Unplanned cat pregnancy, and the situation 5 weeks after the birth

[KTB&kittens]

My three and half year old unspayed domestic short hair house cat, ended up getting caught and impregnated with her first and last litter by a neighbours who climbed up to our second floor flat and got in the window, as a result she now has 4 beautiful adorable, 5 week old kittens ! 2 of each. She had a rough first 2 weeks of mother hood. We had to rush her to the vets the day after she gave birth as she had a really high temperature and wasn't nursing her kittens, fortunately I had stocked up on formula, she was diagnosed with mastitis and was given antibiotics, then just over a week after giving birth her temperature went up again, when I phoned the out of hours pdsa vets, the receptionist told me tha she didn't need to go in and I should wipe her down with a damp cloth. I know my cat and I knew she wasn't just hot, but I had to wait nearly 4 hours for the normal pdsa hours before I could get her in, when the vet took her out of her carrier she had started to haemorrhage and was listless, so they rushed her in to emergency surgery and gave her a full hysterectomy, but no matter what she went through she never stopped worrying about her babies, she'd let me feed them when she had mastitis and share feed when she was recovering from surgery, but now there active and wanting to explore and run around, she keeps trying to coral them all into 1 place, and starts moaning at them when there running rings around her her! Is this normal behaviour or is she being a over tentative mother?

 

[KTB&kittens]

One of my kittens began eating his mom’s food at about 4 weeks. It’s a good thing, so move mom’s food back down to where they can all get to it.

They learn by watching mom eat and by trying her food — wet or dry. You want them to wean so let them go for it in addition to what else you offer tonight! It’s exciting, and your little guy sounds hungry for more than just milk!

My cats got 4 beautiful 5 week old kittens and they've all started to eat wet kitten food along with nursing. I've had kitten litter trays put out for the last week and half with shredded paper in, as I wasn't expecting them to use them, but now there starting to eat kitten food is this when I should be actively encouraging them to use the trays! If so how do I go about it and what's the best litter to buy for 5 week old kittens??? I really just want to give both mummy and her babies a happy last 7 weeks so they can just enjoy each other without any stress x

 

[Sarthur2]

This may help!

 

[Sarthur2]

Sorry, I was at work earlier and could not reply in depth, but once kittens begin eating wet food they need to be put into a nearby litter box both before and after meals throughout the day and shown how to dig. They usually catch on rather quickly!

 

[KTB&kittens]

3 out of the 4 kittens are doing really well with the weaning and going to the litter tray, the smallest little girl is very lively and sociable but isn't finding her own way to the kitten food, I've adapted one of the large feeding syringe barrels used for feeding the formula as mum wasn't producing enough milk and I blend a small amount of kitten food with the kitten milk and she's very happy to drink the milk and then chew on the porridge like kitten meat as long as she's been fed through the barrel. I don't know how to get her to make the transition to eating from the dish, have you any suggestions please xx

 

[KTB&kittens]

My cats got 4 beautiful 5 week old kittens and they've all started to eat wet kitten food along with nursing. I've had kitten litter trays put out for the last week and half with shredded paper in, as I wasn't expecting them to use them, but now there starting to eat kitten food is this when I should be actively encouraging them to use the trays! If so how do I go about it and what's the best litter to buy for 5 week old kittens??? I really just want to give both mummy and her babies a happy last 7 weeks so they can just enjoy each other without any stress x

3 out of the 4 kittens are doing really well with the weaning and going to the litter tray, the smallest little girl is very lively and sociable but isn't finding her own way to the kitten food, I've adapted one of the large feeding syringe barrels used for feeding the formula as mum wasn't producing enough milk and I blend a small amount of kitten food with the kitten milk and she's very happy to drink the milk and then chew on the porridge like kitten meat as long as she's been fed through the barrel. I don't know how to get her to make the transition to eating from the dish, have you any suggestions please xx

this morning one of the girls and one of the boys found the kitten dry food that I put out so mum always has something to eat, especially when I'm sleeping and both of them had no problems crunching the little biscuits and both kept going back for more. It's still nice to see them snuggled up to mummy and feed from her though, she's such an amazing mummy x

