Okay, this is so weird. I have a 3 yr old calico cat that has been a wonderful mommy up until today. She has had litters in the past and cared for her young and another cat's kittens as well. Well, today my dh looked in on them and she was chewing on one of their heads. She was actually eating it. There were only 4 kittens and they were plump and healthy and happy last night. What would turn her into a cannibal all of a sudden? I have had pups eat kittens before, but not the mother!! The kittens are 10 days old. Anyone else ever had this happen?

-- Cindy (Ilovecajun@aol.com), April 09, 2002

Answers

never EVER heard of that before!!!!! good grief. hope someone knows something about it!!!

-- C (punk_chicadee@yahoo.com), April 09, 2002.

video tape it,, and send it to americas funniest videos.. gotta win something

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 09, 2002.

The only idea I have is maybe it was dead and she's "tidying up". Seems strange at 10 days old, though. It would make more sense if she was cleaning up after birth and ate a dead one.

-- mary (mlg@mlg.com), April 09, 2002.

She could be sick herself and thinks the kittens are sick and is killing them. I had a cat do this once and that is what the vet told me. We were able to save the last couple kittens by taking them away from her and getting her on antibiotics.

TAKE THE KITTENS AWAY FROM HER RIGHT AWAY. Then call your vet.

-- beckie (none@this.time), April 09, 2002.

I am sure it was already dead.It is there instinct to eat it .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@hotmail.com), April 09, 2002.

i wonder about you sometimes stan. sorry for your kittens. we have had 2 litters ourselves this past week. all doing well. i would take them away from her. best, of wishes. cody

-- cody (urbusted@alltel.net), April 09, 2002.

I agree it's most likely the kitten was already dead or something was wrong with it and it was dying anyway. Once in a great while this will happen if the mother feels threatened by a predator or some unknown threat. Is it possible she was disturbed in that way?

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), April 09, 2002.

Dave, No, she wasn't disturbed by anything, we turned out summer kitchen into a "cat house". She has a cage inside of the cat house that is 4'x4'x18" and has a lid on it with a hole cut in it so she can climb in and out. Inside the cage, she has another box in which she had the kittens. She isn't acting strange or sick, but perhaps the kitten was. Sick, not strange, lol. Oh well, one less to find a home for. By the way, anyone want kittens in about a month?

-- Cindy (Ilovecajun@aol.com), April 09, 2002.

Pleeeeeeaaaase spay the cat.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), April 09, 2002.

I had a dog once who did this. I was young and never really knew why. We just made sure that when her time was near we took the pup and bottle fed it. None of the pups were sick and she was other wise a great dog. She was one of the most gentel dogs I have ever met. She would sleep outside my friends door when I spent the night away from home. Good luck Jennifer

-- Jennifer (jfisher4@midsouth.rr.com), April 09, 2002.

I agree with Shannon!! Please Spay & neuter pets. Sounds like this poor 3yr old cat has had one too many litters.

-- Jackie Morgan (delila48@hotmail.com), April 09, 2002.

We have hamsters, and the momma will do this when they are about 3 days old... it is the worst sound in the world... She only did it twice, so I quess she had more than she could feed or it was ill. The worst part is we keep her in our room instead of the kids room to keep an eye on them, and the first time she did this was the middle of the night... scared me to death.... hubby still laughing about that night... ( me being scared out of my wits not the hamster eating the babies... just to clarify..)

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), April 09, 2002.

Please DO NOT place the kittens in a new home until at LEAST 8 weeks of age. They need those early weeks to become properly socialized and get a good start in life!!

-- catvet (gardvm@aol.com), April 10, 2002.

Stan, that was a great response. Made me laugh. C'mon people, this is a countryside post not animal rights post! Put your cat out in the goat barn where it belongs and let nature take its course! What true Countrysider has money for foolish vet bills for spaying and neutering anyway?

-- schnauzee (schnauzee@mstar2.net), April 10, 2002.

Best dog I ever had killed two litters of puppies before I got her. The dogs then owner had her spayed a year or so before she gave her to me. I had her for 14 years and a great dog and friend, but parent no, hated any other animal any smaller than her. Have had cats that would kill their young, never quite new why but if they insist on doing it I just got rid of them. Some people aren't good parents, some animals aren't.

-- David in North Al. (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), April 10, 2002.

Yes, Schnauzee, I agree. If you're familiar with summer kitchens, then you know mine has to be an old outbuilding that has been around for a hundred yrs or so. The former owners used it to store garden tools. We cut a dog size hole in the door but the dogs don't use it as much as the cats unless it's really cold. The cat I'm referring to is a barn cat. The kittens are down to 2 now. Found another dead one. She didn't eat this one though. Something strange is going on because her daughter gave birth last month and they were all dead. 4 of them. I hope these last 2 make it cuz I'm down to 3 cats and too many outbuildings need patrolling. Oh well, I'm sure to have more this summer. As far as spaying and nuetering, I always get my dogs from the pound and they come that way. We band the Tom cats and the female cats keep us supplied with mousers. I'm sorry but if I have to call a vet for my cats, we just put 'em down. I've had a male with his throat half torn off heal up quite nicely on his own. The grand mama cat has half a tail and a broken back foot that healed fine too. She likes the horses' stalls and pays the price.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I just thought it was weird, eating her own kids.

