Constant Meowing After Birth?

Ok so just to start some background.. My husband and I have 3 crazy cats. There is Salem and Simba both males and then Arya the female. We bought Arya and Simba from someone they’re both from the same litter and about a year and a couple months old now. We adopted Salem from a shelter so he was neutered quickly as it was part of our contract. The others weren’t though. We planned to do it one at a time but with long wait times for appointments guess who got pregnant? Yeah Arya. So yesterday, Saturday morning at around 9am I woke up to let our cats out of their room where we keep all their things and usually put them at night and found Arya had given birth to 4 little babies. The problem was she gave birth to them in a cat cube and it’s exactly what it sounds like. A cube for your cats to hide in and it was way too small and she couldn’t lay down and nurse them she was mostly sitting on them. So we searched a bunch of forums and got a mix of it being ok to move the kittens and it not being ok but we decided it would be for the best to move them. So we got her cat bed she normally shares with the other two and put towels over it and then placed the kittens there and she seemed to be fine. We called the vet and asked all our first time kitten parent questions and they assured us everything was fine and there was no reason to rush her into the vet because 90% of the time you don’t need to. So as excited as we were we stayed with her all day till about 2pm and she would clean them, nurse them and then get up to eat a little and drink water but she never used the litter box and as soon as her babies made a peep ran back to the bed. So around 2pm yesterday we went to Walmart and got one of those outdoor tents for medium sized dogs because I seen people using them for kitten care obviously to keep them together in a safe place. Also it was similar to our dogs kennel Arya always lays in and we thought she might feel safer with her babies in a more enclosed space. We brought it home and notice Arya would not want to stay put with her babies if we weren’t in the room so we thought let’s move the bed downstairs where we can keep an eye on her. So we took the bed downstairs and put it inside the tent but she seemed restless so we thought hey maybe the tent wasn’t a smart idea so we ditched the tent but kept the bed downstairs along with anything else she would need you know the basics food, water and a litter box. While downstairs we stayed with her all day and literally all night as well. She would constantly follow me around the house if I left her go looking for me if I went to the kitchen or bathroom and only staying with the kittens if I or my husband stayed near the bed. She would randomly get up and walk around meowing and we would try calling her back to the bed. When two of the kittens fell out of the bed she would not pick them up and put them back so we had to pick them up for her. Salem our neutered cat would clean both Arya and the babies. Arya also let him lay in the bed with her and the babies. We thought this was ok since he even picked one of the kittens up and put them back in the bed when one fell out until he randomly tried taking one out the bed and running off with it. So we’ve separated both the boys from her ever since. As the night went on she continued to seem restless and would meow at the door of the room she gave birth in and walking in and out of it so we decided to put the bed back in there and she finally used the litter box and seemed to calm down for a little. That was at like 3am this morning. I started to get worried because she sat on them still and I read she could suffocate them so we’ve been up all night it’s now 11am Sunday and Easter not to mention so we have no one to call and don’t know what to do. We’ve been sleeping in shifts and constantly checking on her. She’s been meowing all morning non stop and we don’t know if she’s feeding them when we’re not in the room. If we leave the door open she leaves for what seems like a long time and I’m worried the kitten won’t be warm we’ve turned the heat on in the house to 77 but we also live in Texas and are trying not to overheat ourselves as well. I hate to say it but we’re miserable and tired and don’t know what more to do with her. I’m sorry this was so long it’s just been rough.

Hi. I wish I could be more help, and hope other members with more experience will soon see your post and offer their knowledge to you.

Are you sure she is actually sitting on them - that they are not nursing from her? Also, she should be feeding them about every two hours. So, keep an eye on that as well. There are 4 of them, so nursing could be going on at varying times - not necessarily all at once.

And, if there was a towel or blanket in the cube that she delivered in, that should be moved to her new location as well.

I do know that mama cats will be much more inclined to nurse their babies when it is quiet and there are no distractions. It sounds like there have been way too many disruptions with moving her, letting other cats interact with the babies and her. She is probably pretty unsettled right now. Letting things settle down for a while might help. If you do leave the room, close the door behind you so she doesn't follow you out. Make sure mama has lots of food and water available to her at all times, she will be eating a bunch while nursing.

