Pregnant cat

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Caitlin375

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I would hold off on introducing the litter box until they are eating soft foods.
See I wouldn’t have known that without this site. They’re not actually using it, it was literally me holding them in it and because I’d read the kittenlady links and it said introduce at around 3 weeks. But yeah I’ll do that and wait a while longer. Thanks 😊
 
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Caitlin375

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I would hold off on introducing the litter box until they are eating soft foods.
On another note, when they’re allowed out of their nest to walk around, their little feet get cold, despite it all being carpeted and the heating on in that room throughout the day. Should I leave that longer too? They love being out for periods of time. I do tend to put them back in their nest for a good while after a play around and they’re always in overnight.
 

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I think letting them out is good! But I think putting them back is the right thing to do at night until they grow a bit more and get bigger and stronger - maybe for 2-3 more weeks. They are still on the smallish side for 3 weeks, though it sounds as though they are doing quite well.

Also, I love Kitten Lady and her videos are excellent, but not only is she ultra experienced, her kittens are usually bigger at younger ages. She tends to push early transitions of bottle babies especially, but for most kittens the transition is better between 6-8 weeks.
 
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Caitlin375

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I think letting them out is good! But I think putting them back is the right thing to do at night until they grow a bit more and get bigger and stronger - maybe for 2-3 more weeks. They are still on the smallish side for 3 weeks, though it sounds as though they are doing quite well.

Also, I love Kitten Lady and her videos are excellent, but not only is she ultra experienced, her kittens are usually bigger at younger ages. She tends to push early transitions of bottle babies especially, but for most kittens the transition is better between 6-8 weeks.
Ok thanks, so do I just continue as I’m going? Do they need extra feedings or anything?
 

Sarthur2

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I think you should continue as you are doing. Your kittens are gaining steadily, nursing mama, and though a touch on the light side, I think doing just fine. Remember they were born small, and mom’s milk did not come in fully right away, but these two are catching up and thriving.

So you can eventually apply Kitten Lady’s techniques for transitioning to soft foods and litter training, but it will be applied later on for your kittens. It will still be within the normal range.

My four kittens were born at very healthy weights, though there was a runt, and they had mama all along, but they still showed no interest in soft food until around 6 weeks, and even then, it was only a couple of the four. Her only daughter was the last to try wet food at 8 weeks. I never pushed.

They continued to nurse mom for months, even after she was spayed at 8 weeks post-birth, and today the former “runt” is the biggest cat of all. They are 6 years old now, and two of the males are close to 20 pounds each. Mama just weighed in at the vet at around 7 pounds. She’s very petite with tiny little paws. All of her 4 children are much bigger than she is, but she mated with a large male

I’m also not in favor of you spaying mom at 8 weeks right now since the babies are on the small side. You may want to wait until the kittens are 10-12 weeks, but be prepared for mom to go into heat prior to that time. You’ll just have to live through that for a week. My cat went back into heat at 7 weeks post-birth.

Anyway, one of the signs a kitten is ready to try soft food is when they go to mom’s dish and try eating from her food. I do believe your kittens, at just over 3 weeks, are not there yet, They need their baby teeth first, and those usually are cut around week 4. My guess is they may be 2-3 weeks from trying soft foods yet!

C Caitlin375
 
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I think you should continue as you are doing. Your kittens are gaining steadily, nursing mama, and though a touch on the light side, I think doing just fine. Remember they were born small, and mom’s milk did not come in fully right away, but these two are catching up and thriving.

So you can eventually apply Kitten Lady’s techniques for transitioning to soft foods and litter training, but it will be applied later on for your kittens. It will still be within the normal range.

My four kittens were born at very healthy weights, though there was a runt, and they had mama all along, but they still showed no interest in soft food until around 6 weeks, and even then, it was only a couple of the four. Her only daughter was the last to try wet food at 8 weeks. I never pushed.

They continued to nurse mom for months, even after she was spayed at 8 weeks post-birth, and today the former “runt” is the biggest cat of all. They are 6 years old now, and two of the males are close to 20 pounds each. Mama just weighed in at the vet at around 7 pounds. She’s very petite with tiny little paws. All of her 4 children are much bigger than she is, but she mated with a large male

I’m also not in favor of you spaying mom at 8 weeks right now since the babies are on the small side. You may want to wait until the kittens are 10-12 weeks, but be prepared for mom to go into heat prior to that time. You’ll just have to live through that for a week. My cat went back into heat at 7 weeks post-birth.

