Fostering Moms & Kittens

Mother cats, also known as “queens,” need to be in a calm environment so that they can
be stress-free and feel like they are keeping their kittens safe. Sometimes, stress can
cause a mother cat to become aggressive or to not care for her babies properly. With
that in mind, choose a private and quiet room of your home, away from the daily
activities of your family, in which to situate the mother cat and her kittens.

It’s also important that they be kept away from other pets in the home. Other pets can
be perceived as a threat by the mother cat and cause her to act aggressively to protect
her young. If you have children and an active home, it may be best to foster when the
kittens are four weeks or older. Sometimes mother cats will behave less defensively if
their kittens are older.

Bringing Everyone Home.

Set up your fostering room before you bring the mother cat and her kittens home. You
should put the litter box as far away from the mother cat’s food and water bowls as
possible and provide a couple of different safe places where she can care for her kittens.
A dark area equipped with a whelping box is ideal.

A whelping box is a box that is large enough for the mother cat to lie on her side slightly
away from her kittens with all the kittens in the box with her. The box should have sides
high enough to prevent the kittens from wandering away, but low enough so it’s easy for
the mother cat to come and go as she needs to. Lining the bottom of the box with puppy
pads topped with newspapers will help absorb moisture. You can place an easy-to-clean
blanket on top of the absorbent materials to give the mother cat and kittens a soft place
to lie on. Please keep all these materials dry so that the kittens are not chilled by
dampness. Do not place straw, hay, or shavings in the area where the mother and kittens
are kept.

When you bring your foster kittens and their mom home, put them all in your fostering
room and close the door, allowing the mom to explore on her own. Give her a couple of
hours before you enter her room and don’t be alarmed if it takes a few days for her to
stop hiding.

Mom's Care of Her Kittens.

The momma cat should take care of her kittens by herself for at least three to four weeks
before she starts the weaning process for her babies. Each momma cat that you foster
will be slightly different in her level of attentiveness, but there are three basic stages of
nursing (see below). If for any reason your momma cat is not performing one of the
listed functions, please notify your Coordinator right away to evaluate whether the mom
has a medical concern that we need to address.

Kittens are born blind, but they can feel their mother’s heat and seek her out to begin
nursing within two hours of being born. Mother cats should be lying on their sides to
ensure that their kittens can find the nipples for nursing. Here are three stages of nursing:

One to two weeks old: The mother cat initiates nursing by licking her kittens to wake them up and curling her body around them. After she wakes all her babies, the kittens search for a short time and then quickly latch on.
Two to three weeks old: The kittens’ eyes and ears begin to function, and they start to explore beyond the nesting area. This is when the kittens start interacting and playing with their mother. At this age, the kittens start to initiate some of the nursing and momma should comply by lying in the nursing position.
Four to five weeks old: The kittens begin weaning and, in turn, the mother cat no longer initiates any nursing. If the mother cat still allows the kittens to nurse, it will be initiated by the kittens and can be lateral or upright nursing.

Occasionally, mom cats develop mastitis when their kittens stop nursing and begin to eat
on their own. Mastitis occurs when the mammary glands inflame and harden, creating a
very painful infection for the mother cat and causing symptoms such as a fever and
listlessness. If you think your mother cat may have mastitis, contact your Coordinator or
the Vetting Department, but know that this is not an emergency condition.
The mother cat will groom and lick her babies frequently for the first two to four weeks.
She will stimulate her kittens to pee and poop and will generally consume the fecal matter
and urine. As the babies become more mobile, they will start to leave the nest and deposit
urine and feces nearby, which is a good time to start introducing a couple of low-sided
litter boxes (disposable tend to work best).

To ensure that the mother cat has enough to eat, always give her access to both wet and
dry food. Food intake for a nursing mother can be two to four times the amount eaten by
a cat who’s not nursing.

When fostering a momma cat, it is very important to observe her behavior daily and watch
her interactions with her kittens to spot any problems. Unfortunately, 8-10 percent of
kittens pass away because of inadequate maternal care. This can happen for many
different reasons, some of which are beyond your control.

Problem Behaviors in Momma Cats.

Here are some details about problem behaviors in momma cats and what you can do
about them.

Maternal neglect. Sometimes a mother cat stops providing care to one or all her kittens.
The neglect may be because of a birth defect or weakness in the kitten; she may just be
trying to follow nature’s course, focusing her attention on the stronger kittens. Neglect
may also happen because she is inexperienced or she’s in a stressful environment. Either
way, that’s why it’s so important to make daily observations to ensure that she is caring
for her babies. If she will let you handle the kittens, you should weigh each kitten once a
day to ensure that they are gaining weight. If you notice that she is spending all her time
away from the kittens, is not grooming or nursing them frequently, or doesn’t respond to
their cries, please contact your Coordinator and the Vetting Department right away.

Maternal aggression toward other animals. Aggressive behavior directed at other animalsis common and expected from mother cats because they have a maternal instinct to always protect their young. With that in mind, please do not try to introduce her to the other animals in your home. As mentioned, the mom cat and her kittens should have a
quiet room of their own away from all other pets so that she and her babies can always
feel safe. If she has seen another animal and becomes stressed or aggressive, it is very
important to leave her alone and not try to comfort her. Give her 20 minutes or so to
calm down and then check on her.

Maternal aggression toward people. Sometimes mother cats will act aggressively toward
people. These behaviors may include hissing, growling, swatting, and biting. Again, the
mother is merely trying to protect her young. We try to evaluate mom cats for these
behaviors before sending them into foster homes, but sometimes the behaviors develop
later. If you have a mother exhibiting these behaviors, do not try to “correct” the
behavior with a spray bottle or any type of punishment. She is only acting out of instinct
to protect her babies and you could cause her aggressive behavior to escalate.

Contact your Coordinator at the first sign of any of the above behaviors so we can
assess the situation and decide on the safest option for momma and her babies.

Separating Kittens from Mom.

If all your foster animals, mom included, are healthy and friendly, we have no reason to
separate mom from kittens before they are eight weeks or older. But there are a few
medical or behavioral reasons for separating them earlier than eight weeks:

As mentioned, if the mother cat is showing signs of maternal neglect and is no longer caring for her kittens, your Coordinator or Vetting Team member may recommend separating her from her kittens.
If the mother cat is semi-feral or very undersocialized, we may decide to separate the kittens once they are eating on their own consistently and no longer need to nurse (around four to five weeks old). Separating them would prevent the kittens from learning feral behaviors from their mother and help them to become socialized, which increases their chances of finding forever homes.
If there is a medical concern about the mom or babies, a veterinarian could make the decision to separate the kittens from the mother cat.

The kittens’ best chance at survival is to stay with their mom. Please do not separate
your foster kittens from their mom for any reason, or attempt to supplement the
mother’s milk with formula, without consulting your Coordinator.

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