[cliff21]

Our cat gave birth to 5 kittens 11 days ago. All of them look very healthy and active. We have them in a very large rubber container 4 feet long/2 feet wide/2 feet tall that the mother can easily jump out of when she needs a break. We also have bedding on the bottom. We have fed the mother 2-3 times a day. A combo of wet/dry with fresh milk and water if she wants it. We have for the most part left her alone, although she is a very calm loving cat and lets us check on her and stroke the little ones in the container. All of a sudden yesterday she started moving them across the road to a hay barn. Up until that time she spent most of her time with the babies with a few short breaks per day. Now after moving them she suddenly is spending most of her time back at the house. Last night I walked her over to the barn and can see where she had dug out a cavity in the hay w/ a tunnel. I am going to watch today to see how often she stays at our house. It seems that she is really ignoring them and they are only 11 days old. Should I bring them back over to the house and put them back in the container? Yesterday when she was bringing them over she was having a hard time carrying them over across the street to the barn. As she was bring the forth one over I carried the 5th one over for her and put it next to her in the hay area. Last night when I walked her over to the barn I pickrd her up and put her into the barn through a gap in the boards that she climbs in through to get to the tunnel area. She looked at me kind of funny and I told her to go in and see the babies. She then went in and I went back across the street and watched out the window and did not see her come back over, I watched for about 10-15 minutes.
This morning however she was on our porch early but she did look thinner like had nursed them. Maybe this is all normal behavior but this is our first go-round with mother/kitten scene and are worried that she has given them up. We are going to watch her all day to see if she goes over to the barn. If anyone can give me any info or tips from experience it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance...

[koriani]

Hello,

As long as the kittens look healthy, I wouldn't worry about it.

As they get older, they can go longer with out food. Mom knows this and uses this time to 'hunt' or hang out with you.

I hope you are feeding mom a high quality food such as Iams or Hill's Science Diet. I would recommend cutting out the milk and canned food as these can cause diahrrea and other gastointestinal upsets. Besides canned food is 80% water and has little nutritional value.

Mix the adult dry food half-and-half with Iams or Hill's kitten food. The kitten food gives mom the extra nutrition she needs while nursing.

I hope things continue to go well!

Regards,

[cliff21]

Thanks for the reply. The next day things were back to normal as she was back spending time with her family.The last 3-4 days she has been over at the barn a lot and I go over every night to check on them. They are 2 weeks old now and look good. Ihave been giving mom the kit n kaboodle dry brand. Every other day I give her a can of tuna as a treat. Sometimes I give her some table food such as a small piece of steak cut up or a little chicken. I will try and cut out the wet can food. If I do not give her milk I guess I should let her have fresh cold water.