Anyway, one of the signs a kitten is ready to try soft food is when they go to mom’s dish and try eating from her food. I do believe your kittens, at just over 3 weeks, are not there yet, They need their baby teeth first, and those usually are cut around week 4. My guess is they may be 2-3 weeks from trying soft foods yet!

C Caitlin375
Ok I’m glad you think they’re doing fine as they are for now. They seem content and they’re very playful with each otherand they like to try to bite mum which she quickly puts a stop to! 😅

TBH I hadn’t even considered soft food as an option yet as I read on kitten lady that’s not to be considered until at least 5 weeks. It was really just holding them in the litter I had tried so far. But they definitely have tiny little teeth on the bottom for sure that I can visibly see when they yawn etc. They still constantlyfight over one nipple. I’m not sure if that one produces more as there’s always obvious milk around the fur on that nipple that’s not evident on the other and both kittens seem to much prefer latching on to that one.

I will hold off on spaying mum for now and book her in for when the babies are around 12 weeks old. At what age can the little ones be spayed/neutered?
 

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Here in the U.S., kittens can be de-sexed at 2 pounds, but I waited until 3 pounds at 12 weeks on mine.

However, it seems some private vets prefer 6 months, which to me is tempting fate.

I’d say yours can be safely fixed at 3 pounds, but that may be a bit after 12 weeks unless their weight gain picks up, which it will hopefully once they begin eating soft foods. If they are fixed by 4 months regardless of weight they should be fine and their sex hormones should not be in yet.

My cat’s only daughter was spayed at 13 weeks after the males were done at 12 weeks, because she had not reached her 3 pounds yet. Of the 4. she was the smallest and only female.

You’ve got a ways to go yet, so we can re-visit any of these weaning, litter, and de-sexing issues as time goes by. 😊

Edit: Happy to hear their baby teeth are coming in - right on target!

C Caitlin375
 
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Here in the U.S., kittens can be de-sexed at 2 pounds, but I waited until 3 pounds at 12 weeks on mine.

However, it seems some private vets prefer 6 months, which to me is tempting fate.

I’d say yours can be safely fixed at 3 pounds, but that may be a bit after 12 weeks unless their weight gain picks up, which it will hopefully once they begin eating soft foods. If they are fixed by 4 months regardless of weight they should be fine and their sex hormones should not be in yet.

My cat’s only daughter was spayed at 13 weeks after the males were done at 12 weeks, because she had not reached her 3 pounds yet. Of the 4. she was the smallest and only female.

You’ve got a ways to go yet, so we can re-visit any of these weaning, litter, and de-sexing issues as time goes by. 😊

Edit: Happy to hear their baby teeth are coming in - right on target!

C Caitlin375
Thanks again for all your help. I still haven’t wormed as you said last week to maybe wait a few weeks. The vet had said the 28th. Should I go ahead now or still hold off?
 
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Weights are 344g and 339g. Saffron gained 16g jack only gained 8g.
 
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Sarthur2 Sarthur2 I think Willow is coming into heat already. She won’t stay to feed them longer than 10 minutes at a time and she’s very restless and just now started to make those typical noises she makes when in heat.
 

Sarthur2

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Ugh, I was hoping it would come later. All you can do is live through it for the next week and make sure she nurses the kittens as often as possible.

Some cats derive comfort during heat from the suckling. Then we’ll hope she doesn’t go into heat again for a few weeks and the kittens will be starting soft foods by then. Just take it a day at a time right now.
 
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Ugh, I was hoping it would come later. All you can do is live through it for the next week and make sure she nurses the kittens as often as possible.

Some cats derive comfort during heat from the suckling. Then we’ll hope she doesn’t go into heat again for a few weeks and the kittens will be starting soft foods by then. Just take it a day at a time right now.
She has fed them a couple of longer feeds but mostly short ones though she keeps going in more often than usual for these short feeds. She’s still yowling. Last couple of feeds I’ve sat with her while she nurses them and been rubbing her head and talking away to her, that seems to calm her and keep her there longer, she attempts to lick me and keeps her paw over me when I’m there.
 
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