Even though I have on occasion wished I'd eaten MY offspring, as Allie says, this is a total myth. A mother will abandon her young but not kill and eat it if it's sick. Animals are very intelligent and they understand that by eating a sick kitten, they would be taking that sickness into themselves. Although I've never encountered it, I've heard that a mother cat will kill her kittens with the idea in mind of "protecting" them from a perceived threat. Kittens can also be injured or killed when a tom with mating on his mind tries to mate with their mother. I always caution people, when they say they've found an abandoned kitten, to bring it to the vet immediately, before they become attached to it. There is usually a reason why the kitten has been abandoned, especially if only one kitten is found, and that's usually that the mother knows the kitten is very ill and will not survive.

Izadore (Izzie) answered on 5/3/12. Helpful? / 0