Mother Cat Eating Her Kitten's Poop

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Hey all! Since I was a kid I've known about mother cats eating their kitten's poop and pee as a way of keeping their nursing homes and kittens clean. They also lick their kittens' bottoms to stimulate them to poop or pee since newborn kittens have difficulty to poop and pee on their own. I know it's quite normal for the mother cats to do that and eat their kitten's dirt but my wonder is about a mother cat's anatomy. Is there a different passage way in their body for food and dirt? Like, if they eat their kittens' dirt does it pass on a different tube and not go into their stomach thus not be processed and just pass out directly as waste? Same as the other cats, when their bodies get dirty they usually clean it by licking the dirt out of their bodies. So it's a wonder to me, where does the dirt go inside their body? I've tried using Google for it but can't find any article explaining about a cat's anatomy. Does anyone here in Mylot know? Thanks! ^^