Mom cat with 9 babies

[alexisvictoria923]

Hi everyone, i’m not sure if anyone will see this because I literally just joined this website in hopes of getting advice on my situation. So, I took in a really pregnant stray cat about a month ago and she ended up having the babies on shortly after. I wasn’t sure when she would have them so I was trying as fast as possible to get rid of the fleas on her without stressing her out too much or making her having a reaction to something and then harm her and the babies. fast forward, every kitten now has fleas due to the mom. I’ve been struggling to help them because they are so small and so young there isn’t much you can do on them. And last night I noticed all of the kittens have scabby bumps on their foreheads. they all have it, only on the forehead. I’m getting so worried that the fleas are going to make them unhealthy and something will happen to them. I tried to get pictures of at least one of their heads but they’re babies so they’re not going to stay still. I did put them in warm water but not their heads and lather them with dawn so the fleas will just crawl to their heads and i could get them out but it’s a little hard to do by myself and they were still freaking out. I also tried to get them off mom cat too but she honestly wasn’t having it since she was a stray and all. So that’s problem one, here’s problem 2.

Since there 9 of them feeding off of her, they all fight to drink. I bought KMR & bottles to help her out with it but they still like to go to town on her afterwards anyways. And now on the bottom of her belly, all the hair in between the last 2 teats is almost all off. Her skin is like very scabby right there and has weird coloring and it looks very bad to me. I don’t know how to help her with that or what I should use. Ill put a picture so you can see. The picture(s) does not do justice either, it’s much worse in person and plus she was cleaning herself so it was a bad angle. Now I do have an appointment for the kittens between the end of this week to next week. I work with my local shelter a little bit and do this weight til 8 program specifically for new baby kittens. They will tell me everything I need and possibly help. I’m going to talk to them to see what I can do about momma cat, or if they are able to see her along with the kittens. Usually they don’t do that but sometimes on the situation they do. I’m going to call tomorrow to see if they will let me bring them earlier. But for now I really just want advice on how to help the mom cat relieve some pain on her belly area and be educated on how to help the babies before it’s too late. If anyone sees this, please let me know! All advice helps me!

 

[alexisvictoria923]

BTW !! that small like grey spot on her in the second picture is like something from off the floor. not her skin I promise!!

 

[Willowy]

Poor girl, that does look nasty. Ask the shelter people what kind of nipple cream they recommend. I'm sure most human-type nipple creams would work, since they have to be safe for human babies, but they may know of one that works best in their experience. Coconut oil might work too.

You can flea comb the kittens. Just prepare a cup of hot soapy water, comb the fleas off, and knock them into the cup (I prefer to just scrape them off the comb with my finger, but some people dip the comb. This gets the cats wet so maybe don't use much soap if you do it that way). It's really the only safe way for baby kittens, since they shouldn't be bathed much at that age.

9 kittens is a LOT for one mama! But they're about 4 weeks old now, right? Soon they can start eating mushy solid food, and drink KMR out of a dish, so that should help take some of the burden off mama and you.

 

[Sarthur2]

You can put a tube of Advantage II on the back of mom’s neck. This will help to kill fleas. As mentioned, continue combing the fleas off the babies. Use olive oil or coconut oil on mom’s belly and nipples to soothe. It’s not unexpected that her fur is gone with 9 kittens nursing, but it will grow back.

They do need to be seen by a shelter vet, and usually if you sign them over the shelter will let you foster until the kittens are old enough to be placed. They can spay mom for you eventually and you can adopt her if you’d like to keep her.

Start making calls and let us know what works out. Thanks so much for giving mom a home through this!

 

[di and bob]

She has an infection going on and needs to be seen as soon as possible. I agree with calling the vet and getting a systemic flea killer on her too,( find one that won't hurt the kittens through nursing) the kittens should be combed and the fleas in soapy water like described. Knock them off into the water, do not cover the babies with soapy water, the mama may be having an allergic reaction to that. It may be the beginnings of mastitis too. I feel sorry for her having to deal with that and 9 kittens. You are doing well, thank you!

