Long time ago, my folks had a mother cat that did that, left her babies. Luckily another momma cat took on the 2nd litter and raised them with her own. Sure was a box of kittens. My folks got "rid of" the worthless momma cat for leaving her babies.

Something could of happened to the mother cat. Yet again I have seem women do the same thing with their baby or children. Called neglect.

how cute they are.

Nature has its way.

I agree with Cheshire cat quilter - cats are lovable, but not humans. One of our cats had a litter and wouldn't take care of them from the first. Luckily, our other cat had her litter at the same time, and adopted all the others. (Spaying prevented it from happening again.)

Last year my daughter adopted 3 tiny kittens with the same circumstances. They barely had their eyes open. The most important thing we learned is that they had to be kept very warm. She bottle fed them the kitten milk from the store. They all made it! Two of them almost died, it was heartwrenching, exhausting, but they are all fine now. That is so sweet of your friend to take them on.

I had a cat that tried to ignore her babies. I put her in the box with the babies and closed the lid and kept her in a closet. Sounds cruel, but after 1 day her hormones suddenly clicked on and she became the best of mothers. I did give her food and water while she was incarcerated. :)

I'm not a cat persosn, but I like them. Used to fear them but got past that. That is so sad that the two died, but so good that two have been saved. GOOD FOR YOUR FRIEND!

We are down to just one, but are very hopeful this one will continue to thrive!

Update
 

Here's is an update now that "Hope" is just over 4 weeks old! My friend is such a good momma!