How bad is it to separate six-week-old kittens from their mother?

July 25, 2023 5:45 PM

I found a litter of stray kittens in awful living conditions (old question). Their mother is feral. Is it acceptable to take these kittens to a foster home without mom?

I'd prefer to keep them all together, but I have limited influence because I'm back in my home country now. I've kept in touch because I'm helping to connect the struggling rescue to generous cat lovers in my social circle, and because I'm willing to support the adoption process - possibly flying the cats out to European mainland if they are not adopted in the area (of course, only once they are much older).

In the meantime, a local lady has agreed to foster the kittens. This is very much needed. The kittens are malnourished and the cabin they've been living in is filthy. They need to be treated for parasites and eye infections, and then they need a clean, safe environment, healthy food, and lots of rest. But would getting all that make up for losing mom? :/ I don't think so, but I know barely anything about cats.

I have repeatedly said that keeping the kittens with their mother is important to me, but the rescuers say that mom would be too stressed in an unfamiliar environment and would try to escape. It also seems like they just can't handle the extra work of trapping the mom. They've done a lot already.

posted by toucan to Pets & Animals (7 answers total)

The feral mother of four kittens I fostered left as soon as they were on solid food mostly, about 8 weeks. I have domesticated an adult feral but it took months and months of work.

Six weeks means they can do solid but will need kitten milk 1-2x a day and some help grooming for at least 2 weeks. I used non-scented wet wipes or a damp washcloth. It’s manageable compared to newborns.

Not ideal but possible. The mother will look for them for a while but will be ok.

The only caveat I have is if you can trap and spay mom, then release her, you give her a longer healthier life and prevent a LOT more kittens.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:05 PM on July 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: But would getting all that make up for losing mom?

You're putting a lot of emotional weight on the idea of "losing mom," and I think it might be causing you to lose sight of the actual physical danger these kittens are currently in. From your description, they're malnourished and sick; for whatever reason, mom is not able to care for them adequately.

It is completely possible to raise a happy, healthy kitten that has been separated from its mother at six weeks. This is for sure earlier than you would want to separate them in better circumstances, and they would require some extra attention, but it is very doable if you have the knowledge and the time, and is definitely better than, well, them dying.

Does the local lady who's offered to take them have the knowledge/resources/time to care for young kittens? It's not exactly rocket science, but you wouldn't want to give them to someone who would just put them in a room and feed them once a day. (They need frequent feeding, a good environment, and supplemental milk for a little while. And attention!)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 6:15 PM on July 25, 2023 [10 favorites]

Not to be all “they’ll be fine,” but if they’re alive at six weeks in those conditions and you have a solid plan for appropriate food, shelter, and vet, they’ll be fine.

They’ll need help grooming, supplemental feeding, and those parasites managed, probably more than once, but I’ve found younger kittens than that and if someone can commit the time to feeding, grooming, and meds, they’ll be fine.
posted by toodleydoodley at 8:56 PM on July 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I agree with others, save the kittens. Looking after them is a drain on the mother's resources. If you can get the organisation to trap her and either re-home or spay and release, that would be ideal, but I realise you have limited influence. (Would they do it if you and others could raise the cost of it?)

For anyone who hasn't seen it, the earlier question has a link to PayPal donations to the organisation.
posted by paduasoy at 1:10 AM on July 26, 2023

Best answer: Clearly if there's a binary choice between letting kittens be ill and malnourished or separating them from their mother, the latter is the better outcome.

There may be some consequences, as kittens that are separated from their mother before they're weaned can have permanently infantilized behaviors, but that's not the worst thing that could happen to them.
posted by adamrice at 8:38 AM on July 26, 2023

We took home our cat Beatrix when she was 8 weeks old. She had been separated from her mother at about 1 week old, because there was a big storm with flooding and she was the only one who survived. She seems to have done pretty well and certainly doesn't seem permanently scarred.
posted by slkinsey at 10:11 AM on July 26, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks to everyone who answered. This was so helpful, I feel much better about the situation now. I especially appreciate the accounts of kittens who turned out fine, the reassurance about mother cats being happy to let their kittens go, and the clarity of this being, literally, life or death.

The kittens have been taken to a foster home with air conditioning, good food, and regular attention. They're playing! They even snuggle with their caretaker, though they were so skittish when I found them. The first vet visit went well and they're being treated for parasites and that eye infection. They're severely underweight, and it's been determined that the mother is not producing milk. Probably because she is also underweight. The vet also found out that one of the kittens is not part of the litter. It appears that he was adopted, as he's a few weeks older.

Good news: Mom has been spayed! The rescue surprised me with that right after I wrote my question. A slot opened up, and they grabbed it. She's been treated for parasites as well, and she's being fed every other day. Hopefully, that's enough for now. It's a long drive for the volunteers, so they can't be there every day. She should be able to catch rodents, there are fields around.

Does the local lady who's offered to take them have the knowledge/resources/time to care for young kittens?

Knowledge, yes. She's been doing this for a while. I'm less sure about resources and time. She has fifty cats to take care of (not in her house, it's in no way a hoarding situation), and she is stretched thin. Still, I think it's by far the best option for these kittens. I did just get a picture of one of the kittens lying on her chest, fast asleep, with the caption "Can't get up, the baby is not done with his nap." So I do think they're being treated lovingly. And they still have each other for company.

If you'd like to help and aren't struggling yourself, please buy these kittens and their mother some special treats or toys: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/LPFDCorse

I named the mother cat "Juliette". If you put her name in the reference, the rescue will know who it's for. (Any good names for three orange boy kittens and a tricolor girl?)
posted by toucan at 4:07 PM on July 27, 2023 [2 favorites]