Why does my cat bite and swat her 2-month-old kittens? Is it normal?

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.

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!

It is normal. She is telling them that she taught them everything they know and now it is time to leave and be adults. She is basically weaning them. So let her deal with it. You can try to find homes for the kittens now. They do not need their mother anymore. It is also possible that Oreo is pregnant again and ready to have new kittens and therefore decided that it is time for the older kittens to go.

The kittens should be weaned at 6-8 weeks. Not all animals are natural, nurturing mothers, and she may just not know how to make the kittens go away. I would recommend separating them. The kittens still need a safe environment and easy access to kitten food, but they no longer need mom for milk.

If Icy isn't biting them hard enough to break the skin or cause them to cry out in pain, then this biting is normal. She is teaching them what behavior is appropriate and which behavior is inappropriate by disciplining them with these bites. The bites lets the kittens know they need to behave and that the behavior they are currently doing isn't acceptable. Now if she is biting them hard enough to break the skin and/or they are crying out in pain, that isn't normal and she needs to see the vet (bring the kittens with her). Sudden aggression to the kittens can be a sign of a medical problem, and that needs to be examined by a vet. I hope this helps!

It can be normal for a mother to gently bite at a kitten, but if you feel Mum is being aggressive it may be best to allow supervised interactions only so you can intervene if she gets too rough. It is very beneficial for kittens to have time with their mothers, so I would only recommend completely isolating kitten from Mum if she is consistently showing signs of aggression.

If the kittens are old enough to survive on kitten food instead of needing to nurse (around 8 weeks) then I would not be too concerned. Mama may just be teaching them cat manners. If the kittens are younger than that and still dependent on mom for milk, then I would contact your vet, as it is important that they are getting enough nutrition, or they could quickly become ill. It's also important to have mama cat checked to make sure she isn't feeling unwell as sometimes conditions like mastitis (inflammation in the mammary glands) can lead to a mother cat refusing to allow kittens to nurse. I hope that helps!