Will my nursing cat accept a stray kitten?

Question

My cat had kittens 3 weeks ago. She had 4 and 2 died. The two that are remaining are doing wonderfully. A friend I work with said that she found a stray about the same age as my kittens with no mommy. I have read and heard that a nursing cat will take in a kitten that is not their own and feed it. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Answer 1

The best thing for the kitten is to give it a try! Kits learn a lot from mama cats and litter mates -- so there is more to it than just being fed.

Here is a trick. I'm guessing you have some type of cloth material in the little kits nest. Take that fabric and rub it all over the new kitten. Better yet, take it with you when you go to get the new kitten and have him wrapped in it while you bring him home. Then, sneak the kit in when mama isn't looking. She'll be a bit perplexed, but will most likely take to the new kit as though it were her own.

How the kit smells is the most important factor in this equation!

Answer 2

She will.
But first, I'd advise you to wait until she leaves the kittens (Mum cats will leave them for a while if they need to go to the loo or just stretch their legs) and stroke all the kittens there then rub their scent on the new one. Then stroke the new one and add any remaining strange scent to the kittens.
Then leave the new kitten with the other 2. Don't wash your hands; and when Mum comes back, let her smell your hands before rubbing her too.
Monitor her carefully. She probably will snarl and growl at the new scent but not know where it's coming from.
Usually Mum Cats are so loving, they'll even accept a baby rabbit or hamster to nurse ... the hormones are that strong!
But do the scent thing just to be sure.
This will gross you out, but when my cat Pippin had her kittens, my older, spayed cat Munya (biologically unrelated) tried to help by bringing Pippin a kill. It was a very large dead mouse. Pippin, who was a prolific hunter herself, acted very maternal towards this gift and I had to remove it before there was too much emotional damage done.
I say go for it, but monitor closely.
Not all cats react the same.
Oh, and yes, Mum Cats are the terrors of the cat world when it comes to defending their young, but the threat has to be adult sized. They don't attack kittens. Only some feral males do that.

Answer 3

Sometimes they will -- TIME is of the essence -- bring that kitten to the other mama cat (is the kitten healthy right now? If not, take it to the Vet At Once)

That kitten needs to drink the colostrum rich milk from a mama cat ASAP so it gets all its antibodies while it is still young.

If the mama cat does NOT accept the kitten, you will have the responsibility of properly feeding it. Check with the Vet to make sure you konw exactly what to do.

Please spay your cat and the kittens at the right time-- there are to many orphan kittens and too many cats dogs, pupies and kittens being killed at shelters because of the huge Pet Overpopulation Problem in this country.

Best of luck with this.

Answer 4

A lot of people will say maybe... but here is the trick.... take some vaselene or vicks and put just a little on the end of mom's nose. Then rub the stray kitten on mom's body and then place the stray at the bottom of the kitten "pile". mom won't even know that tere is an extra one and the stray will become one of the happy family. No worries!

Answer 5

Sometimes the mom will just outright accept one as no big deal, but then there is the one you'll have to convince that it is hers. Once the kitten gets the mothers smell on it, then she will automatically accept it. Since she lost two, she might just accept it as a good substitute for her lost ones. All you can do is try. When the kittens are already nursing, just put the new one in, all the while petting the mom so she isn't nervous. Good luck!

Answer 6

not personally but my friend has & it has to be done carefully.
as i doubt you've kept the ones that died?
take the kittens, all of them together & your best bet is to try to make the new kitten smell like the 2 surviving ones.
or take the bedding she's nursing on, if you can get away with removing it for a while & rub that over the kitten too?

how you'll manage it or if it will work is worth a try, i think
good luck & i hope it works.

Answer 7

Its possible sometimes but be very careful. The best way to introduce a new kitten is to make IT smell like the ones already there, you can do this by rubbing or wrapping the new kitten with some bedding that your cats/kittens have been lying on already to disguise its smell.

good luck !!.

Answer 8

It may do But before you put the new kitten in with the others make sure that the new kitten is put in with the old ones and gets their scent on it without mummy kitten being there

Answer 9

My MALE cat has put up with a little kitten suckling from him. The little kitten obviously missed her real mummy. So it is well worth trying to get your female cat to accept a strange kitten.

Answer 10

she probably will, my two cats both had kittens in the same large box. one cat got out for drink and bathroom. her babies cryed as she left. the other mama cat got upset by the crying so moved over to the other babies, now she has seven crying babies so she moved them all together and settled in with the whole bunch. when the other mama came back to the box , she looked all aroung and sniffed them all and just settled down on the other side of the group. when the babies' eyes opened they didnt know who was their real mama. one big, big happy family.
our nursing dog once accepted baby orphaned foxes. the maternal instinct is very strong at that time.