-- Cindy (ilovecajun@aol.com), April 10, 2002.

I have had the same thing happen , the kittens look healthy then just die.Get them spayed and adopt free kittens from the paper.Most areas have low cost spay and neuter programs but you really have to look.After much seaching I found out in are area, they spay or neuter "barn" cats for 10.00 with a rabies shot.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@hotmail.com), April 10, 2002.

Sorry Shauzie or whatever, I think you are full of the old poop. What did you mean by "true countrysiders" not wanting to spend money on getting their pets properly spayed etc.? What does that mean? Does that mean you don't vaccinate them either? It is people who don't take care of their critters, whether just "barn cats or well loved pets, who cause the residual feline diseases that are rampant now (leukemia, rabies etc.) and also, give rise to all of the "feral" cats that I have to shoot! Get real here. If you keep a domestic critter no matter what you have it for, and let it run loose, you need to take the responsibility to care for it properly. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 11, 2002.

Some cats have no maternal instincts...like some humans I've met. We have a cat that visits from the farm across the road that gave birth on my front door mat! I hear a screech and there they were! She walked away like they were an inconvenience. I didn't have the facilities to raise them by bottle, so they were quickly dispatched. I love cats but I refuse to trap and neuter or spay all the outside cats. I remember a friend telling me how her father did that one year and everyone of the cats got run over on the road. No, out here we don't have neutering clinics!

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), April 11, 2002.

Cindy, in regard to finding another dead kitty (and your mentioning her daughter having problems with a litter recently) ... you may have a problem with congenital weakened immune system(s) due to inbreeding. Inbreeding (common in farm cats -- consider, just a year or two can breed a great many cousins, half-or whole siblings, and grandkids...) will eventually cause weakening of the immune system of offspring, and kittens will sometimes die after appearing to get a good strong start. There is a commmon misunderstanding that inbreeding problems show up only as deformities, retardation, etc. (something obvious.) After several years on our place and several litters of kitties with a yearly-increased tribe of cats (adopted out most but usually kept one from a litter), we never did see deformities, but did begin to see what was undoubtedly weakened immune response in some of the new offspring. Some would be fine, and others just "weren't right", either dying soon after birth, or sometimes becoming evident after a few weeks of apparent health --- later-onset failure to thrive, recurrent and stubborn respiratory infections and secondary infections, etc., and unexplained death in several cases. (We have a vet in the family who has since confirmed this.) Obviously, spaying or nuetering will address the problem of continued inbreeding, so that speaks for itself. The cost IS a legitimate obstacle, however, for many folks. Certainly has been an issue for us at times. If you want to keep your numbers up, consider trading a kitten (or cat)or two with someone (not the neighbor 1/2 mile down the road though, who probably has the same bloodlines by now as yours), to introduce "new blood" (to yours AND theirs). Just don't take chances bringing home (or giving away, of course) animals that might be sick. Try to get them AT LEAST distemper shots ASAP (before even bringing them home, if possible). Distemper (much more common than you may realize) can hide in the soil of an infected place for a number of years after an outbreak and can be contracted by cats brought there, and of course can be brought in by an infected stray (unknown to you until your cats contract and incubate it, and then it's too late and you have to watch your cat die, not to mention wondering who else has or will contract it). It is a highly contagious disease, and rare to survive. Distemper does not cross species lines (ie: a distempered cat will not pass it to a dog or vise versa). Rabies are a potential threat wherever your wildlife include among others: coons, possums or skunks. Rabies WILL and does cross species lines. Feline leukemia took one of our cats several years ago, when we mistakenly thought the disease to be rare, and opted out of that particular vaccination. It appears to be more common in "town" cats, spread through drinking water shared outside with an unknown infected carrier (passed through saliva). Our cat contracted it within a month of when we moved into town; vet said more than likely from drinking out of a bowl kept on the back porch, accessible to other cats. We've lived in the country again for some years, but we don't take chances anymore. Vets can sell distemper shots "out of clinic" to clients (saves the cost of office appts.), but cannot with rabies shots (where we live anyway). Don't know about feleuk shots. The shots are worth it. Diseases can be awfully far-reaching. Back to the immune system thing, it does not always manifest in disease symptoms, but causes a weakened resistance to any immune- related issues, including, but not limited to, the above-mentioned diseases. Hopefully there's some info here that may be of help in future. Good luck. Hope all ends well.

-- teddy in NE (millerfam@panhandle.net), April 11, 2002.

The Inbreding is a very good possiblity. I would also look at there being a toxic level of something either in your barn or in pesticides/fungacides, etc. Remember cats groom constantly. ANYTHING on the soil or in their habitat they ingest...they get enough of it...everything will die.

-- BC (katnip364@aol.com), April 12, 2002.