Nursing Mom Seems Skinny

[Sarthur2]

This is terrific news!

Do continue weighing the smallest ones daily for now though.

 

[Kimberly07]

I will, thank you for all your help. They are getting so big and doing great.

 

[Kimberly07]

Hello,

The seven healthy babies are 16 days old all weighing 300-375 grams as of today. Gracie gets 7-8 cans if wet kitten food a day and dry kitten food and she is literally nursing every 20 minutes or so. Babies only fuss when fighting for a nipple otherwise are content. Gracie seems very skinny to me. Can she be over nursing?

 

[Kieka]

She looks okay to me but laying photos are harder to tell. It may just be the contrast between pregnant and not pregnant. Are her hip bones visible when standing? Can you see ribs?

 

[Sarthur2]

No, she is not over-nursing, but she is nursing 7 hungry, healthy, growing babies!

Her body is working very hard to keep up with demand.

Feed her as much as she wants. You can add cheese, scrambled or raw egg yolk, and boiled chicken to her diet for extra protein.

Is she getting a dish a day of kitten formula for extra calcium?

She will put on weight after the babies wean and she is spayed.

 

[Kimberly07]

Yes, I can see her hip bones today. I will make her some scrambled eggs. I can't give her the formula because when I gave it to her when she was pregnant it made her already loose stools unmanageable....if you know what I mean. . I'll keep pushing the food. Thanks

 

[Kieka]

Yes, I can see her hip bones today. I will make her some scrambled eggs. I can't give her the formula because when I gave it to her when she was pregnant it made her already loose stools unmanageable....if you know what I mean. . I'll keep pushing the food. Thanks

Try a slurry of wet kitten food mixed with KMR. Her system might handle it better while allowing her to up her nutritional intake.

There is no such thing as over nursing but nursing can take a toll on mom. With that size of a litter, I wouldn't be surprised if Mom pushes the kittens to wean earlier than normal.

 

[Sarthur2]

Great! You can crush the egg shells very finely and sprinkle a quarter teaspoon over her food daily. The egg shells contain all the calcium she needs. Just be sure to take the skin off the inside of the shell.

Kimberly07

 

[Kieka]

Great! You can crush the egg shells very finely and sprinkle a quarter teaspoon over her food daily. The egg shells contain all the calcium she needs. Just be sure to take the skin off the inside of the shell.

Hard boiled eggs is what you give nesting birds too for the same reason.

If you have a food processor that will help with grinding the egg shells but it will blunt the blades some.

 

[Kimberly07]

Thank you! I'm supplementing her diet now with the eggs and chicken.

 

[Sarthur2]

Wonderful! I’ll bet she loves it!

Do add the crushed egg shells for calcium too!

 

[Kimberly07]

Good morning. The kittens are doing great and are 22 days today. Mom seems to be slowing down on how often she feeds them. When can I introduce wet cat food to the kittens?

 

[Sarthur2]

You can introduce wet food and dry kitten chow at about 4 weeks when their baby teeth are in.

Has mom put any weight on?

 

[Kimberly07]

She doesn't look any skinnier and has possibly gained a little. She has eaten about 4-5 pounds of boiled chicken in the last 24 hours. I don't know how she does it. Up until this morning she has been nursing them non-stop for the last three weeks with 15-20 minute breaks inbetwein-to eat and use the litter. As always. Thank you.

 

[Kimberly07]

Sorry to bother you guys again. So Gracie has had loose stools since day one. She was dewormed and when she was pregnant, I took her to the vet and they tested her stools and everything was negative. When she was large and at the end of her pregnancy, she started missing the littler box (I had to take the lid off because she couldn't fit anymore). She litterly was shooting it. I had puppy pads everywhere in the room. I have two large litter box's set up now both with lids. She is going on the outside of the litter boxes. I'm having to disinfect and bleach litterly two to three times a day. I have puppy pads, but she tries to dig them up after relieving her bowels and that just makes a bigger mess. I'm at a loss as to what to do. Kittens are 23 days today and doing great.

 

[Kimberly07]

Also I would like to add, if she does go in the litter box, she hangs her butt out of the opening and goes on the puppy pad.....UGH

 

[Sarthur2]

I’ve been there on this issue so I know how frustrating it is.

I solved it by purchasing larger litter boxes.

Is Gracie still having loose stools?

 

[Kimberly07]

My litter boxes are big. I was joking with my fiance that I was going to get a child size sand box, then realized that this isn't a bad idea LOL. She did last night. I've tried probiotics, canned pumpkin and nothing seems to make it better and her kitty litter habits were fine before she got really large in the end.

 

[Sarthur2]

Has she had a round of metronidazole?

 

[Kimberly07]

No, what's that???