Is it OK to Move 2 Week Old Kittens from Where Mother Put Them?

May 31, 2011 8:55 AM

Is it OK to Move 2 Week Old Kittens from Where Mother Put Them?

My cat, Kissa, originally gave birth in the corner of the Living Room, and stayed there with her 5 kittens for the first week. Then, one evening, she suddenly decided to move them all upstairs to the back of a closet (she picked them up one by one and sprinted up to the new home).

Is there any way to convince her move back to her old location?

posted by Jon44 to pets & animals (10 answers total)

You can move them -- I wouldn't try back to the living room, she wants a place with more privacy -- but the mother may move them back to that new place.
posted by jeather at 9:12 AM on May 31, 2011

Maybe if you sheltered the area of the living room and had a blanket or old clothes you don't care about that she likes to sleep on. The closet is secluded and that's probably the reason for the move like jeather said.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:17 AM on May 31, 2011

She moved them to where she was more comfortable: cats prefer quiet, dark places to raise their kittens. Unless there is a real need to move her back (such as a danger to the kittens), I would let her choose.
posted by baggers at 9:18 AM on May 31, 2011 [7 favorites]

In the living room? No. That's likely where either the bulk of your daily noise, or where one scary (to her) thing happened.

The living room doesn't feel safe to her.

you might relocate the babes to, say a downstairs bedroom with success. But you also risk her upping the ante and countering with a move into a box spring, crawl space, or otherwise inconvenient choice.

It sounds like she's got a pretty good handle on the situation (I bred cats into my early teens, they're fascinating.) and just wants some added quiet/privacy/security.
posted by bilabial at 9:18 AM on May 31, 2011 [1 favorite]

I would leave them. My cat did that, I moved them back, and she just moved them again only to a different place where it was harder for me to get to them.

The kittens are safe where they are and the mother has peace of mind.
posted by Amy NM at 9:20 AM on May 31, 2011 [1 favorite]

Mama cats can really flip out if you mess with their nest, sometimes to the point of killing their kittens. Leave them alone unless the location is dangerous.
posted by Metroid Baby at 9:46 AM on May 31, 2011 [3 favorites]

My grandmother hosted my Christening party at her house. She had a Siamese cat who, disliking all of the noise and commotion in the house, got flustered and ate all of her kittens. And that's where my relationship with the Catholic church began... and started to sour... apparently.

Long story short: Mother cats are sensitive to noise and beware of religious omens.
posted by jerseygirl at 10:19 AM on May 31, 2011 [4 favorites]

Just leave them where she put them, and make sure to leave the closet door ajar.

It could be so much worse. When I was about 13 my cat had her kittens in my underwear drawer.
posted by Andrhia at 10:24 AM on May 31, 2011

on an aside about keeping the closet door open, they sell these foam brackets at Home Depot in the home safety department. They are supposed to not let kids slam their hands in doors, but we use them to keep the basement door open so the cats can get to the litter box.
posted by jerseygirl at 10:27 AM on May 31, 2011

You really should leave them where they are. It's only for a few weeks and there is some risk that the mother could turn if disturbed.

Anecdata: when I was little, our cat had kittens under the sink, where there was a hot water pipe and bottles of bleach and just absolutely no comfortable space. I knew that there was a risk that our cat might kill her kittens if disturbed, and my mother knew this too, but she decided the risk was worth taking and almost immediately picked up the newborns and put them all in a shallow cardboard-box nest in a corner behind the sofa. Mother cat was thrilled with the decision and agreed that it was far more comfortable. But she had an exceptionally strong relationship with my mother and trusted her implicitly. Also we were lucky.
posted by tel3path at 3:24 PM on May 31, 2011