Mother cat not staying with kittens

I live out in the country and cats get dropped off here all the time. Usually I take then to our local Humane Society as I have all the pets I can care for properly, but right now they are full to capacity and euthanizing a lot of cats. Last week a very pregnant stray came. I let her in because I felt so sorry for her. Its still very cold in Ontario. Last night she had 5 kittens in a box I had set up for her in a warm quiet dark place. I used to volunteer at the humane society here as a foster and it is my experience that mother cats spend almost all their time with there new babies for the first couple of weeks. Only coming out to eat and use the litter box. Her kittens are quiet so I assume well fed. They seem strong and their bellies feel full. Yet the mother cat doesn't stay with them at all almost. She is constantly out of the box sleeping on the table, the couch our laps. Or just doing her normal things around the house with out paying much attention to her kittens. Is this normal? Should I worry? It almost seems like she only goes in the box to feed them and then leaves them until the next feeding. She also doesn't seem protective at all. In the past our humane society has told me to keep my other cat (neutered male) and dogs away from the mother to prevent stress but not to worry if one snuck in because she would protect them and chase all other animals away. She doesn't, when I went to check on them and make sure they were okay she they started to meow and she just kind of glanced towards the box and walked off in the opposite direction. I am leaving her alone as much as possible but feel the need to check on the kittens often as I keep worrying they are not getting enough to eat and if this is the case I want to be able to notice any signs that they are not thriving early so they will have the best of chances if I need to put them on feline replacement milk. Anybody have any suggestions or any similar experiences? I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

I am going through a similar situation. My bf and I started feeding a stray 4 - 5 month old kitten a year or so ago. It was winter and she didn't have any food so we felt sorry for her and thought she might make a good playmate for our 1.5 year old Turkish Van, Miso, who is very playful. Unfortunately the kitten, whom we named PJ, was agressive and unpredictable when she was around humans or other cats so we basically left her alone apart from allowing her to come in to eat. Now PJ is an adult cat and when she got pregnant in February she moved into our house. My bf and I prepared a place for her to have the kittens and bought her special kitten food to eat during the pregnancy so she got very attached to me, even quite affectionate. Anyway, she had two kittens but one of them died during birth. We named the surviving kitten Una. For the first 10 days or so PJ stayed with Una almost constantly but now she has become restless and doesn't sleep in the box with the baby and wants to spend most of her time outside. Una is only 12 days old and it worries me since she is spending most of her time alone in the box. I hold and cuddle her often

I am going through a similar situation. My bf and I started feeding a stray 4 - 5 month old kitten a year or so ago. It was winter and she didn't have any food so we felt sorry for her and thought she might make a good playmate for our 1.5 year old Turkish Van, Miso, who is very playful. Unfortunately the kitten, whom we named PJ, was agressive and unpredictable when she was around humans or other cats so we basically left her alone apart from allowing her to come in to eat. Now PJ is an adult cat and when she got pregnant in February she moved into our house. My bf and I prepared a place for her to have the kittens and bought her special kitten food to eat during the pregnancy so she got very attached to me, even quite affectionate. Anyway, she had two kittens but one of them died during birth. We named the surviving kitten Una. For the first 10 days or so PJ stayed with Una almost constantly but now she has become restless and doesn't sleep in the box with the baby and wants to spend most of her time outside. Una is only 12 days old and it worries me since she is spending most of her time alone in the box. I hold and cuddle her often