Mama cats don't stay every minute with their babies. So, if she leaves for a bit, don't panic. Theoretically, if she hears them mewing she should be going back to check on them to make sure they are OK. And, that is often when the mama will sit/lay down to feed them.

If things don't settle down, you will have to consider buying the necessary items to bottle feed the babies yourself, or ask someone you know who has done it before to help. Kitten feeding droppers/bottles/kitten formula all can be found at most pet supply stores. Here is an article that might help you prepare, should it become necessary.

Guide to Feeding Newborn Kittens

I know it has only been a few hours since you posted, but I was wondering if things have settled down some and if the situation has improved any?

I am also going to reach out to a couple of members who might have specific ideas for how you might help the mama and babies out. @Jcatbird or @abyeb - any helpful tips to give M Morrow that might help the mama settle down?

Hi!
Feebysowner has given you great advice. Also, see if you can get a heating pad, set it on low and put two towels over it, this will provide warmth for when mama is away.

If the kittens are quiet and sleeping in a pile, she's feeding them.
If however, they are crawling around and crying, you need to feed them, immediately.

Weighing Newborn Kittens (and How This Could Save Their Lives)

Just a thought, are you sure she had only four kittens?

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Furballsmom said:

Hi!
Feebysowner has given you great advice. Also, see if you can get a heating pad, set it on low and put two towels over it, this will provide warmth for when mama is away.

If the kittens are quiet and sleeping in a pile, she's feeding them.
If however, they are crawling around and crying, you need to feed them, immediately.

Weighing Newborn Kittens (and How This Could Save Their Lives)

Just a thought, are you sure she had only four kittens?

Click to expand...

Yes, a scale and weighing daily and logging the weights of each individual kitten can save their lives to make sure they're eating enough. If you have twins or look alikes, a little paper collar breeders use with litters would be necessary.
Cats are usually instinctively very good mothers. But first time mothers sometimes get anxious and aren't sure what to do, exhausting as it is staying up with them as much as possible in shifts is probably the best way to ease her into this.

Thank you so much to everyone for replying. Mama cat has seemed to settle down a bit and hasn’t been meowing as much throughout today. We have bowls of food and water in multiple places around her nesting area and outside the room. We have an upstairs/downstairs and the kittens are in a room upstairs so I have some concerns when they’re crying she doesn’t always seem to hear them or come back to them right away. So we call her and she comes running. But we’ve been able to leave the door open for her today without her following us out and then returning to her babies shortly after leaving. Whenever she leaves them there’s a mixture of them either laying down sleeping or sometimes two of them wiggling around climbing on top of each other I thought maybe this was them looking for warmth. We’ve also run into a new problem. I’ve notice one of the kittens we call half face (his or hers face is literally half black and half brown) is constantly fighting with one of the calicos we’re calling cali for short (yea I know real original). When mama lays down with them and they start nursing half face and cali will start to constantly claw at each other and I’ve tried moving one but they always seem to find their way back to each other and start clawing again. If mama leaves though they don’t do this and cuddle together nicely or if she’s just laying with them and not nursing they sleep together just fine

There are two calicoes, an all white baby and then half face who’s mostly black with patches of brown. The white one seems to move around the most when mama is gone but he/she also feeds the most from what I’ve seen sometimes knocking off another kitten from a nipple and taking that one

So adorable!!! I am glad to hear things are better. I was worried. That pic makes things look pretty copacetic!

I don't know why those two would go at each other, I think it is just because they are hungry and pawing anyone else out of their way. Are they still able to nurse while doing this? If so, I would let it be. Remember at this stage they can't see, so they will be constantly adjusting themselves to find a nipple suitable to them to suckle from.

Just watch over them and make sure they all find a way to nurse.

