Hearts Melt at Mom Cat Helping Fellow Feline in Labor: 'Coparenting'

A heartwarming video that captures the 'coparenting' taking place between two female cats, one being a first-time mom, has led to an outpouring of emotion online.

The two felines appeared in a social media video from three days ago that documented how they shared the workload created by the newborn kittens.

Viewers watched as Cheeto the female cat, who had had a litter of kittens recently, assisted first-time mom Mellow before and after her kittens were born.

Cheeto was filmed supporting her during labor, carrying her kittens around after they were born; 'babysitting' them while they slept; and comforting them by licking them gently—a common sign of affection in the animal world.

"When Mellow went into labor, Cheeto knew she needed to help," the cat's owner, Aysha Clever, said.

"Mellow was a first-time mom and she was tired, so Cheeto comforted her and let her know that she wasn't alone. Then she introduced herself to the newborns and showed Mellow how to care for them. But Mellow was still exhausted and Cheeto offered to babysit.

"She'd had a litter two weeks prior. One by one, she carried the newborns in with her kittens, and gave Mellow a chance to rest," the owner added.

TikTok users were treated to a lasting shot of Cheeto the cat sitting alongside her and Mellow's kittens, her calm and controlled presence visible from the clip.

"Cheeto and Mellow are my rescue cats. I had an appointment to get them both fixed, and the father cat, but they were both already pregnant. So the father cat, Moose, was neutered during their pregnancies, and Cheeto, Mellow, and their babies were spayed/neutered after the babies were weened," Clever, who is 36, told Newsweek.

"Cheeto and Mellow had their litters two weeks apart. Cheeto had her two kittens first; she was in labor for over 24 hours in between her two kittens. So when Mellow went into labor, Cheeto wanted to help her. I was nervous to introduce them at first.

"But Cheeto was so sweet with Mellow! She sat with her throughout labor, and bathed her and her kittens. Then, Cheeto started picking up Mellow's kittens one by one and combined them in with her own. Mellow ate, and rested, and eventually, the two moms coparented all five kittens, each taking turns watching and feeding the babies while the other mom roamed the house," Clever added.

Clever and the feline family are based in Ohio.

What Do the Comments Say?

Since it had been shared to the social-media platform on March 19 by @ayshaclever, the post has been liked by more than 143,000 users, and commented on more than 1,100 times. TikTok viewers have gushed over the pair's teamwork in the comments section of the post.

"How sweet," one user wrote, while another added: "In the wild female cats will 'babysit' the kittens to help the mom out. I love seeing this."

"I love how mama cats almost frantically collect more kittens," a third user shared.

A different TikTok user commented: "This is how stray female kitties will raise kittens in their colonies, as one big group. It's very cute."

"She said girl you're not alone," posted a fifth.

To date, the clip, captioned "what's better than 1 mom? 2 moms!" has been viewed more than 1.2 million times.

Updated on 03/27/24 with additional comment from Aysha Clever.

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