My cat ate her kitten's tail. Is this normal for new mothers?

HI, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Oh no! If the kitten looked premature she may have miscarried it. Sadly this happens in the animal world as it does with humans. It is also unfortunately natural for a cat to eat a dead abnormal kitten. It isn't wrong for Lala to be examined by a Vet. They can take an X-ray to see how many kittens are left and use the ultrasound to see if they are moving and have heart beats. If there is no vaginal discharge, fever, she is acting fine and is eating hopefully she can deliver the remaining kittens. I wish you the best!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Animals are very good a 'cleaning up after themselves', so if there was a dead little kitten then it isn't that surprising that the mom would eat it. In the future, removing the dead kittens before the mother can eat it is a good idea. In the mean-time, please monitor Venica for signs of illness (vomiting, diarrhea, painful abdomen, weakness), and if she shows any signs please bring her to a vet. Best of luck with Venica.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry this is happening. Either Cara is a bad mother or this is a natural thing she is doing because the kittens are abnormal. Nature is hard and animals do things differently than people. If she keeps having litters that are born prematurely or are sickly that is a problem. I would suggest having her spayed so she can not have kittens anymore. I hope this helps and I wish you and Cara the best!

This is quite odd behavior, but she is likely taking care of them since her other kittens passed away. I don't know of any ill side effects except maybe becoming overweight or an upset tummy from the change in diet. I would try to separate them so that the 5 month old kittens don't get over weight from nursing and eating regular cat food. Also the kittens could cause some harm to the mothers mammary tissue since they have teeth now. Also I would recommend to spay or neuter the kittens and mom to prevent any additional litters if at all possible. If either of the kittens are male it could mate with the litter mate or mother causing some kittens to be born with some serious genetic defects. Plus if the mother isn't nursing her new kittens then she likely won't properly nurse her upcoming litters. If you are unable to fix all of them, you may want to start with any of the males. I hope this helps!

It is normal for the mother cat to use her mouth to move a kitten around or she may nip gently when the kitten is bothering her. If she seems aggressive and you are concerned she may injure the kitten you may need to keep them separated, however you will need to bottle feed the kitten with a kitten formula like KMR.

There is a possibility that she only had one kitten and this was it. Cats will eat seriously deformed or dead kittens in order to not leave traces for prey animals. This happens inside a house, too, as it is an instinct. It is a good idea to have a veterinarian give her an exam to make sure thatg there is no kitten left behind or a uterine infection. Very small or young cat having their first litter can have difficulty giving birth and sometimes a kitten cannot be born and can cause sepsis in a cat as it decays in the uterus.

Some cats are somewhat rough and vocal with their kittens. As long as the kittens appear to be nursing regularly, are snuggled up together or close with mom, and are not in any sort of weak condition, I would not remove them from their mother's care. Obviously monitor the situation carefully. If you start seeing any sort of serious marks or wounds on the kittens, you will know for sure that she isn't just moving them. If you need to separate them you will have to institute a bottle feeding schedule, keep them warm, and stimulate their bowels / urine. If this is required, you can certainly repost and we can walk you through how to safely accomplish this. Best of luck!