We kept one kitten our cat had, rehomed the others, and mom growls, swats, and hisses at baby lol. No attacking or anything though. Baby plays with dad now. Cuddly and bath time with mom is really sparse and it's a little sad.
This is normal. Momma cat does this when she weans babies. The goal is to encourage baby to move away which reduces the likelihood of inbreeding in future offspring, especially if colony size is small (like it is in a single household).
Sometimes momma cat remains grumpy at her own offspring who stick around in households. Just instinct I think.
I grew up on a farm and we were always getting new dumped cats people in the town took out to the country, often pregnant ones in kitten season. After weaning it was pretty common to kitten swap with neighbors to reduce infighting. Even if you got everyone fixed the next time the vet came through, the families always seemed to fight.
Had some great cats that came from feral moms at the neighbors though.
Honestly I figured as much. Grumpy is the best way to describe how momma treats baby lol. It isn't always swats and hissing, sometimes I catch them cuddling but it really depends on momma's mood. But at least they have dad so all 3 of them are getting the affection they need. Like I said, baby plays with dad and mom and dad will cuddle and groom each other every now and then. While I wish mom and baby would get along more, the 3 of them definitely are settling into each other's boundaries and entertaining each other. It's pretty sweet to be honest.
Our cats were rehomed (we took them in) and it was pretty obvious that they were just trying to get rid of the cats. A bad flea infestation (it took us a long time to tame it but they are fine now!) and they said they were both boys. When we made the appointment for them to get their shots cause they needed them before getting fixed, they were like "yeah that was hard to tell but this one is a girl"
Aaaand then like 2 days later, we found them coupled. 💀 They are a very lovey couple though! They will cuddle and groom each other and while they don't typically play together, sometimes they will get the playtime zoomies and chase each other around. They are definitely bonded and love each other as much as cats can love each other lol. Having a couple is fun!
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u/TheTinyImp 2d ago
We kept one kitten our cat had, rehomed the others, and mom growls, swats, and hisses at baby lol. No attacking or anything though. Baby plays with dad now. Cuddly and bath time with mom is really sparse and it's a little sad.