Mother cats - they never seem to give their youngsters a minute's peace!

[WildRosie]

Just an observation really. I keep receiving cat and dog videos in my Facebook feed and it strikes me how unrelenting the Mumcats are. Always nuzzling, pawing and licking the bairns, insisting they feed and picking them up one by one and carting them off elsewhere, seemingly on a whim. I've looked after a few litters of puppies years ago and the Mumdogs were rather less attentive. Who is getting it right ?

I think cats move their kittens around to avoid predators. It's why cats tend to prefer having multiple beds and hiding places in their homes.

They keep washing them so that they'll learn to clean themselves. Dogs don't clean themselves in the same way as cats.

I should imagine cat mums are doing it right for cats and dog mums are doing it right for dogs.

Yes, quite normal behaviour for cats to continually move their kittens around and to nudge, nuzzle and clean them. It's what felines do.

I knew a dog that had been hand-reared by a family with a cat who had just had a litter. The mother cat basically adopted the puppy and treated her like another kitten. The humans bottlefed her in whatever box the mother cat had her kittens.

As an adult dog she would let the cats climb all over her and ride her, she would lick them and they would lick her. Very weird seeing a dog behave like a cat!

But back to the point, the mother cat would transfer her litter - including the puppy - between two or three boxes.

Must be hard work being a Mumcat. I'd like to think any of them only do it once in their lifetime.