Internet Hails Cats Taking Care of Each Other's Kittens—'Moms Helping Moms'

Many new moms need a helping hand in the early stages of motherhood, and cats are no exception to that, as one owner recently found out.

Aysha Clever shared how her two cats, Cheeto and Mellow, each had a litter of kittens just weeks apart, and they take turns to watch over them. The viral TikTok video shows Cheeto walking away with Mellow's kittens so the new mom could unwind for a short while, before showing Mellow return the favor later on.

Since the video was posted on April 12 (@ayshaclever), it has received nearly 1 million views and more than 108,000 likes.

Clever told Newsweek about her initial reservations to integrate both moms with their litters of kittens. However, as soon as she saw them helping each other, she knew they would care for each other's kittens like their own.

Looking after another mom's babies is known as alloparenting, where females share parental duties and work together. It can happen in humans, and often occurs with mammals, including cats.

Alloparenting can include feeding, carrying, cleaning, warming, teaching and protecting the offspring from an early age.

Clever, from Ohio, said that Cheeto was the first to have her litter on August 5, followed by Mellow on August 20. Each mom had three kittens, but sadly one of Cheeto's kittens passed away shortly after birth.

"I was nervous to introduce Cheeto to Mellow's babies because I had never had an animal have babies before," Clever said.

"I didn't know if they would be territorial. To my surprise, Cheeto walked right in with Mellow and started cleaning her and her kittens. It was so sweet.

"After they met and I saw that everything was OK, I sat down on my bed to relax," added Clever. "Two minutes later, I saw Cheeto run out of the room and into the hall closet. When I went to check, I saw she had stolen one of Mellow's babies.

"Cheeto continued to carefully carry each of Mellow's babies and put them in with her own until she was nursing all five," Clever said. "During this time, Mellow got up, ate, played with our other cats. She wasn't worried at all."

After observing the cats, Clever realized the moms were "taking it in turns with the kittens," to allow each other time to relax.

She added: "One of them would get up and roam the house, while the other would look after all five kittens, and then they would switch. I honestly think they just wanted to help each other, as it truly does take a village."

After sharing the video on TikTok, Clever has received a lot of positivity online from people who were amazed that the two cats work so well in tandem. One person wrote: "That's the sweetest! Never enjoyed watching someone steal something so much in my whole life."

Another user commented that it was simply "moms helping moms."

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