Accepted Answer

Hi nellyc, and thanks for your question.

Sometimes mom-cats will play too rough with their kittens, and the behavior you describe sounds common. When you observe the mom playing too rough, biting a kitten's neck making the kitten squeal, shake a can of pennies or pebbles, startling the mom, and causing her to stop. The trick is, to hide out of site of the mom, when you shake the can, because you don't want her to associate the startling sound with YOU, but with her actions. You can just take a can from vegetables, juice, nuts etc., and fill it with small pebbles, dried beans, or pennies--not too full--cover it, and shake it, observing the cats from around a corner, etc. This form of behavior modification should help the mom cat stop this behavior.

If your mom is not yet spayed, this would be a good time to accomplish it, so discuss it with your vet.

When the kittens are a little older, they'll be able to better defend themselves, as they will be the same size as their mom, and she won't be able to get away with this behavior; however, she may also be trying to assert her 'dominance' over the kittens, which is a common feline action.

So far, you're doing the right thing in separating them when you observe this behavior; continue to monitor and use the new 'noisy can' method, and hopefully things will settle down with the rough play. Also, try to distract the mom with a toy, especially an 'interactive' toy, like a laser pointer, which all the kitties can play with, together.

Cher

Edited by Jessesmom on 10/8/2009 at 6:36 PM

Expert:	Jessesmom
Pos. Feedback:	99.7 %
Accepts:
Answered:	10/8/2009

Feline Specialist Health/Behavior

Feline Healthcare and Behavior Specialist 40+ years Experience