Things seem to be getting calmer thank god so I’m taking that as a good sign to things working out hopefully. We still plan to get a scale Monday and some kitty formula just in case. Also I’ll have to look for a heating pad. When they claw at each other during nursing time it looks as if they’re fighting over the same nipple as one of them will be attached to her and then the other is clawing trying to get attached and when I move them to another nipple that available they ignore it and crawl back to where they were before and start the clawing again

I don't think there is an easy answer for that. It oddly could turn out that these two will become best of buddies. Hopefully, as you monitor them you don't notice any adverse affects to either of their health/weights. Over the next couple of days, they all might find different schedules to be on, so that they are all not trying to nurse at once.

Again, let some time pass as you watch these two 'duke it out each time' and see if you don't intervene that they figure it out on their own.

Maybe someone else will have an idea about if you can do anything to help prevent it??

I read something about kittens having a favorite nipple and usually nursing from that same one throughout the time they’re being fed from mama. I’m thinking that may be the case cause I have noticed whenever they feed they’re all always in the same places as before but I think it’ll be easier once I get a scale so I can supplement whoever I know for sure isn’t getting enough

Wow. Never heard that, but you're seeing it in action. I guess we are all creatures of habit - even from 'the get-go'.

Hi, back again. So kittens are about 4 days old now and seems like they’re doing good. So last night mama cat opened one of our kitchen cabinets below the counter tops which isn’t unusual in our house we always find one of our cats sleeping with the pots and pans. The thing is she brought one of her babies downstairs with her and was laying the cabinet with them. I deemed it unsafe because that particular cabinet has an opening and one of the babies could fall behind the stove so I took the baby back upstairs and put them back in the bed they’ve been in since the first day mama cat gave birth. Then this morning my husband says she brought another kitten downstairs while he was making coffee. Is she just looking for a new nesting spot? Is it safer to let her move them or keep and the kittens where they’ve been the past 4 days?

Cats are known to move their babies around - it's instinctual, in that they are moving them to avoid predators finding them as easily. Personally, I would set up another bedding area for her that is in a safe spot, let her know it is there, and if she chooses to move them there, fine. But, if not, I would certainly move them back to the original bedding set up for them.

If the bedding area is particularly messy/dirty, you might want to change it out as that could be part of her reason for wanting to move them. (I trust when you pick them up, you are using a towel in order not to get your scent on them for now?)

Btw, how is it going with the two kitties that were 'fighting' over mama's one nipple?

There’s another nesting area we’ve set up downstairs but I don’t think she likes it so I’ll be keeping an eye on her to see where she tries to move them next. She’s also been doing a lot of scratching in the dogs kennel lately and has slept in there before. Her bedding area as of now looks relatively clean the towels in the bed aren’t messy but I’ll try putting another clean one on top. We’ve been using the small hand towels to move the kittens when need be but she hasn’t seemed too upset at us for moving them

They still fight sometimes and the one nipple seems to be the most popular but after a little fussing they all usually fall into place somewhere

...I was thinking, is there a way to temporarily block up that cabinet so she could use it?

It is perfectly normal for kittens to fight hard for a favorite nipple. Your mama is a new mama and is very unsure of herself. She needs constant reassurance from you because she trusts you. If the kittens sleep and are not constantly crawling around crying, they are getting enough to eat. Moving the kittens so much is also from being a new mama. It sounds like you are doing good though keeping every one together. Our Casper was a few months old when his mama had another litter and he would nurse right along with the newborns, and was constantly carrying one to us, it was nervewracking! He finally got bored with them until tehy got old enough to play with him. It sounds to em yoru mama is doing alright, she just needs lots of attention and you are giving it!

That particular cabinet is right next to the stove and on the inside its not fully enclosed like you can see the side of the stove. I don’t think we have anything to fill or cover that space unfortunately.

She took another baby downstairs a completely different one again and put them in the dogs kennel. I’m thinking about setting that up as a nesting spot putting fresh towels in there for her since our dog doesn’t usually lay in there anyways. Even though they occasionally fight for the favorite nipple they do sleep side by side or in a pile on top of one another without moving around so that’s reassuring! We sit with her and constantly check on her throughout the day making sure her and the babies are doing ok and reassure her she’s doing good. It was super tough the first day she would constantly look for us or follow us around the house if we left her side but she’s calmed down a lot