The kittens are unhealthy and the mother cat wants to give a better survival chance to other kittens in the litter, or kittens in a future litter. By attacking and eating the newborn kittens, the other kittens the mother has can be healthier, now or in the future. read more
Some cats are stressed and overwhelmed by having a litter, they may eat the kittens, or run away and leave the litter. 3) Nearby predators; the queen will eat her kittens to keep them from being attacked and killed by another predator. read more
All cats (and most animals) will eat the afterbirth to recoup some of the costs of giving birth. If things are bad - the mother is ill or thin, or conditions are chaotic, then the mother may just keep eating. read more
In some cases, depending on the circumstances, they still do. Males Kill Babies Too "Before the 1970s, any type of infanticide in animals was considered pathological," says Craig Stanford, a primatologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. read more