Is it normal for a mother cat to act mean to her 3-month-old kittens?

It sounds like Fifi is ready for her kittens to fly the coop! Cats often wean their kittens between 4-6 weeks old. Soon after, if they are still together, the momma cat can get fed up with all the kitten energy and tires to teach them some manners. This is completely normal! However, sometimes the kittens can get hurt. I recommend that you give Fifi plenty of space to escape the kittens if she wants to. You may need to separate them completely if she causes physical damage to any of the kittens.

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!

Isabella has decided that the kittens are now ready to live on their own. She believes that she has taught them everything they need to know as a cat to survive. So now it is time to separate ways. You will not be able to keep her from doing this. You may want to take the mother in or the kittens in and separate them that way so that neither mama and kittens will be too stressed. You can also do nothing and let mama do her thing. Eventually they may get along again once the kittens have been successfully weaned from mama.

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!

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.

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!