew that one of mine was ill. Unfortunatley even after trying to hand rear it, He didnt make it and died at a week old. Pat

Thank you for all of your advice. Mam has been feeding the little one fine today. Pat, my daughter's situation sounds the same as yours. This is exactly what mam cat is doing. Maybe my daughter is overeacting as it's her first ( and last) experience with kittens. Thank you again. Maureen

Sorry ....it may die .....mum knows best and there may be something wrong with it that she knows and you dont .......Thats what we where told when our cat did it. BUT our cat stopped doing it and the kitten grow up OKish ,.....its still really small for 18months half the size of its brothers and sister