I'm a new member. I have one male cat, brown tabby, aged 7 named "Figaro". I recently took in an abandoned cat which I named "Sheba". She is lovely, long gray haired with pink nose, white under her chin and white paws. I suspected she was pregnant. She was very unhealthy looking. I took her to my vet and he confirmed the pregnancy. She started eating lots and gained some weight. On June 25/01 she had 4 kittens. They are now just over 1 month old and adorable. Sheba was fine until a week ago when she stopped eating and drinking. I have her under the vet's care but she looks terrible and I'm having to feed the kittens Whiskas cat milk 2 to 3 times daily as well as Sheba. Any suggestions on how to get Sheba to eat?
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- Thread starter bellafig
- Start Date
Bellafig; Have you tred babyfood meat prducts. Veal or chicken always worked for me. It is high in protein and easy for the cat to digest; it can even be mixed with the Whiskas Milk to fortify that. The added protein should stimulate the appetite of the Momma cat. Is she still trying to nurse the kittens in her weakened condition? You mentioned that you are having to feed them the Whiskas Milk also. If this is sufficient for them I would try to seperate them from nursing until Mom is stronger.
I welcome you to the Cat Site and hope you will keep us updated on the "family's" progress. There are several members here who have more experience than I on these things and I am sure they will be on shortly with more ideas.
I welcome you to the Cat Site and hope you will keep us updated on the "family's" progress. There are several members here who have more experience than I on these things and I am sure they will be on shortly with more ideas.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Thank you for the information about baby food. I'll try that. Yes the kittens are still nursing from her as well. I'll try and separate them.
There are several threads already more or less completed and chuck full of advice on this site -- one on Newborns in particular, but while dealt with bringing them to maturity. One on a 7-day old...
Your vet should have recommended the appropriate Science Diet (or other comparable type) canned food for sick cat, newborns, and kittens that need to be weaned. Maybe in the rush of things, he forgot. what does he say (or she, as the case may be) your cat suffers from? Viral infection? Parasites? Milk Fever? Everything depends on what is affecting her, since all infections and parasites will manifest in the kittens.
By all means, if she is not infectious, take on the kittens' total feeding, but let them nurse their mother for one or two short periods during the day (or perhaps leave them with her at night for comfort and her care) and keep them apart during the day. You can help to prematurely wean them by combining canned kitten food with your catmilk formula -- start with a half a teaspoon in a maybe three tablespoons of canned food, mash up and mix well, and put this in a jam-jar lid. Introduce the kittens one at a time to this by gently shoving their faces into it. They will clean it off their faces (if the cats are self-grooming well, you can try putting their forepaws in the mixture and setting them aside to clean their paws) -- they will get a taste of the food. Usually you only have to encourage them in this way a few times before the start biting it up -- they generally don't know about lapping yet, although there are always the naturals. You should be able to feel all of them around a single dessert plate very quickly. Keep on offering the bottle (or perhaps you are using a syringe) until they clearly would rather have the goo in the jam jar lid. Every day, increase the amount of canned food to the amount of milk formula. Ask you vet when you can use cow's milk or human baby formula -- they are cheaper. But remember that young kittens can't tolerate cow's milk well, and it takes less time than you can drive to the vet's for a little kitten to simply stop living.
At some point, the kittens will attack the food and leave the wettest milky part in the dish. They are developing teeth now and you can offer them boiled chicken (if you boil it in prepared soup mix, make sure it is one that is very, very low in sodium), only remember to cut it up into very small pieces (the quality of hamburger). Keep up the canned baby or kitten food at the same time. Most animals will signal you quite determinedly when they want to change to more grown-up foods.
Kittens should be kept on kitten mixtures (whether canned or dry) until they are around 4-8 months old.
As to your poor mother cat, when you find out what she has and why she is ill, there are all sorts of advisors on this particular category.
Your vet should have recommended the appropriate Science Diet (or other comparable type) canned food for sick cat, newborns, and kittens that need to be weaned. Maybe in the rush of things, he forgot. what does he say (or she, as the case may be) your cat suffers from? Viral infection? Parasites? Milk Fever? Everything depends on what is affecting her, since all infections and parasites will manifest in the kittens.
By all means, if she is not infectious, take on the kittens' total feeding, but let them nurse their mother for one or two short periods during the day (or perhaps leave them with her at night for comfort and her care) and keep them apart during the day. You can help to prematurely wean them by combining canned kitten food with your catmilk formula -- start with a half a teaspoon in a maybe three tablespoons of canned food, mash up and mix well, and put this in a jam-jar lid. Introduce the kittens one at a time to this by gently shoving their faces into it. They will clean it off their faces (if the cats are self-grooming well, you can try putting their forepaws in the mixture and setting them aside to clean their paws) -- they will get a taste of the food. Usually you only have to encourage them in this way a few times before the start biting it up -- they generally don't know about lapping yet, although there are always the naturals. You should be able to feel all of them around a single dessert plate very quickly. Keep on offering the bottle (or perhaps you are using a syringe) until they clearly would rather have the goo in the jam jar lid. Every day, increase the amount of canned food to the amount of milk formula. Ask you vet when you can use cow's milk or human baby formula -- they are cheaper. But remember that young kittens can't tolerate cow's milk well, and it takes less time than you can drive to the vet's for a little kitten to simply stop living.
At some point, the kittens will attack the food and leave the wettest milky part in the dish. They are developing teeth now and you can offer them boiled chicken (if you boil it in prepared soup mix, make sure it is one that is very, very low in sodium), only remember to cut it up into very small pieces (the quality of hamburger). Keep up the canned baby or kitten food at the same time. Most animals will signal you quite determinedly when they want to change to more grown-up foods.
Kittens should be kept on kitten mixtures (whether canned or dry) until they are around 4-8 months old.
As to your poor mother cat, when you find out what she has and why she is ill, there are all sorts of advisors on this particular category.
Hi!
When my adopted kitty was feeling puny and not wanting to eat, after giving birth, the vet gave her a B-complex shot. I had that done twice and it worked both times. She had a lot of problems, but is fine now. Does Sheba have fever? Is she showing any symptoms of mastitis? Is She on antibiotics? Did they do bloodwork? I hope she is feeling fine soon. I know it is so scary when the mommy is sick. Good luck!!!!
Cindy
When my adopted kitty was feeling puny and not wanting to eat, after giving birth, the vet gave her a B-complex shot. I had that done twice and it worked both times. She had a lot of problems, but is fine now. Does Sheba have fever? Is she showing any symptoms of mastitis? Is She on antibiotics? Did they do bloodwork? I hope she is feeling fine soon. I know it is so scary when the mommy is sick. Good luck!!!!
Cindy
