Pregnant Foster With Flat Nipples

[pickledfairy]

Hello,
I'm just brought a new pregnant foster cat who is due with in the next week or so (their guesstimating). I noticed tonight while running her belly that her nipples are cream colored, very flat (like pancake flat) and kind of dry. Has anyone seen this before? Will her nipples plump as milk comes in more or wjen kittens begin nursing or will I end up bottle feeding these kittens?

P.S. The kittens are very active and rolling around in her belly.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[Sarthur2]

Go ahead and begin oiling her nipples with olive or coconut oil or bag balm. All are safe and non-toxic to the cat and her eventual kittens. This will take care of the dry nipples and any chapping.

Massaging them with the oil may also help them to perk up. She'll get milk soon and all should be well.

 

[pickledfairy]

Thank you so much for replying. I had never seen nipples like hers on a pregnant kitty before, so I was conserned and you put my mind at ease. I will certainly start massaging with coconut oil to get her some relief.

 

[ashade1]

Any update on your momma cat?

 

[pickledfairy]

Still no kittens. I've tried to massage with coconut oil a quite a few times but she only tolerates it for a couple of nipples, so I just try to remember which one's I did the time prior to be sure to get each one. They are still flat but seem fuller in appearance and she has lost all of the hair around each nipple.

The kittens are moving around quite a bit and at times I swear it looks like her belly is boiling with movement! We are looking forward to meeting these busy little guys.

 

[Sarthur2]

Her mammaries will fill with milk eventually!

 

[pickledfairy]

We have kittens! We awoke to two tiny kits born over night and then she surprised us with a third 5 hours later. They are all dark brown/black tabbies like their mum, at least as far as my untrained eye can tell.

Mia seems more interested in getting loving from us when we are in her room than being with her babies. She thinks nothing of walking out of the nest with them hanging from her nipples (at least I know they are latching on) or lying or stepping on them. So, we have tried to let them be so she will tend to them and just check in every so often to be sure all is well.

They all look so much a like I'm hoping the descriptions I took down when I weighed them will hold up for me tomorrow. I ordered some non-toxic dog nail polish from Amazon on rush to try, but am not certain this is the best solution. Their weights were respectable, with an obviously little one (116g, 132g, 136g).

I knew Mia was on the thin side prior to birth but it is very obvious now how thin she truly is. Hopefully, I can beef her up a bit by upping her to two cans of wet kitten food a day (I had been only doing 1 fortified with KMR prior to birth because 2x a day gave her loose stool) and hoping that by not fortifying the 2nd wet food meal with KMR we will skip the loose stool. She also has dry kitten good at her disposal all day.

So, fingers crossed we have good weight gains tomorrow.

 

[Sarthur2]

Wonderful news!

 

[ashade1]

They are precious! Congrats!

 

[pickledfairy]

Well, I'm not seeing the weight gains I had hoped to see. Kitten #1 gained 4g going from 116g to 120g, Kitten #2 gained 2g going from 132g to 134g and Kitten #3 stayed the same at 136g (this was the last kitten born)...hopefully I told them apart well enough, I think I did.
Mom layed with them in the box after I fed her and weighed them but only stayed if I was patting her. One baby got a good match on a top nipple (couldn't really tell which it was as the box is still quite dark) the other two tusseled around for another nipple and never seemed to find one. They really batted at one another forcefully in their search! I tried to help guide them but they wouldn't take and mom wouldn't give me much time to try as each time I did she would try to get up to be sure I was patting her.

I decided to leave the room to see if she would tend to them on her own. It has been three hour and I have heard cries here and there but not constant or for long periods. I'm really hoping she is feeding them and their getting enough.

This is my first go as a foster mom. Am I do this right so far? I do not want to intervene too quickly or stress her out with my insecurities. Any advice/ reassurance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sarthur2]

Kittens sometimes gain slowly the first 24-48 hours after birth, until full milk comes in.

As long as no one loses weight, give it another day. If there are losses or very tiny gains (need to gain a minimum of 6-10 grams each per day), you'll need to begin supplementing with KMR and a syringe until things pick up.

Moms begin to settle down more after 2-3 days also!

 

[pickledfairy]

Update:

Kittens #1 and #2 are gaining nicely 18g (wow) and 8g respectively. Kitten #3 lost 4g.
I have been trying to supplement with KMR every two hours, unless when I go in it is latched on and nursing on its own. It really fights me whilst feeding crying loudly and squirming. You would think I was hurting it versus helping it. It wouldn't suckle a bottle (which BTW are hard to put the right size hole into) so I have been using a syringe and doing it drop by drop, but I fear much of it gets on me than into it. I have ordered miracle nipples that I can put on the syringe in hopes the kitten may like that better.

The baby will latch on a nurse vigorously every so often but it seems what is happening is it is fighting with another kitten to eat from the same teat. I try to get it to latch onto another but it refuses. I have also tried to get it to latch when the other kittens are sleeping so it can get the teat it wants sometimes that works but not always.

Any tricks for making syringe feeding easier? Should I keep demanding it eat even when it is squalling and fighting? Despite feeding basically in drops, I'm worried about aspiration if I give it milk while it is squealing. I have been feeding it 3ml every two hours, is that sufficient?

I'm a little disappointed with the shelter I volunteer for. When I called for advice about this little one the basically said sometimes these things happen and not all kittens are robust and make it. I told them I wasn't going to write this little one off yet, it is still fairly vigorous and mamma is still tending to it and so will I.
I feed the baby in front of mamma and give it back when done, do I need to potty it or since mom is cleaning them I can leave that job to her?

Thanks for being so kind and patient with me.

 

[Sarthur2]

The Miracle nipples should help.

Have you tried wrapping the kitten in a towel like a burrito, with only the head showing? It often helps to keep the kitten from squirming.

Sounds like you are making it work. Keep up the good effort. You or Mom can potty the baby.

Hopefully, the kitten will begin to gain.

 

[pickledfairy]

A burrito wrap, great idea! Is it okay to drop in the milk when it is crying out (that's about the only time it's mouth will open) or will it aspirate?

 

[Sarthur2]

If it's a drop at a time the kitten will not aspirate. Hopefully, the kitten will take to it better soon.