Cats are very good mothers, caring and gentle. They carefully look after their kittens: they feed them, lick them, raise them. But there are times when cats refuse their maternal responsibilities, and then the responsibility for the life of defenseless babies falls entirely on the shoulders of the owner.
Lazy cat
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a cat to refuse to feed its offspring simply out of laziness. Pets, spoiled by their owners to the point of impossibility, simply do not want to take responsibility on themselves. Accustomed to a pampered life, such cats are not ready for difficult maternal responsibilities.
A spoiled cat may not be mentally prepared even for the first birth. When contractions begin, she follows the owner or hostess, screams, complains of pain and requires attention. There is nothing to be done, pets, living next to humans for thousands of years, forget about their natural essence and lose their instincts.
The owners have to help their cat in everything: provide assistance during childbirth, help wash the kittens, and put the babies on the nipples. If the owners behave correctly, after a while the maternal instinct turns on, and the cat begins to understand what she needs to do with these squeaking lumps.
Unviable offspring
A cat is much closer to nature than a person. Instincts tell her a model of behavior in different situations, including in the case of the birth of non-viable offspring. The mother simply refuses to feed those babies who have no chance of life.
Cases when all kittens in a "batch" are not viable are extremely rare. This only happens when a sick or old cat gives birth. More often one or two kittens fall into the "rejection". It is impossible to help such babies, because feeding artificially sick kittens is very difficult and pointless. Since a mother has rejected her own children, it is better to leave them at the mercy of nature.
Danger and misbehavior of people
During childbirth, the cat experiences psychological shock. Especially often there are cases when childbirth occurs for the first time. After psychological trauma, a woman in labor may react negatively to the “culprits” of her pain and refuse to feed them. As a rule, this behavior is temporary, and after a while the maternal instinct takes its toll.
Sometimes the owners themselves are to blame for the fact that the cat does not behave as it should. They do not pay due attention to the woman in childbirth, they are allowed into the place where babies, children, strangers or pets are lying. In such circumstances, the cat may sense danger and refuse to approach its own kittens. In this case, the owners need to arrange the woman in childbirth and the newborns in a different, quieter and safer place.
