I took my cat and her babies to the vet today. Now the cat won't have anything to do with the babies.?

Question

I had to take the cat and kittens to the vet because the cat and kittens are full of fleas. I needed to find out what they weigh so I will know what to do for them, and to get advice.

When the cat, kittens, and I got back, I gave them time to calm down from the trip. Now the mother won't have anything to do with her babies!! A vet told me to put mommy alone in a room with the babies so they can bond again. We got home 4 hours ago, plenty of time for the mom to settle down from the trip, etc, but she still refuses to be with the babies unless I lock her in the travel carrier with them.

What can I do to get her to bond with the babies again? They are begging for her attention, for her to feed them and snuggle with them, but she just lays outside of the carrier and won't pay attention to them! What can I do? I need to use the flea comb on the babies again but don't want them away from their mother again right now.

the vet told me to spray some flea spray on a washcloth and lightly wipe the babies with it to try and get rid of some, if not most, of the fleas. It has done wonders for them as I did it a little while after we got home! I just need to use the flea comb to get what ones are dead and what little amount of live ones are on the babies. I AM taking care of the flea problem.

I just checked on Patches and she is laying with the babies IF I keep her locked in the carrier with them, lets them cuddle with her and feed from her. She even checks them out if they are crying. She just doesn't seem to have the bond she had before with them. I believe she knows that they are hers, but she is upset about the trip to and from the vet and about someone else touching them. She never minds me, my fiance, and a roommate touching them, just others.

I just wonder how long it will take for her to bond with them again like she did before.

The babies are 8 days old today (Thursday). They are starting to open their eyes and crawl around, won't even stay in the cat bed. Patches had taken 2 of the babies to another room this morning and left the other two in the cat bed while I was in the shower. I happened to hear the babies with her while I was looking for them and got them so I could take them to the vet. I know that she doesn't want them in the pet bed, but I don't want them in that room. We are doing too much moving of stuff around in there.

Ok, the ONLY reason the fleas got on the baby is that their mother didn't have fleas until she got pregnant. By then, there was nothing I could use on her without harming the babies. THAT is why the babies got the fleas. I DO take care of my cats. DON'T try to say that 'something smells' here because the babies got fleas. At least I care enough to take them to the vet to get help with the fleas problem! If I didn't care, I wouldn't take them! It really makes me mad when someone tries to say or imply that I don't take good care of my cats/pets when I DO.

Answer 1

No offense but 4 hours might not be nearly enough time for a mother to rebond with the kittens. I suggest locking the mother and kittens in the carrier for *alot* longer than what you've given them and just put the food and water in the carrier. The only reason you should let them out is if the mother starts harming the kittens (at which point I would personally dispose of the mother entirely). As for combing them, rotate the kittens out one at a time at a timed interval so that there's usually many kittens still here to invoke the bonding and to lessen the event of combing.

Did you stop to think about asking the vet since taking them to the vet screwed everything up? And how the hell did you let them all the fleas in the first place? Were you not taking care of the mother? Sorry but the situation smells if you ask me.

Answer 2

A lot of times cats get freaked out by just being at the vet. Besides the flea spray, the scent of the vets office lingers on the kittens and the mother cat. The thing that I've found that works the best is to find some bedding or something that the cat sleeps on and rub the cat and the kittens with it. The scent from the bedding will come off on the cat, returning it to a semi normal scent. Also, don't get upset about the flea comments. Flea eggs can survive for years stuck to your carpet, and then the hatched flea can lay hundreds of eggs before you find it and kill it. And my cats have come home from the vet with fleas the didn't have before they went there.

Answer 3

Hey, maybe because she doesn't recognize her kittens' smell anymore. I mean that's how cats recognize each other. But it should be okay if you touch your kittens all over their bodies and then let your cat smell your hand. Idk if this will work though because I got this tip from other people.

There's also another similar method. This one I read from an all about cat website. There have discussion board there. One of them wrote this tip in a board there. But it was suppose to help if you have new cat and you want your cat and the new one to be good to each other. Maybe this will work for your kittens too.

Put blanket under them(different sheets for the mother and the babies) when they sleep. After a few days, exchange them. The mother's sheet under the kittens and the kittens' sheet under the mother. Hopefully that will work. :S

Just in case you want to check out the website and discussion board, here's the website link http://www.cutelittlekittens.com/forum/index.php

Yeah, I agree with the first answerer. That's how they recognize each other. So since the vet is a stranger when he do whatever on them to get rid of the fleas, he also leave his scent on them. So now she can't recognize her babies anymore because the smell she smell is the vet's smell not her babies' previous smell. But she recognize you, so I'm pretty sure that if you follow the tip above, she'll be good to them once again, I hope.

Huh? My feline(female) don't even has any kitten. But when I brought back a lost kitten, the kitten always want to cuddle and feed(don't ask me how, I don't even know how he feed from her. Do she has any milk at all in the first place? She never had any baby yet.) from her even if she's not his mother. She's not a mother but she let him cuddle, feed from her and she did check him out if there's any problem. But they don't have "the bond", she would ignore him whenever she could. So, yeah maybe your cat doesn't recognize her kittens but she let them do those things just because she can.

Answer 4

I would take the kittens out of the carrier. Momma may be concerned that if she goes in there she'll be back at the vet's. I don't blame her.

Were they treated for fleas? if so - they may smell funny. But the carrier is definitely a problem for Momma.

Have the kittens ever had another bed? You should put them back there. If not - put her babies somewhere that is not the carrier, but make sure that it is safe and warm. If it were me - I would keep them confined to the same room together.

Keep them warm and if Momma hasn't started feeding again by tomorrow morning you'll need to do the nursing yourself. Any pet supply store will have bottles and formula.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Answer 5

I know you are worried about the mom bonding with her babies, but honestly, fleas are the worst of the two outcomes, so I would not shirk on the flea combing for the sake of their being with mom.
I honestly think that they will easily bond with the mom again if left in a confined enough area. Don't put her somewhere where she can easily ignore them, and although it will be tempting to peek, I would try and leave them completely alone for a while.

Worst case scenario, if the mother did for some reason ignore them completely, baby kittens can successfully be raised by humans.
However, if you ignored the fleas, the babies could die of enemia.

Good luck!

Answer 6

u probably touched them when they were to young so the momma has abandoned them. u can put her in the carrier cage for a half hour every so often jus so the kittens can be with the momma. they should be able to have enough time to feed and its not to long. just dont forget about her. if the kittens are old enough give them some soft cat food. and have the momma cat smell your hand after u touch the kittens this should hopefully help. good luck.

Answer 7

I grew up in the country and I can tell you from experience that if people handle or pet kittens too much the mother cat will abandon them. Leave them alone for several weeks after they are born. The mother has to bond with them first not you.

Answer 8

Your momma cat has become a little confused, with the trip, and all the handling..... She should come around, maybe you will have to hold her down a bit and let the babies lock on for feeding, and if that doesnt snap her out of it, a trip to the pet store for some little nursers may be in order.

Have momma spayed, to control the pet population...:-)

Answer 9

if the moma cat smells human scent on her babys she will reject them thats y she hides her babys when they are born you r not suppose to be with them ur suppose to let the mother accept and bond w/ them

Answer 10

Because someone unfamiliar touched the cats and got their scent on them, she won't take them asher own. They'll die if se does't nuture them, so try and get her too, or feed them and nurse them yourself.