Mother killer

[IluvABbeef]

The worst and most sickening thing that could ever happen in the animal kingdom is when a mother uses the wrong method to wean her young. And that's killing them.

A cat on our farm had three kittens, all very cute and playful creatures. When we first "met" her, she had previously two kittens following her around. One of them disappeared and we didn't know what happened to it until yesterday, with her second litter here.

Poor Dad, he was the one who found out why. He found one of the kittens ("Simba", a really playful one, my favorite) dead. The little body wasn't stiff yet, and there were marks on the neck, marks of a cat's teeth....

the mother's. :shock:

He mentioned it and said the little black and white one I found last year was also killed by this same cat, and she most likely ate it. I had to choose whether to keep the mom alive only to see another kitten bite the dust, or put momma down.








We put momma cat down with a .22 rifle, leaving 2 orphans, Button and Blackie, to take care of.

 

[A6gal]

Just wondering, why didn't you have the momma cat spayed instead of killing her?

 

[IluvABbeef]

Just wondering, why didn't you have the momma cat spayed instead of killing her?

Even if we did spay her (expensive to us to do that) she would still end up killing the two remaining kittens. This is the type of weaning that she has learned and it's a bad habit.

 

[Gale Seddon]

Are you sure it was the mother who was killing the kittens, and not a male cat? Never heard of a mother cat doing this, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.

 

[Alice]

When I was in grade school, my friend had a cat that killed her kittens, and then ate them. Sounds gross, I know...but it happened.

I wonder if it doesn't have to do with inbreeding.

I haven't thought about that nasty cat in a long time...and now I intend to promptly forget her.

Alice

 

[milesvb]

If only more cats would pick up that habit..............

 

[IluvABbeef]

Are you sure it was the mother who was killing the kittens, and not a male cat? Never heard of a mother cat doing this, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.

It was definately the mother who was responsible for that, though I do know that toms do it as well. Reminds me, we gotta look out for these two orphans extra, now that momma's gone... but I don't think we'll see the toms around very much, just coyotes...

 

[Alice]

Are you sure it was the mother who was killing the kittens, and not a male cat? Never heard of a mother cat doing this, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.

It was definately the mother who was responsible for that, though I do know that toms do it as well. Reminds me, we gotta look out for these two orphans extra, now that momma's gone... but I don't think we'll see the toms around very much, just coyotes...

Myself, I would get the orphans spayed or neutered... especially if they are a male and female. Inbreeding in cats can be wretched. And, if, by chance, they are products of inbreeding anyway, well...

Alice

 

[Anonymous]

Are you sure it was the mother who was killing the kittens, and not a male cat? Never heard of a mother cat doing this, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.

It was definately the mother who was responsible for that, though I do know that toms do it as well. Reminds me, we gotta look out for these two orphans extra, now that momma's gone... but I don't think we'll see the toms around very much, just coyotes...

Myself, I would get the orphans spayed or neutered... especially if they are a male and female. Inbreeding in cats can be wretched. And, if, by chance, they are products of inbreeding anyway, well...

Alice

I wouldn't call it wretched...i'd just call it weird :lol: ...had a cat with no nose one time...never seemed to really bother him any...just looked different

 

[oscar p]

A lot of times a tom cat will kill kittens, just so the momma cat will come in heat sooner.

 

[Alice]

Are you sure it was the mother who was killing the kittens, and not a male cat? Never heard of a mother cat doing this, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.

It was definately the mother who was responsible for that, though I do know that toms do it as well. Reminds me, we gotta look out for these two orphans extra, now that momma's gone... but I don't think we'll see the toms around very much, just coyotes...

Myself, I would get the orphans spayed or neutered... especially if they are a male and female. Inbreeding in cats can be wretched. And, if, by chance, they are products of inbreeding anyway, well...

Alice

I wouldn't call it wretched...i'd just call it weird :lol: ...had a cat with no nose one time...never seemed to really bother him any...just looked different

Inbred farm cats are wretched...let me assure you. Hairless, limping, skinny, weird shaped heads, mishapen bodies, sick, convulsions...it's dreadful. And then, having to dispose of them...oh, GAWD! I wish I'd never read the original post and responded to it...dredges up all kinds of awful memories...no offense to the original poster.

Alice

 

[msscamp]

He found one of the kittens ("Simba", a really playful one, my favorite) dead. The little body wasn't stiff yet, and there were marks on the neck, marks of a cat's teeth....

the mother's. :shock:

How do you know they were the mother's? Were these kittens still nursing? A stray tomcat will kill any babies a mother cat has that are still nursing.

 

[Anonymous]

Are you sure it was the mother who was killing the kittens, and not a male cat? Never heard of a mother cat doing this, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.

It was definately the mother who was responsible for that, though I do know that toms do it as well. Reminds me, we gotta look out for these two orphans extra, now that momma's gone... but I don't think we'll see the toms around very much, just coyotes...

Myself, I would get the orphans spayed or neutered... especially if they are a male and female. Inbreeding in cats can be wretched. And, if, by chance, they are products of inbreeding anyway, well...

Alice

I wouldn't call it wretched...i'd just call it weird :lol: ...had a cat with no nose one time...never seemed to really bother him any...just looked different

Inbred farm cats are wretched...let me assure you. Hairless, limping, skinny, weird shaped heads, mishapen bodies, sick, convulsions...it's dreadful. And then, having to dispose of them...oh, GAWD! I wish I'd never read the original post and responded to it...dredges up all kinds of awful memories...no offense to the original poster.

