This may seem like a gruesome topic but in short, the answer is usually no – mother cats (or more correctly queens as they are known), do not eat their kittens. They do, however, commonly eat the placenta of their kittens and this is completely normal behaviour.

Only on incredibly rare occasions, if a kitten is born deceased a mother cat may choose to ingest the remains for hygiene purposes. Again – although this is confronting, this is normal behaviour. She will not eat live healthy viable kittens.

When a queen gives birth to a litter – it is completely natural for the mother to chew the umbilical cord of each kitten. This is common behaviour and helps the blood to clot in each umbilical cord. The mother cat will also rigorously lick and groom each kitten as they are born – this is also very routine behaviour. It stimulates breathing, helps to remove any remaining placenta and helps to remove liquid from the kitten’s lungs. This grooming can look quite violent and vigorous at times, but rest assured it is quite normal and is indeed necessary to produce healthy young kittens. A good mother will groom her kittens as soon as they are born.

Cats generally make excellent mothers and are best left alone to give birth on their own terms. If a mother cat has more than thirty minutes of unproductive straining (thirty minutes of contractions without producing a kitten) then Veterinary intervention may be required.