 

[MinkaTasha]

Look for my recent post about Mama Cat and 6 Babies. I have successfully defeated this round of fleas with Advantage II on mom (you have to keep her out of nest for 30 minutes afterwards) and 2 Dawn baths for the babies (3 days old!), 24 hours apart. I did this in a bathroom a with a space heater and the TV turned up so mama couldn’t hear them, taking one at a time without her noticing. I did not get them super wet to start; I started with a small drop of Dawn on my finger that I put on their dry neck and then dipped my fingers in a cup of warm water to suds it up. Went around the neck first to make a sudsy barrier and keep the fleas from moving to the head. Then I did the same thing to their entire body, working hard at the crevices. I tried to do this in 2 minutes. I then rinsed them in warm, running water, keeping their heads out of it and using my fingers dipped in water again to rinse the neck since it was too risky to run much water there. I towel dried them and then blow dried them on low, keeping the blow drier oscillating and far away from them and from their heads (it only took 60 to 90 seconds to get them completely dry). When they were dry, I put them on a covered heating pad in a basket in the warm bathroom so they wouldn’t get more fleas from the nest. When we got done with #5, I changed the nest bedding, put the 5 back, and washed #6. Mama never realized what was going on. Then, 4 or 5 hours later, I’d get my 10 year old to “flea pick.” I’d rough up the fur on the head and back with a toothbrush and the fleas would flee to the belly area. I’d flip them over and have my son grab them with his small fingers. There were only 2 after the first Dawn bath and none after the second. Even if we didn’t do this, I think the second bath would have taken care of them.

Now we just check to see if any eggs remained that hatched.

Good luck! I know it’s daunting but it feels so good when you accomplish it! And I couldn’t have done it without the ladies here encouraging me.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree with di and bob that mom may need antibiotics for infection. Please get mom and babies seen ASAP.

 

[vince]

Another emollient cream you might try is "Bag Balm," which seems to be available at Walmart, CVS, Walgreen's and Tractor Supply. I've used it on cats before and it's safe to use on the udders of milk cattle (its original purpose). It has some kind of very mild antiseptic in it--I don't remember which one.

Do have kitty looked at by a professional. She seems to have more than just chapped teats going on.

 

[alexisvictoria923]

Look for my recent post about Mama Cat and 6 Babies. I have successfully defeated this round of fleas with Advantage II on mom (you have to keep her out of nest for 30 minutes afterwards) and 2 Dawn baths for the babies (3 days old!), 24 hours apart. I did this in a bathroom a with a space heater and the TV turned up so mama couldn’t hear them, taking one at a time without her noticing. I did not get them super wet to start; I started with a small drop of Dawn on my finger that I put on their dry neck and then dipped my fingers in a cup of warm water to suds it up. Went around the neck first to make a sudsy barrier and keep the fleas from moving to the head. Then I did the same thing to their entire body, working hard at the crevices. I tried to do this in 2 minutes. I then rinsed them in warm, running water, keeping their heads out of it and using my fingers dipped in water again to rinse the neck since it was too risky to run much water there. I towel dried them and then blow dried them on low, keeping the blow drier oscillating and far away from them and from their heads (it only took 60 to 90 seconds to get them completely dry). When they were dry, I put them on a covered heating pad in a basket in the warm bathroom so they wouldn’t get more fleas from the nest. When we got done with #5, I changed the nest bedding, put the 5 back, and washed #6. Mama never realized what was going on. Then, 4 or 5 hours later, I’d get my 10 year old to “flea pick.” I’d rough up the fur on the head and back with a toothbrush and the fleas would flee to the belly area. I’d flip them over and have my son grab them with his small fingers. There were only 2 after the first Dawn bath and none after the second. Even if we didn’t do this, I think the second bath would have taken care of them.

Now we just check to see if any eggs remained that hatched.

Good luck! I know it’s daunting but it feels so good when you accomplish it! And I couldn’t have done it without the ladies here encouraging me.

THANK YOU! This helps me so much. I will start this tomorrow because unfortunately I don’t won’t get off of work until late at night. But first thing tomorrow this will be done!! thank you so much.

 

[Sarthur2]

Are you able to get mom vet checked as well?