I think I have confused Charlotte, a diminutive female cat my wife and I adopted about two years ago. She was just a little runt when we took her in and she never had kittens, yet she has been acting a lot like a mother as of late. Given that it is the summer and there is a seemingly never-ending supply of kittens that need temporary foster homes, there have been "itty bitty kitty cats" in the apartment since April. With the last pair (Eliza and Madeline) Charlotte started acting a bit strange. Other than just wanting to constantly bathe the kittens (which we had seen before) she tried to pick them up by the scruff of their neck and tote them around. The kittens seemed to think this was some sort of a game, and it was amusing to see Charlotte try to drag these kittens across the floor being that she was not much bigger than they were. Where she got the idea to do this, and why she started now, I have no idea.
In the case of a newborn red panda, however, the care of a housecat has proven to be much more vital. The mother of the red panda rejected it (and a sibling who unfortunately perished), but a housecat who just had kittens has let the red panda drink her milk. It seems to be right at home amongst the newborn kittens;
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Ah... sooo cute. ^-^~
My mother's cat has a habit of trying to drag full-grown chipmunks around by their neck-scruffs as if they were kittens. She also trills exactly like a Tribble.
Is Charlotte spayed? If not, maybe all those kittens are somehow triggering hormonal overload.
Aaauugh! The Kyoot!
Yup, she is. She's "mothered" other kittens before, chattering and washing them, but it was only with the last two that she tried to pick them up and put them somewhere. They were waaay too big for that and I have no idea why she started, but she generally seems to want to take care of any kittens we bring into the house after a week or so. We just took in a new kitten yesterday (actually a sister of Eliza and Madeline) so we'll see if she does the same thing again.
...but she generally seems to want to take care of any kittens we bring into the house after a week or so.
Perhaps she's simply found her calling in life. :-)
AWWWWWWW
So cute :) That made my day.