Mama with food aggression

[Saphire_1975]

The cat that I took in is food agressive, wich is totaly understandable since she has probably had to fight for food. Today when I took the kitten's out of the box to get in their exploration time I decided to feed Mama the food that I will be feeding the baby's so that the food could pass her inspection, and kitties could watch Mama eat. Everytime one of them went near the food Mama would growl or hiss. They are just 3 weeks old, so I still have some time but, when it is time should I wait until Mama is exploring the house to give them food?

I'm sory that I've been asking you guys so much, but I used to be a dog person until I got Sammy 4 months ago, so Sammy was my first cat and now I have 5 including 3 fur babies. Therefore I have little experience with cat's and no experience with the infants.

Thanks all,
Saphire

[MA]

Food aggression is a typical feral tendency. Until she can relax and know that she will have food at scheduled times, the only thing you can do is build on that bond.

You do that by bringing her food at set times every day. You put the food in the same place every time and you feed her away from the kittens. They really do not need mom's okay to eat, if they are at least 4 weeks old, they will have the curious hunger nursing does not satisfy.

Be careful when you feed that she does not bite you, and don't tease her with the food- by that I mean, don't put her plate down and then try to take it away to *see* what she does. You will get nailed if you do stuff like that. Let her know that she can depend on you to bring her the food and don't free feed her. Because she is nursing, feed her 5-6 times a day small amounts, canned and dry.

Good luck!