Alice

i've never had a hairless cat :shock: ...dont see the cats much though...they just run around a few of the barns...dont know how they got there...but they kill a few mice so I dont mind them...had a really deformed cat when I was younger though...we didn't know what it was for a while...it couldn't eat because its head was deformed...so one day my brother just picked it up and a hit it's head down on a rock...I was probably only 5 or so...felt bad for that cat...at least it died instantly...probably been a lot worse to drowned it though

 

[Alice]

Are you sure it was the mother who was killing the kittens, and not a male cat? Never heard of a mother cat doing this, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.

It was definately the mother who was responsible for that, though I do know that toms do it as well. Reminds me, we gotta look out for these two orphans extra, now that momma's gone... but I don't think we'll see the toms around very much, just coyotes...

Myself, I would get the orphans spayed or neutered... especially if they are a male and female. Inbreeding in cats can be wretched. And, if, by chance, they are products of inbreeding anyway, well...

Alice

I wouldn't call it wretched...i'd just call it weird :lol: ...had a cat with no nose one time...never seemed to really bother him any...just looked different

Inbred farm cats are wretched...let me assure you. Hairless, limping, skinny, weird shaped heads, mishapen bodies, sick, convulsions...it's dreadful. And then, having to dispose of them...oh, GAWD! I wish I'd never read the original post and responded to it...dredges up all kinds of awful memories...no offense to the original poster.

Alice

i've never had a hairless cat :shock: ...dont see the cats much though...they just run around a few of the barns...dont know how they got there...but they kill a few mice so I dont mind them...had a really deformed cat when I was younger though...we didn't know what it was for a while...it couldn't eat because its head was deformed...so one day my brother just picked it up and a hit it's head down on a rock...I was probably only 5 or so...felt bad for that cat...at least it died instantly...probably been a lot worse to drowned it though

Pretty tough thing for a 5 year old to see, but then watching the cat suffer and starve to death would have been just as tough and less humane. Never could wrap my head around the stories of people loading kittens up in a sack and tossing them into the river to drown.

Alice

 

[IluvABbeef]

You guys come to sudden conclusions too soon! Thanks for the posts, anyways!! These kittens are not the product of inbreeding, they are healthy, furry, normal, playful, and mischevious kittens. We probably will neuter and spay them(yes, there is a male and a female), as well as give them thier shots.

There was no sign of other animals around that killed that kitten, no tomcats either. The momma cat should've weaned her three youngsters a week ago, they're six weeks old now, and I guess she started to kill out of desperation, most likely becuase she didn't know how to wean them off, and got it into her head that killing them was the only way she knew.

If she had other previous litters before we met her, she would've done the same thing. She's a feral cat, BTW. So we don't really know much of her past...

 

[Alice]

You guys come to sudden conclusions too soon!

You're right...my apologies.

Alice

 

[IluvABbeef]

He found one of the kittens ("Simba", a really playful one, my favorite) dead. The little body wasn't stiff yet, and there were marks on the neck, marks of a cat's teeth....

the mother's. :shock:

How do you know they were the mother's? Were these kittens still nursing? A stray tomcat will kill any babies a mother cat has that are still nursing.

I knew these kittens were the mother's because I seen them when they where only a day ( :?: or less?) old, blind, deaf, and yes, nursing. Haven't seen hide nor hair of a tomcat around here since then.

Alice: I accept to your apology.

 

[rkm]

I don't know why you would put a good cat down. :shock: :shock: Could have sent her to a chinese resturant. Why waste a good cat?

 

[msscamp]

He found one of the kittens ("Simba", a really playful one, my favorite) dead. The little body wasn't stiff yet, and there were marks on the neck, marks of a cat's teeth....

the mother's. :shock:

How do you know they were the mother's? Were these kittens still nursing? A stray tomcat will kill any babies a mother cat has that are still nursing.

I knew these kittens were the mother's because I seen them when they where only a day ( :?: or less?) old, blind, deaf, and yes, nursing. Haven't seen hide nor hair of a tomcat around here since then.

Alice: I accept to your apology.

Actually, the "how do you know they were the mother's" comment was referring to the teeth marks. Depending on various factors, stray tomcats can wander in and out and never be seen. I had a stray that wandered in and bred the only female here and I didn't see him until he bred her a second time. I knew she had a litter somewhere because she was producing milk, but had no idea who the father was.

 

[IluvABbeef]

I don't know why you would put a good cat down. :shock: :shock: Could have sent her to a chinese resturant. Why waste a good cat?

Geez, I don't know how else to say this. She was a good mouser, yeah, but as I said before, she didn't really know how to properly wean her young, which sort of classifies her as a bad mom. She was pretty ragged the week she was supposed to be doing some weaning, because she would lie someplace out of reach of the kittens and stay that way for almost all day. And I can't prove that a tomcat was responsible, msscamp, even though it maybe was; but I kind of doubt it. although probably momma WOULD let us know if there was such around--but her body language said otherwise. To Dad, anyway, since he was the one who found the freshly dead kitten that morning. (Body still warm, not stiff...)

rkm, she was a good cat, but a terrible mother. I know we should've spayed her when we had the chance, but I'm sure you know what it's like on a farm when it's busy, springtime, fixing things, etc. Never thougt of the chinese restaurant thing (Chinese restaurant??!! :shock: :shock: Maybe in China, but not here, not in my book!!), since we've only known of the triple s method--shoot, shovel, and shut up. I'm pretty sure these two, Button and "Spider" (WAY better name than "Blackie") will become good mousers themselves.

Does that clear things up a bit? Sorry if I keep missing out on things and am not too specific. And for the long-winded post. BTW, I believe this sort of thing (mommas killing off their young uns) does happen in other species (humans--finding babies in dumpsters, etc.), out of accident or desparation. But heck, that's another story.