Why do cats move their kittens around?, This morning I was panicking Options

[Catsfriend]

This morning, I couldn't find our Russian kittens any more. I remembered that I woke up a few times during the night, because their mother was "massaging" me and was biting into my ear lap. Did she want to tell me something? When I went to check upon her kittens, they were gone. It took me 2 hours to finally find them behind a kitchen cupboard, in a rather dirty and definitely very unsuitable place. The queen has been trying several times before to carry her kittens away from the clean, darkened and cosy wardrobe-type accommodation where I put them right after birth, most often into the direction of her previous outdoor cage in our backyard, and I always brought them back. The wardrobe where they are supposed to stay is in my study, a quiet room where I can monitor them all the time throughout the day. The kittens will be soon 3 weeks old. I exchange their blankets for clean ones about every second day, and I weigh and handle the kittens daily. Is anything wrong about their accommodation? Am I disturbing them too often? Why else would the mother want to have her kittens in a dirty hiding place instead, on the hard wooden floor? She also doesn't seem too fond of being with her kittens except at nursing times, but rather keeps walking restlessly around the house and even has naps outside of her "kitten nest". Can anyone offer me an explanation of her behaviour?

[Heather Sharada]

When I was in India the cat that I befriended had a litter and the man in charge of the accomodation told me that she had come home the previous night having given birth somewhere. I asked how would they find them and he told me her habit was to move the kittens about 6 times and then bring them home when they were about 9 weeks old. So as TA says it is their instinct.....moving them means they avoid predators.

I never used a crate - tried it once but the cat dragged the kitten back and forward in front of the door to the crate and ring barked their necks....They were ok but they had scabs around their necks so I never did it again.

However I had one room in my house and it was there that the kittens stayed with their mum until they were 6 weeks old - then they spent time in my Kitty Condo outside learning to be very accurate with their litter tray and only at around the 8 weeks came inside for the last 2 to 3 weeks before going to be desexed and on to their new homes.

They would try to move them but if the door was shut it was impossible. I did providde a couple of different places in the room where she could take them. I think sometimes they leave the kitten nursery box because it has an odour of the kittens - some wet the bed before they learn litter manners....and changing the bedding does not seem to satisfy the mums. It also seems to be around the 3 weeks that they get very stubborn about it.

As you saw they don't always choose safe places or suitable places to stow them and I do know of a litter that died because they were inappropriately moved.....so keep a good eye on them.

As to not wanting to be with them - that is also a bit common when the babies are starting to think about getting out of the box....mums want to teach them the next lessons.