# Advice needed: Mum hates her 6 month old kittens



## Snork_Maiden (Nov 19, 2010)

Hi, I'm new to the forum, I signed up because I'm worried about some of my cats, any advice would be massively appreciated.

We kept two out of a litter our cat had in May of this year.
A male and a female. The female was the mother cat's favourite when they were little but now she wants nothing to do with either of them. 

She's completely indifferent and ignores our little male and if the little female goes up to her and tries to interact with her at all, she does a half pounce combined with a aggravated meow and spits and swipes at the kitten then runs off.

Is this just a phase? will they sort themselves out? Is it because the kitten hasn't been spayed yet? (Mum has - approx 3 months ago)

It's really starting to worry me. She was a wonderful mother to them when they were feeding, but since weaning, she seems to dislike them more and more each day


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Snork_Maiden said:


> Hi, I'm new to the forum, I signed up because I'm worried about some of my cats, any advice would be massively appreciated.
> 
> We kept two out of a litter our cat had in May of this year.
> A male and a female. The female was the mother cat's favourite when they were little but now she wants nothing to do with either of them.
> ...


Hi welcome to the forum.I dont breed cats so really dont have any first hand experience.I would hazard a guess that mum could be feeling that her unneutered daughter is a threat,has the boy been done?if not then i would get them both done asap.The last thing you want is a brother/sister mating,apart from this there is a great risk to your young female if she becomes pregnant so young.You dont say whether they are indoor/outdoor cats .


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## Snork_Maiden (Nov 19, 2010)

Hi, thanks for your reply...
They are all outdoor cats. And the kittens are booked in at the end of this month for their operations.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Snork_Maiden said:


> Hi, thanks for your reply...
> They are all outdoor cats. And the kittens are booked in at the end of this month for their operations.


Just be careful with your two youngsters .It would be better if possible to keep them in, esp your girl.She could come in season and get mated either by her brother :scared: or some roaming tom .Your boy too could take off looking to sow some wild oats .


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

Oh crikey  First of all neither kitten should be going outside yet! As buffie says the girl is perfectly capable of getting pregnant, and has been since 12 weeks old (it does happen!).

As for the behaviour ... I also have two 6 month olds + their mum  Mum does get a bit peed off with them at times but the easiest way to solve the problem is let them have space to roam all over the house. If she has had enough of them she wanders off (usually goes and cuddles up next to the dog) and sleeps in peace. When she returns to them it's lovey dovey all over again.

A few other things that might help:

Feliway plug ins (they take a while to work once plugged in, but I've heard good things about them)
Make sure you have at least 3 litter trays + 1 extra if you can.
Be sure to give mum lots of loving ... it's easy to neglect this side of things as kittens are adorable, so without realising it you may have been giving them more attention than mum, and she may resent this.
If none of this works, then it might be worth keeping them totally separate for a couple of months, then re introduce them very slowly.


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

Well, the good news is it might not get any worse....The bad news? Well, Nellie has hated her kittens since they were weaned 16 years ago. Over the years this has dimmed to a bare tolerance with an occasional swipe or hiss thrown in for good measure!
In our case, the 'kittens' soon learnt not to approach mum or even get in her pathway and it has kind of settled down.


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## lauren001 (Jun 30, 2008)

I think it is a common mistake to keep kittens because "they are a family" and so will love each other unconditionally.
The truth is that will not happen as it is natural for many species for the youngsters to want independence and for their parents to turf them out, just like us.

The female is a female in her own right, she is no longer a mother in her eyes, so her teenage daughter is now a threat, as she is a fertile female to compete with. 

The male being young is of no consequence until he reaches the age of being fertile, and at that point he would fight with other males in order to be allowed to mate. He may tolerate the situation at home but if he feels threatened or unhappy or gets a whiff of wonderlust, he may just go off to search for his own patch.

You have entire cats there that will not be governed by the rules of "pets", they are hormonal, fertile beings that will do what they want to guarantee reproduction. Females tend to stick closer to home but if driven off by their mother or other cats, they may have to go looking for a new patch too. 
The fact that they are all outdoors, means that you have little control of what they do.
I would not be surprised if your little female is not already pregnant.


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## Snork_Maiden (Nov 19, 2010)

Thanks for all the replies, very informative stuff.
I'm hoping after their operations next week that they will settle a bit.

I also have a two and half year old neutered male (unrelated to the others) who HATED the kittens when they were being fed by Mum, but he has now done a complete 180° and loves them to bits. He frequently washes them and plays with them and they sleep together and seem to be running on the same 'timetable' whereas the mother has a completely different timetable now, sleeping and eating at different times to the other three.

I have also noticed some occasional aggression between the mother and the older neutered male ever since she had the kittens. They had a spat the other day where the neutered male went for the mother - but he gets on with the kittens fine - especially the little male.
Cats are complicated lol!

I'm pretty sure the young female hasn't been in heat yet, I'm aware of the signs... but we'll soon see.

It's nearly impossible to keep the kittens in until their ops, we have a cat flap, so no litter trays and when I have tried to keep them in before (they worked out how to push open the cat flap before their second injection) they just ripped the rubber seal off and taught themselves how to turn the locking mechanism!!!


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm not sure if you're aware, but it's not too uncommon for a female to show NO signs of being in call when she lives with an entire tom.

There is no need for them to call, as the tom is there ready and waiting. The first you may know of it is if they decide to mate in front of you.


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

cant add much more but just because they are related doesnt mean it will be all happy and fluffy!

I had to seperate my girl & her daughter, I did it for about 2 months and when I brought her back mum might remember/not remember her I dont know, but they get on better now, mum rules her witha firm paw and plays quite hard to she her that she is boss, although she doesnt hurt her.
And her daughter is twice her size!

Oh they shouldnt be going outside for about 6weeks (the boy) after being neurtered and the girl about 4weeks (just to make sure shes recovered)

so thats prob 7half-8months old


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## Snork_Maiden (Nov 19, 2010)

Just a quick update to let you all know that the kittens are going to the vets this morning for their operations!
I'll keep you informed of the developments with the mother's behaviour, and if she starts to warm to them once they've had the chop! 
Thanks again for all your replies, it reassured me somewhat that others with mother/daughter/son combo's have experienced similar goings on. :thumbup:


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