Sister cats have kittens!

I have two sister cats about one year old. About two weeks ago one of the cats had 5 kittens and the delivery and all went smoothly. The other cat, that we didn't know was pregnate, went into labor tonight suddenly and had two kittens. She cleaned them right away but didn't cut the umbilical cords and didn't eat the placenta. She then left the kittens and I cut the umbilical cords with scissors because the kittens seemed to be struggling. She then went and got in the sisters box with her kittens and laid down. After about 10 minutes both of the moms got up and went in the room with the newborn kittens and the sister cat, not the kittens mom, started eating the placenta. Is this normal for two cats to take care of the others kittens? Is there anything I should do?

Reply
Hi
yes some cats have a stronger maternal instinct than others. And so yes in some cases this instinct can take over and the sight and smells of new kittens can trigger this motherly action.

Hopefully the less maternal mother will learn from her sister how to look after her kittens.

Kittens do mature very quickly and so unexpected pregnancies can happen very quickly. Now that you have kittens on your hands this is going to be a problem in the future.

just to let you know, you can have the mother cats spayed after the kittens are weaned which usually happens between week 8 and 12. the kittens should be spayed / neutered after they are 4 months old.

i have more information here, plus i have many pages about kitten care which you may find of further interest.

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/neuter.html

kitten-care.html

best wishes kate

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