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Introducing younger kittens to a older litter?
I am a foster mom so all cats/kittens will be spayed. But, my older kittens with a great mom are 4 weeks old. My younger kittens with a feral mom are 10 days old, just opened their eyes. Already I can see a difference between the response of the kittens when I hold them.
Vet says that feral mom won't make a difference. Just get the kittens use to mom
Shelter says, wean the kittens as soon as you can and take them away from mom before she can introduce feral behavior.
With that information, when should I introduce the younger kittens to the older litter with a domesticated mom.
Feral mom growls and hisses whenever I am in the room. There is no hope of domesticating her. I just want her to feed and get the kittens to pee and poo on their own. So I am taking the kittens out 2 at a time (there are 4) and introducing them to humans away from the feral mom.
I will be sure they are able to eat and pee by themselves before I "capture" mom and send her off for spaying and becoming a barn cat.
But I want the 4 kittens to have a more comfortable forever home so I want them around humans and domesticated cats.
So when should I introduce the young kittens to the new litter and with the new (domesticate mom)
when I pick up the kittens from the feral mom it is with gloves and a threat of bites. She is that mean. I understand that she is protecting her babies, but she is that way when no babies were around. I had to take her to the vet for an injection and 2 people were bitten in the process.
I understand that you don't want to mix litters, but I have a very mean feral cat that is teaching her kittens not to adapt to humans. I want the growth and development for the younger kittens to learn from the older domesticated kittens.
I will take away the feral mom as soon as I am sure that the kittens can eat and pee and poo on their own. I am talking about socialization.
I was thinking about 4 weeks also. I know they are too young now, but I am amazed at the difference of the feral kittens versus the domestic kittens so I don't want to wait too long and miss the chance to save these younger kittens.
I will introduce by smells first and will increase my human time with the ferals but there really is a difference.
2 Answers
- susan nLv 79 years agoFavorite Answer
These are just some thoughts, what I would attempt, and I may be wrong.
The new kittens haven't begun their socialization but you can still at least get them used to the scent of humans by entering the room frequently and by leaving unwashed socks and clothing around.
An aside - don't ever look directly at the mama cat without blinking then looking away. Don't stare at her kittens when she can see you doing so either. Just sit there quietly or murmur softly so when the kittens can hear, they get used to human voices.
I think that you taking two away at a time is good but will be more effective when they begin their socialization and I believe that coincides with their beginning to wobble around on all fours.
I'd have them interact more with humans then as well as introducing them to the other cats at that stage. Hmmm, maybe a little later - 5 weeks - when they are starting to bounce around.
So I would keep them with their mother longer if you are going to keep them with her at all, that is not try to get the other mama cat to adopt them. Nah, that wouldn't work at this stage, the older kittens would clobber them....
Keeping them with their mother AND having them get used to the older kittens and other cat when they are fully ambulatory, would be best I think. They do need to learn social skills from each other and from their mother and their mother's fear of humans may NOT rub off on her kittens if all of their interactions with you and other people are good. They each learn on their own as well as from their mother.
Sorry I am rambling here but my inclination would be to introduce them to the other kittens and cat at 4 weeks or so, under tight supervision, and also let them stay with their mother for a couple of weeks beyond that.
