Is it rare that cats eat their kittens?

Question

Hi i just have a small question that i am worried about. See,my cat Kissy gave birth 2 days ago and i am just wondering the chance that a mother eats her kittens because somone told me do it ALOT! And if they do what can we do to make sure she does not kill them? Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi,

Mother cats rarely eat their kittens. I have read a lot about cats and have three of them. I had never read or heard this, so I did a search. According to my research, this is extremely rare and happens only under certain circumstances. There is disagreement as to under what circumstances they do.

The books I have about cats are written by veterinarians or cat behavior specialists and this was not in one any of these.

I would not touch the kittens until they are older. Some say they kill kittens if they are touched by humans too early, however the people who wrote this are not vets or experts on cat behavior.

There is a lot of misinformation on the Internet. Nurses and other medical personnel at one local hospital are not allowed to get information about medication from the Internet because of this.

I tend to feel that if she has not harmed them so far, there is little likelihood that she will. In order to allay your fears, I would watch her behavior with the kittens.

Answer 2

Cats do eat there young but it is shortly after birth and it is when there is something wrong with the young one,like sheep throw one lamb away if they give birth to two and can only feed one,but i don't think you should worry since she is in a good home and i have had cats that gave birth to 6 kittens and brought them all up to be health and playfull.and the other reason they kill is because they can get pregnant 2 weeks after giving birth then they choose to kill in order to survive.

Answer 3

Female cats rarely eat kittens. A male tom cat will kill them if given the chance though. There are times where a female will eat/kill her own babies, but it is very rare. If she does there is nothing you can do about it, it is because there is something wrong with them and she knows it. Just leave it be and let nature run its course. When the babies are weaned, please get the mother fixed.

Answer 4

if the kittens are deformed, she may eat them. she will not eat a healthy litter. even the runt will be in greater danger from it's littermates than it's mother. whoever told you this is either stupid or tormenting you. think about it, if they did eat their own young, their species would not survive & even thrive as it does. it's simple numbers. cats are very good mothers, even to the extent of adopting the young of other cats (& other species, including prey species on occassion)
the answers regarding toms killing young is usually only true where the young were sired by another tom. even males can recognise their own young in the vast majority of cases & the tom would have to get by the mother 1st. (no small feat)

Answer 5

The issue about cats eatting their kittens is something that happens more in the wild. I really don't think you have to worry about this kind of an issue in your home. House cats are more trained naturally to be maternal. Just relax and let the mother cat take care of her kittens. The trouble occurs when there is more then one female, and a number of male cats around. It's safe to breed a cat at home.

Answer 6

Sometimes Tom cats that are the kittens father (sometimes just any Tom cat) will kill the kitten,I don't know anything about eating them though!

Answer 7

not usually, mother cats will not eat their young unless they feel very threatened or if they die or are too weak to survive... I have been the "attending nurse" at many Kittie deliveries, and helped raise many a litter (even orphaned ones) you have nothing to fear, best to just let her be, she will only eat them if she gets too riled up.. ignore the people who say take them away, 50% chance of survival on that one, and she will tote them off where you cant get them if she can get to them again

Answer 8

i have been around and had cats 40yrs and i have only heard of 1 cat eating her young,,my cats had kittens and as long as she is mothering them and feeding them'it will be alright....the male cats sometimes kill the young 'so they can make more babies and have them be his this time.....you might want to get your mama cat some kitty chow hard food so she can get all those extra vitamins.....just keep a eye out to make sure she doing her motherly duties,,,,,,i wouldn;t touch the babies yet as she mite start hiding them and that's not good as they could get hurt 'as you won;t know where they are,,,,good luck and enjoy....

Answer 9

Israeli Historian Ilan Pappe and ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’
Desperate Housewives & Sabbah! »


When the cat eats its kittens
Categories Part of Haitham's adventure in Bleeding Edge, Palestine, Human Rights, Democracy
25. October 2006

First, the Israeli Cat:

After Israel lost its war, it has to do something to keep its people busy from facing the truth. The misery of war and its system which is based on bribery and rape of others rights.

Best examples are the charges that President of Israel and the Prime Misters are facing now (when it could have been better than now?).

The first scandal was Moshe Katsav’s prosecution and possible imprisonment after Israeli police drew up charges of sexual harassment, rape and wire-tapping. Next is Olmert who is facing bribery allegations.

The best part for Katsav is that, even if he’s guilty as suspected, he will be granted a monthly pension of NIS 45,000 and perks, whether or not he is convicted of rape or sexual misconduct.

Meanwhile, Olmert will be facing the attorney-general allegations that he accepted bribes as acting finance minister last year.

Of course I’m not saying that Israel is worse than other countries, but it’s not even better than any other ‘democracies or non-democratic’ system around them.

Israeli economic corruption is nothing new. This report shows that is has increased since the year 2000, making it one of the most fraudulent in the world.

Second, the Palestinian Cat:

This is what concern me more. In the middle of last week, Palestinian president Mahmood Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) declared: “Bread is more important than democracy,” and he may be preparing to try to dissolve the Hamas-led Palestinian parliament and replace it with Internationally accepted one, enable that Palestinians can get there food.

Abbas is waiting for this moment since Hamas was elected. Again, here we see someone who lost a war, but this time it is a democratic war, and instead of scarifying the rotten apples in the losing party and helping the new government to meet its obligations, Abbas, his group and supporters (or should I say directors - USA) decided to scarify the people, the majority that elected Hamas.

Yes, bread is important, but what Abbas is afraid of is not that his people will die of hunger, but he is afraid of a “hunger-revolution,” or at least he should. We all remember that great revolutions started because of poverty, so if Abbas is smart enough, he should expect one, sooner than he thinks.

Another thing Mr. president should remember: Yes, food is important, but feeding the people will not bring them back to his farm. Palestinians learned over decades of resistance and crisis that their government is corrupted and has nothing to offer them more than what they already got, if not worse. Therefore, when they selected Hamas, it was not because they guarantee what they have to remain, but because they can’t trust anything more from Abbas and his group, and can’t trust that they will keep what they gained.

The people will be happy to get “paid to buy bread” and enjoy some relief, but they will be far from accepting what Abbas will offer, even if that is a new elections. In fact, if Abbas had any guarantees that his party (Fatah) will win the next elections, we would have seen new elections long time ago. But the problem that Abbas is facing is not the “lack of bread”, but he is not confident that the hungry people will elect the bakery stealers (a.k.a. Fatah)!

The question is not if Abbas has the right to bypass democratic institutions to ensure his people are fed? Yes he has that right, but it is not “right to use that right.”

If Abbas does this, then he is opening the doors for worse. Better die with self-respect than seeking “bread for land,” for this is what it will end to. Palestinians are dying anyway, so better die of hunger than eating bread full of martyr blood, and let the world watch Palestinians “die for democracy.”

If Abbas goes ahead with his plans, he will be adding the last spices to the “civil war recipe,” and he will be the first loser. That time, it will not only be eating kittens, but the cat will start eating itself.

Answer 10

female cats will only eat their young if something is wrong with the kitten but males will eat kittens any time they can get to them.