Mother cat has abandoned month-old kittens

AuntyBe

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My cat gave birth to three kittens about a month ago. They are healthy and active. She willingly nursed them until a few days ago. I began carrying her to them and making her nurse them. No problem until today when I put her on the bed to nurse, but she ran away. What should I do? The kittens are not eating solid food yet. Help!
 

StefanZ

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My cat gave birth to three kittens about a month ago. They are healthy and active. She willingly nursed them until a few days ago. I began carrying her to them and making her nurse them. No problem until today when I put her on the bed to nurse, but she ran away. What should I do? The kittens are not eating solid food yet. Help!
You must handfeed them.

You CAN try and entice them into foods - whatever they take. They are old enough to be able to digest other than mommas milk.
Say, something mushy to lick from your fingers.... And as the next step, to lick up from a shallow plate.
With any luck, one of them will begin first to get the idea, and the other will soon follow suit.

Or with a dropper you give them goats milk or kmr.... Or full fat youghurt in a pinch.

Kittens whom had a momma are often reluctant to bottle, that is why Im talking about dropper...
But you must start somewhere, so start with a dropper. Train some!
Lotsa job of course, as they need now a lot every day.
 

StefanZ

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Ps. You will probably need to help with eliminating them, ie poo and pee. So far it was momma whom helped them with this.
Its not the same hurry, but it must be done too later on today.
 

jefferd18

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You need to stop forcing her, she knows when they are hungry and it is also vital that she is able to get away from them now and then.

And yes, at four weeks they can start on solids.
 

Willowy

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I wouldn't worry about one time, maybe she just wasn't in the mood? See if she feeds them later.

If not, yes, you'll have to feed them yourself. They are old enough to drink from a dish or eat mushy food. Try mixing up a shallow bowl of KMR (baby formula for kittens) and let them lick it off your finger, then kind of lead them to the dosh with your finger. You can also add a little Gerber chicken baby food or canned Fancy Feast kitten food to the formula to get them used to the flavor.

She may be in heat again so don't let her outside or she'll get pregnant again, and that's really hard on their bodies.
 

Sarthur2

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Yes, if mom won’t nurse, you can go ahead and get her spayed. Otherwise, buy a can of PetAg powdered kitten formula and pick up a 5mL syringe from a pharmacy, and begin feeding them. Here’s a helpful video:

Syringe Feeding — Kitten Lady

Also, kittens usually love Gerber chicken or turkey meat baby food, and it’s easy to lap. You can try it on your finger!
 
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