I am fostering a litter of kittens and the mom does not clean them. Anyone seen this before?

Question

They were brought into our local shelter from another person fostering them, but she wanted them out of her house. They are 6 weeks old, and the mom keeps hissing at them. I haven't seen her feed them. She may be stressed because of a new situation, but I'm wondering if I should separate her from the kittens. The kittens were filthy, I cleaned them all up, and even the mom is dirty. Has anyone ever seen a situation like this before?

I finally found her nursing them, but she doesn't seem to have patience for them. I also noticed a respiratory problem with 2 cats. Even the mom seems to have drippy eyes. So I think there might be more going on here. Looks like a vet visit on Monday is needed.
Thanks to all for your advice, it is much appreciated.

Answer 1

If Mom is young and/or was abandoned herself she may not know how to take care of them. However, somebody's been feeding/cleaning them or they wouldn't have made it to 6 weeks!
Suggest soft washcloth dipped in warm water to clean their privates as that's what stimulates them go to the bathroom.
At 6 weeks, they should be very close to weaning so you might try warmed milk with a little honey in a old pie tin but if she's not feeding them at all, you can find little bottles and milk (powder to mix or prepared) at any pet store - I've even found them at WalMart in the pet section!

Answer 2

It's not ideal for 6 week old kittens to be seperated from the mother but they can survive without her. They don't need to nurse at 6 weeks. They are old enough to eat a regular kitten food and don't need to be on milk. They should begin cleaning themselves when they are just slightly older. I had a cat which I found at age 3 weeks and I had to keep him clean but by the time he was 2 or 3 months old he had begun washing himself just like any cat, so I think that comes from instinct, not learning. Just wipe them off with a damp cloth when needed and they should take over soon.

Answer 3

do you be responsive to if the two mothers gained an identical form of care earlier they had their kittens? If one cat had, say, a greater valuable food plan then the different earlier giving beginning, then that clutter of kittens would be in good shape, in many cases. it could desire to be the mummy that has probably had innovations injury isn't looking after hers to boot, too; if she does not sparkling them in many cases adequate, they are in a position to get bloated from no longer likely to the bathing room(kittens won't be in a position to 'pass' until the mummy massages their tummies, you could rub them with a heat moist textile to help) or she won't be generating adequate milk for all of them, which might slow them down, too.

Answer 4

Some mommie cats are like that.

She may not recognize them as her kittens, I would say separate them and just keep the kittens clean.

Answer 5

this is what happened with a litter of kittens i found in my garage... the mother cat would not go near them. she would try to attack them everytime we tried to put her next to them. we ended up just taking the kittens in since the mother cat belonged to our neighbor who wasn't responsible enough to get her fixed. we called our neighbors and they didn't want anything to do with the kittens... apparently this was the second litter their cat had had. we bought the kittens formula which you can find at pet stores... and we kept them clean just by rubbing a damp cloth over them. we still have two of them and we gave the other two away to friends of ours. just make sure you take care of them as best as you can because chances are the mother cat isn't going to do it.

Answer 6

Get another cat that has had experience with kittens. The more the cat has, the better mom she is.

Answer 7

It sounds like she's rejecting them. If you're sure they're not nursing, separate them from her and get them all cleaned up.
Sounds like you're doing good work.

Answer 8

Clean them for her. Make that tung good for sumthin.