Cat rejecting kitten

[Samz5]

My brothers cat gave birth to 4 kittens last week, mum cat (Nola) is a very good mum, she hasn't left them once since they were born and is very protective.

The last 4 nights she has been moving one kitten out of the basket and dumping it on the other side of the room she is in, she does this over night and no one has seen her do it but I'm sure it isn't making its own way out of the basket.

We don't know if its the same kitten each time - since they are all completely black and the same size you can't tell one from the other!
When my brother picks up the stray kitten and it cries Nola looks really concerned and wants it back, when its put back she carries on feeding it with the others. They are all gaining weight.

My brother is prepared for her to completely reject a kitten and has brought a feeding bottle and milk just in case.

Why would she be doing this?

[pinklizzy]

It's difficult if you can't tell whether it's the same kitten, maybe you could try and identify them somehow? If they are all feeding and gaining weight, that's a positive sign. I think you just need to keep a close eye on them and make sure that they are weighed daily-preferably at the same time every day, twice a day if you can and keep a record of each kitten's weight. You should be able to feel whether they have full tummys.

[Samz5]

Well maybe I could get my brother to snip a small bit of fur off of the kitten if it happens again and see if its the same kitten being moved... don't really know what else we could do to identify them otherwise.

[pinklizzy]

I think you can get a safe nail varnish and paint a couple of the kittens claws and identify them that way.

[Samz5]

Ok I'll look into it - Thank You

[charliebubs]

Yes, I agree that it would be good to try and identify the kitten to see if it's the same one each time. A bit of nail varnish on one of it's claws should do the trick

I wouldn't think that the kitten's making it's own way out of the box at a week old but stranger things have happened!!

Sometimes the mother cat instinctively knows when there is something wrong with one of the kittens and she'll reject it because of that. Although that seems to contradict with the fact that she then has it back and happily feeds it

If your brother is going to attempt hand rearing (if it becomes necessary) please make sure that he reads up on how to do it safely, as it's so easy to accidentaly over feed and drown the kitten. It's a really tricky thing to do and you can kill the kitten with kindness

[Samz5]

Thanks for the tips Charliebubs, if the kitten needs hand rearing it will be taken care of properly, my Grandma lives just around the corner and used to breed cats many years ago, and has had some experience with feeding kittens before.
I will read up on it too to be sure and pass on any advice.

It is a weird problem isn't it, I thought like you did, that the kitten must have something wrong with it - so Nola is rejecting it but since she wants to have it back once it cries - I just don't know! She seems such a good mum otherwise.

[dandysmom]

That's a real little mystery you have! Do let us know how the case of the wandering kitten goes .......

[Samz5]

Update - after writing about this here Nola didn't move the kitten for a few nights, then one night she decided to move the other 3 kittens and herself to underneath my brothers bed - leaving one kitten in the basket.

My brother put the lone kitten back with her and since then she has kept it with her the whole time, it looks like shes going to keep it now - fingers crossed.
They are all getting nice and fluffy now - their eyes are all open and they are still gaining weight, the next few weeks are going to be great fun!