Hi my cat Kissy gave birth to alitter of 3 kittens yesterday. Everything was fine and jolly and today someone who is buying a kitten visited. Then we let Kissy out of the room while people looked at the kitten. When everyone left we put Kissy back with her kittens but Kissy would not nurse them. Infact,she is ignoring them!!! What can we do to make her start nursing and caring for her babies again?
2007-03-13 11:41:20 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
Hi sorry promlem sloved but i cam not close for another hour. I just got her to lie down and then carried the kittens to her. She is suckling them now and they have her smell.
2007-03-13 12:14:41 · update #1
First off, leave her alone. Too much tampering too early on can tick of a mother, exspecially when other people who don't live there are up close and personal with the kittens.
Put her in the room, and leave her be. Hopefully she's just being wary.
When the kittens start calling her because they're cold or hungry, she should go to them.
See if you can rig a way to spy on her without being in the room and without leaving the door open. If you can't then peak in in a few hours.
But for right now, give her some space and don't interupt her much for the next 3-4 weeks. You may drive her to over stress, and she'll start carrying the kittens around looking for a new hiding place.
Read over this resolved question...
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aqc_0HfilqCF0x5vVYP9N2vK7BR.?qid=20070311233420AAn8w9y
2007-03-13 11:50:02 · answer #1 · answered by mandelyn_82 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First off in the future dont let anyone in the room with out her there. She loves those kittens so much. Make sure from now on that she is always there to watch over. Um make her lay down and place the kittens on her or you can put some peanut butter on their heads. This will make her lick them getting them to smell like her not the persons hands. Try to keep your hands away from them as much as possible. If space allows just lock them up in a room by themselves. If you have another cat in the house make sure she is not in contact with the mother cat. If they are in contact then you might get a fight. The mother still has many hormones and she can nice one moment and mean the other. But all in all just try to force the mother to nurse them. If all else fails then go to petsmart and get KMR this is powder milk that is used when either the mother dies or something like this happens. I would not wait for more that 5 hours from when they last had food. I would buy the KMR stuff as soon as possible just because sometimes the runt of the litter needs some extra milk and such. If the KMR does not work go see a vet. The main thing is not to use a lot of contact until you are sure the mother is not going to feed them herself. Then you have to feed them by hand which can be tiresome. Good luck with them. They will be in my prayers
2007-03-13 18:57:15 · answer #2 · answered by Cat Lover 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was really to early to introduce a stranger into your home to look at kittens. She may have rejected them as they don't smell like a smell she is used too.
It would be ok if you or someone else the cat was familiar with picked up the kittens because she knows and trusts you but not a stranger.
Anyway you will need to go to the pet store or vet and get some kitten milk and some teats and feed the kittens every 2-4 hours. They should not be crying and if they are they are hungry. Di-vetalact or Wombaroo replacement milk is good.
You will need to toilet them as well as the mother cat usually does this. But if she is abandoning them then you will have to do it or kittens will die. All you need to do is everytime after they eat/drink get a damp cotton wool and simulate a mother licking the genital area and the kitten should go to the toilet. You will need to do this a few time throughout the day until they start going on there own, (around 3-4 weeks.)
Around the ages of 4-5 weeks start leaving some kitten tin food around near them and let them play in it and walk in it and eventually they will start to wean themselves that way. You will still need to give them bottles at that age though.
When you are home to supervise the kittens make up some kitten formula in a bowl and allow them to learn how to lap the milk. Once they have the grasp of that you can start to reduce the bottles and let them just drink the milk. (always special formulated milk not cows milk). Then once that has finished you just start to reduce it so it is just water.
The reason why i say to wait until your around to teach them how to lap is they could drown in it so be careful.
They should be completly weaned at 6 weeks.
You could also try and move the mother cat now and see if she feels more comfortable in a quiet and more safer area.
But it sounds as though you wil need to substitute feed the kittens
Good luck
2007-03-13 19:02:46 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I"m assuming first time mom. she could be confused. be ready for the option of doing it yourself in the end if it doesn't work. Need feline milk re-placer and little bottles. If you are the mom, you'll need to be available every two hours or so for a while to do all the "Mom" things.
but, that said, first you let new people in her place. disturbed her. She may not be sure if she's supposed to go back. Putting her in a small quieter area alone with babies, where she has food (kitten food), water, (lots of that), a litter box, and room to get away from the kittens. if she can't get away, they will almost nurse 24/7!
don't' bring in other people and "kick" her outta the nest. Give her time to bond. their crying should motivate her mothering instinct. Try petting her, and getting her to lay still and let the kittens nurse. Make sure that they all have her scent on them too. not strange peoples smell.
Nothing replaces mothers milk, and nursing time. so the last resort will be formula and you.
Mother nature may just take over. Its early yet to get too worried. But have your back up plan. if you don't need to bottle feed the kittens, don't worry, you can use the milk formula when you wean them. Good stuff and great investment durring baby season.
2007-03-13 18:55:36 · answer #4 · answered by almondsarenuts 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Bad idea to let people in, I am not trying to be mean here but you are obviously not a breeder, your cat should be spayed. Did they touch the kittens?, have you handled or touched the kittens?, they might have "human stink" in them and your cat probably doesn't recognize them anymore, she will not feed them anymore. Start rubbing your cat's scent on them again with cloths, do not let anybody in anymore, don't touch the kittens , don't force the cat close to the kittens.
You should call your vet and ask for advice , get the equipment necessary to raise the kittens yourself if needed be. It's better to be prepared.
You should not be breeding your animal , especially if you don't understand what breeding requires.
2007-03-13 19:04:33 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
you should have not let anybody go near them for at least a couple of days there is a strong possibility that she will not nurse them again because strangers have been touching them and they have there smell on them you might have to nurse them go to your vet and ask for some advice on how to look after new born kittens
2007-03-13 18:54:48 · answer #6 · answered by nicola s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You may not be able to, you are better off going to a pet store and getting some formula.
2007-03-13 18:45:01 · answer #7 · answered by piggylover_850 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well if she is not feeding them then give them regular milk and soft cat food.
2007-03-13 18:45:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
she might not nurse them again if she doesnt the kittens will problay die
2007-03-13 18:48:52 · answer #9 · answered by mo mo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
go to www.peteducation.com. they have alot of useful information.
2007-03-13 18:44:34 · answer #10 · answered by stupidgirll74 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