 

[emocatowner]

3 out of the 4 kittens are doing really well with the weaning and going to the litter tray, the smallest little girl is very lively and sociable but isn't finding her own way to the kitten food, I've adapted one of the large feeding syringe barrels used for feeding the formula as mum wasn't producing enough milk and I blend a small amount of kitten food with the kitten milk and she's very happy to drink the milk and then chew on the porridge like kitten meat as long as she's been fed through the barrel. I don't know how to get her to make the transition to eating from the dish, have you any suggestions please xx

If they still don't get the wet food, you can put it in a dish and scoop a little bit on your finger, then put it on their tongue, while their head is close to the dish. That often helps them get the memo. If you're squeamish about touching food, you can also use a plastic baby spoon or something. Kitten Lady has some great articles on this and other stuff: Weaning — Kitten Lady

And don't worry, they'll keep snuggling up to momma and suckling for a good long while. My kittens are over 4 months old now, and they still suckle a little bit, and otherwise just snuggle up to momma and get a bath from her.

 

[Sarthur2]

Your little female runt will transition when she’s ready. The little ones sometimes need an extra week or so. Try not to rush her.

 

[KTB&kittens]

Your little female runt will transition when she’s ready. The little ones sometimes need an extra week or so. Try not to rush her.

I'm so happy to be able to have all four kittens celebrating their 7 week birthdays today, all of them are thriving and are more or less weaned, I've noticed that most of the time they go to mum's boobs! There not even suckling they just seem to find it comforting, I've just had mum and the kids wormed, and the vet gave me liquid form, mummy cat had 1 single dose, and the kids had to have thiers spread over 3 days, none of them was impressed with the taste of it bless them, but all the kittens are beautiful little maniacs!!!! But to me that shows they're healthy mischievous happy little chappies. Xx

 

[KTB&kittens]

My cat's been through the mill with her first and last pregnancy and motherhood, but she's 7 weeks in and I couldn't be more proud of the amazing mummy she is, but for the past 2 weeks she's been having bouts of diarrhea, the vet said her and the babies needed worming,so I did that not last Friday but the Friday before (15th) September. I do give her the treats that she loves, but they never caused her to have diarrhea before motherhood, . I'm wondering if it's because she's still choosing to eat kitten food rather than her own food, and now she's hardly breastfeeding maybe that could be it. Has anyone got any maybe a reason explanation or suggestions or remedies I could try. Xx

This is my beautiful little cat daughter and cat grandkittens, there's the biggest of the litter little Mr ginger, Teddy, then there's mum's little look alike and the smallest of the litter, Nala, then there's little miss pretty, Tinkerbell and las but not least there's little gizmo, all of them are amazing little bundles of cuteness, and the beautiful cat who brought these four little fur balls into the world is my beautiful Tillie xxx

 

[Sarthur2]

Thank you for this lovely update. I hope everyone continues to thrive! We’re here if you need us!

 

[KTB&kittens]

This may help!

Thank you for this lovely update. I hope everyone continues to thrive! We’re here if you need us!

My mummy cat Tillie has been having diarrhea on and off for the past two weeks, her and the kittens had oral worming treatment just over a week ago, as the vet put her diarrhea down to needing to be wormed, I worm her and de flea her every 3 month and she's never had diarrhea because of worms in the past, but they all needed doing anyway. But she's still got diarrhea, she's eating but it seems to be going straight through her, I'm starting to get worried now xx

 

[Sarthur2]

I would call your vet and ask about an antibiotic. She may have a bacterial intestinal infection that needs treating. In the meantime, add a sprinkle of a probiotic like Forti Flora into her wet food. It may help her gut a little.

Let us know what the vet says!

KTB&kittens