mom cat is getting over infection and she cries when nursing

[dethstryke]

That link is a life saver. I've been consulting it for the past two weeks. Skittles is a girl cat. I gave her some fancy wet food in my sterling silver dish as a way to make up for being attacked in her own home!

All cats should have the luxury of eating out of a bowl that is worth $30+ lol

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi .not sure I'm adding much, I think a lot has been covered above ;
Weaning: How To Get Your Kittens To Eat On Their Own – TheCatSite Articles

How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box – TheCatSite Articles

This may help as well
Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

 

[catsknowme]

Awww...Skittles is so precious! I love her dish - very artistic, just like her coloring. Her "eyeliner" is so stylish

 

[fionasmom]

Kitten Lady

 

[Sarthur2]

You will not be able to go out of town while you are still raising the kittens and mom is still healing.

 

[dethstryke]

Spoiler: It's not too gross. But still.

HER MASTITIS IS DOING SO WELL!
Dotty is now gaining some weight and two of the kittens were adopted by a former employee of a local zoo and knows how to handle newborns. It's been much easier with only five kittens to feed and a mom cat hovering around for extra KMR.
The kittens are playing quite roughly and I'm not sure if they are using their litter box but there is pee in it all of a sudden. They are exploring my room and really like being underneath my mesh drying rack that is tilted up on the wall.

They like sliding underneath it to get out. Very adventurous kitties. I am so tired. Ugh.

 

[Furballsmom]

Bless your heart you're amazing and so is she!!

 

[dethstryke]

How do I start weaning these kittens? I bought a blender ball shaker and I have wet kitten food but I'm not sure how much to give them!
Also I keep the water changed and clean but no one is touching it. How do I make these kitties and mom drink water???
Here is a kitten death match from yesterday

 

[Furballsmom]

Lol, such little toughies!! Love that photo

This might help

Weaning: How To Get Your Kittens To Eat On Their Own – TheCatSite Articles

This may have a tip or two that helps mom,
Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Kflowers]

I've been following and you're doing so well with these kittens and their mom. she's so fortunate to have found someone who saw something was wrong and helped her before she lost all her babies.

just a couple of hints about the litter box. We've found that clay litter hurts new kitty feet and they don't care for it. If you can get some wheat litter it will be easier for them to accept. You'll need a shallow pan since climbing over the edge into the box with a full bladder doesn't always work too well. And, here's the annoying part, until the kittens are solid on going to the box you might want to pick up all piles of cloth - clothes, towels, from the floor. For reasons best known to themselves, many cats feel a pile of fabric is something to pee on.

 

[dethstryke]

Oh yeah those towels are disposable. The kittens are able to leap up and in and out of the litter boxes I have set up pretty easily! Pretty much everything is going to be thrown away including the mattress, boxes, carpet, etc. The brown towel is where the mom likes to sleep with the kittens.
The biggest issue right now is that the mom cat somehow escaped last night and instigated a fight with my cat at 4am. What a way to wake up. =___= I had to mop the floor where Skittles peed in fear, strip my bed because Skittles peed it in fear, soak my mattress with nature's miracle, wash my sheet in the sink, calm my cat down, wait for an hour to feed the kittens, sleep on the floor and then realize my pillows got pee on them so I had to wash my pillowcases in the sink and then take a shower and mop some more and then fall asleep for three hours to feed the kittens again

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! How is Skittles now?

 

[dethstryke]

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! How is Skittles now?

She's fine now. The calming treats really really work.

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm SO glad to hear that!

 

[Sarthur2]

What a night!

 

[Kflowers]

Perhaps you could leave Skittles carrier out with a towel over it to give her a little cave to hide in even when Mom cat is secured. Or a closet? or a cardboard box with TWO entrances, where she could hide until she is completely secure again. At least. Skittles was aware that Mom cat was there, just as she's aware of outside cats. She's probably always known one might get in the house, now it happened and everything went back to normal afterward --Skittles in the house, other cat not in her part of the house --which should help Skittles deal with it.

Poor Mom cat, who is a good mom cat, is having a rough go, but she's so fortunate to have found you. I rather think the whole little family would have crossed the bridge by now without you.

 

[dethstryke]

Look how good her tummy looks! It's mostly healed up now. There is a bit sticking out that might need minor surgery but otherwise she is playing and gently biting them when they go too far and then licking them.

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm absolutely stunned!!

Isn't she a pretty little thing

 

[catsknowme]

You are doing an amazing job! Adopting 2 babies to a responsible person was a wise move. Dotty is such a pretty cat and looks so happy. To wean kittens, I rub some thin gruel (pate thinned with KMR or goat milk) on their gums and see if they are interested. If they are, I put a little gruel on a small, shallow lid (I use the lids from nut cans) that's on top of puppy pads. Kittens (like puppies) like to thoroughly explore the new food and that includes walking through it. Since you have Dotty, I would bring her to the dish so she can demonstrate; cats learn by observation (I have 2 great stories about that - my daughter-in-law's cat follows her into the bathroom & out of the blue, the cat jumped onto the toilet and peed! My own story is about our little cat who learned to "sit" and "roll over" from watching us train our dog; I was showing a friend my hand signal for "roll over" - the dog kept focusing on the treat. Finally, I said "roll over" and my cat walked over to face the dog, stare at him fixedly for a moment, then rolled over! My friend was so entertained - she really enjoyed getting the cat to roll over numerous times and the cat equally enjoyed getting her to exclaim and laugh!)

 

[dethstryke]

TURNS OUT THEY ARE EATING! or at least one is.

I am frequently trapped after feedings now. It's cute but my legs fall asleep.