Hi,
I was fostering a stray cat while I was trying to find her a home, but I realized she was pregnant. I first noticed her when she was six months old and she kept coming around my house until I was finally able to lure her inside. She stays in the living room and is baby gated away from the rest of the house and has started to warm up to human activity. She can be very skittish and by the time I could finally determine she was pregnant, she gave birth the next day. I have fostered a semi-feral cat and her two newborn kittens a few years ago and managed to find homes for everyone. I didn't notice any problems with that litter, but Peaches had a larger litter.
She is a tiny cat, only a year old, and this is her first litter, but she managed to have four healthy little kittens. I plan on keeping the family together until 8 weeks and I have a home in line for two of them. They are 19 days old and starting to crawl. All eyes are open and everyone is healthy, but I've noticed two kittens are bigger than the others. Is it normal to have different growth rates in kittens of the same litter? The father is most likely a Russian Blue or a long-haired, large cat since they are the only other cats that ever patrol near my neighborhood. Is it possible that the paternal size affects half of the kittens even though they are so young? Or is it more likely that Peaches's smaller size affects her milk production or that the bigger kittens are nursing more often? If this is the case then should I try to add bottle feeding to the smaller kitten's diet or just see what happens as they grow?
I keep clean water and dry kitten food (for extra nutrients instead of adult food) down for Peach at all times and give her half a can of kitten food once a day. She nurses the kittens often and has been a great mom when it comes to keeping the healthy, but I am worried about the weight difference in the kittens. The size difference isn't too drastic, but it has become increasingly noticeable as the kittens are beginning to crawl.
I was fostering a stray cat while I was trying to find her a home, but I realized she was pregnant. I first noticed her when she was six months old and she kept coming around my house until I was finally able to lure her inside. She stays in the living room and is baby gated away from the rest of the house and has started to warm up to human activity. She can be very skittish and by the time I could finally determine she was pregnant, she gave birth the next day. I have fostered a semi-feral cat and her two newborn kittens a few years ago and managed to find homes for everyone. I didn't notice any problems with that litter, but Peaches had a larger litter.
She is a tiny cat, only a year old, and this is her first litter, but she managed to have four healthy little kittens. I plan on keeping the family together until 8 weeks and I have a home in line for two of them. They are 19 days old and starting to crawl. All eyes are open and everyone is healthy, but I've noticed two kittens are bigger than the others. Is it normal to have different growth rates in kittens of the same litter? The father is most likely a Russian Blue or a long-haired, large cat since they are the only other cats that ever patrol near my neighborhood. Is it possible that the paternal size affects half of the kittens even though they are so young? Or is it more likely that Peaches's smaller size affects her milk production or that the bigger kittens are nursing more often? If this is the case then should I try to add bottle feeding to the smaller kitten's diet or just see what happens as they grow?
I keep clean water and dry kitten food (for extra nutrients instead of adult food) down for Peach at all times and give her half a can of kitten food once a day. She nurses the kittens often and has been a great mom when it comes to keeping the healthy, but I am worried about the weight difference in the kittens. The size difference isn't too drastic, but it has become increasingly noticeable as the kittens are beginning to crawl.