Meg my ragdoll girl does something that I havent seen before, it reminds me of what wild cats do...

When her litter is about 6-7weeks old she will wander the house and 'catch' a toy... its always the toy rat or a white da bird (its very fluffy) or a mouse toy when they are older!

she then wanders around crying at the top of her lungs with the toy in her mouth.. she then comes to the kittens crying and drops it in front of them and crys, she hits it and crys at them to come and do the same!!

So its like she is bringing them little animals so they can learn to hunt!! It is really amazing to watch, none of my other girls have ever done this so I wondered if anyone else has experienced it?? I will film it on her next litter!

Love this pics, its like shes saying 'mine!' Shes a real fantastic natural mummy


just chilling




nice garden pic!

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wow... that sounds quite amazing. If you manage to film it I would love to see it. And no I haven't came across this before... but then again the mother cats I have had .... well suffice to say most of them were kids themselves and mothering instincts weren't exactly high on their agenda.

That top pic is lovely!! Very protective mum by the looks of things!!

Mai Tai did that with her first litter and when the babies had all left home she kept carrying one specific 'mouse' around and bringing it to her food bowls as if it was one of the babies
Very many years ago I had a cat which would bring in mice and birds for her kittens. She started off with dead ones and as the kittens got older she progressed to live ones
Love your girl protecting her kittens - what a good mummy

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How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven. - Robert A. Heinlein
http://www.lambchopsiamese.webs.com

Yes I've seen this - also seen it with dead and then live prey (lovely!)

Love that picture!

Liz

I have seen this, and it does sound like Meg's being a very attentive mother. By the way, she is breathtakingly beautiful.

I had a neutered ex-breeding queen and her son as pets in my teens (she was another seal-tortie point, but a Siamese one ) and she would do something similar: carrying toys around, crying out rhythmically. Her (long adult) son always came running from wherever he was, whenever she did this.

I could never tell if she was meaning the toy to be prey or if it was her 'kitten call' and it was meant to be her baby, and I've always wondered...

Yes, my bsh queen did this with a feather toy, I kept finding it in the kitten pen. She carried it her mouth and moaned until the kittens came to it. It definitely seemed to me that she was training them to hunt, even more surprising as she has never caught a live thing in her life, everything is dished up for madam!

Oh, I've just remembered: she did it with actually prey too: lizards she caught in the garden. Most of the time they didn't have a scratch on them either, and ran off as soon as we let them go, but it was like she was lost about what to do with it.

Anyway, why would queens make the same calls when carrying kittens and prey?

ETA: I think I've just worked it out. The call is the mother cat's way of letting the kittens know that she's got dinner, no?

Does anyone's queen actually make this call when she's carrying a kitten in her mouth?

mine calls out its the same call that she does when shes trying to find her kits! she does it for up to a week after they leave, except she brinsg toys to me and burries them in my clothes!!! im like 'meg i dont wish to hunt! but thanks!' lol!

thanks for the comments she is amazing mum, she was my first girl who i had since a kitten and when she had her first litter i was so scared she wouldnt know what to do but it was so natural it was amazing she is a graet cat!

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Yes Missy does this as well!! The calling is such a strange sound.How strange that my Missy and your Meg are by the same mum and do exactly the same thing!!!(and Missy has been a brilliant mum)
Cally Missy`s daughter also does it but she likes a pair of rolled up gloves the ones that are soft(they are bright pink)She carry`s those around and calls out.
She does it with her own kittens and with her mums kittens.

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www.Ragdolls4.me.uk

Yes, my Raggie girls do this too with their kittens.

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Kaz

For kittens, joy is for the asking and smiles are for the giving