weaning..

forever_urs8019

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alrighty.. my kits are now a little over 10 weeks old..

and are VERY BIG. lol. you can tell we love our cats.

but yes.. to the point.. i gave one of my kittens away to my best friend at 6 weeks.. she was potty trained and seemed to be alright.. and she did great at her new home
and the stange thing about our kits.. at the time i was putting soggy kitten food down for the kits to eat.. to "wean" well when my friend did that for hers.. it wouldnt eat.. then her mom got the bright idea to just give her hard food.. and the kit LOVED IT.. so i did that with the rest of mine.. and they started to eat the hard food.. but they stayed on momma.. well my friend brung the kitten back over so i could see it while she was on her way to the vets.. and hers and mine were laying together... and u could tell a difference in size.. i mean, MAJOR difference


we think that this is because of mommas milk.. which i am fine with.. i love big cats.. they are adorable.. but now that they are so old.. im worried if they should still be suckling from momma.. and she at first about 3 days ago started to hiss at them... and get up whenever they came to get some food.. but now... she just takes it.. and im just worried about her health and the kits... she seems content with them sucking.. purring and all that...

do i have anything to worry about?
 

xxtashaxx

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na mine was still suckling from there mum at 14 weeks , but it was only once a day or so. when are you getting her spayed?
 
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forever_urs8019

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feb. our vet will be having discounts that month. and if they wont fix my kittens.. then im going to have to go somewhere else that will, cause i have 2 boys and 3 girls.. and the sooner the better with the boys..cant have any spraying.
 

xxtashaxx

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about a week or so before she goes to be spayed maybe make it 2 weeks , someone suggested in another post about butting a sock around her stomach a big one lol cut the end off and pull it over her if that makes any sence? the kittens will not be able to suckle. or you can keep them in sepret rooms , dosnt take to long to dry up once they stop nursing. otherwise when she comes home from being spayed they will still try and suckle which may cause her stitchs to open up.
 
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forever_urs8019

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hm.. never thought about that.. that should be a good one for picture taking..
and i have another question.. does it hurt the cats to put a little bit of duck tape on their paws.. i dont know if anyone has ever done it.. but if u havent.. its pretty funny.. but yea.. im just making sure that it doesnt hurt them because my 6 year old little brother likes to do it when im not watching.
 

xxtashaxx

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probley very unplesent for the poor cat and may hurt her when it comes of as it will pull her fur. is there anyway you can put the duct tape where he can not get to it , or have you tried speaking to him and tell him that it does hurt the kitty and it isnt very nice? otherwise he could grow up thinking its ok to hurt animals.
 
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forever_urs8019

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yea... i just found out today he had been doing it.. so he got a nice little lecture on how things work with the cats.. he can harrass them to hell and back.. and they will still cuddle and sleep with him.. its pretty crazy.
 

jen

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It sounds like everything is fine, the kittens should be with mom until 12 weeks anyways and during that time, she will wean them herself. There should have always been dry kitten food out for the mom since the second you found out she was prego until the kittens are rehomed or fully weaned. They can still snack on her until 10-12 weeks if they feel like it. When she gets sick of them she will push them away. You can even give her time away from them like in the rest of the house while the kittens are off in whatever room you are containing them in. But keep the kittens with her for at least 2 more weeks so they can learn all the important things they need to learn from her so they grow up well mannered and don't have behavioral issues later on in life.

good luck!
 

jen

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Originally Posted by forever_urs8019

we think that this is because of mommas milk.. which i am fine with.. i love big cats..
I missed this part but I wanted to say that this is how the kittens should be because they weren't seperated from their mother too early like the little 6 week old. She is the one I would be worried about not being properly socialized and taught by the mother and maybe underdeveloped because she left too early. She should still have been nursing at that age and even if she was eating solids, the option to suckle should still have been there. Plus she missed the really critical 8-12 week period where she learns how to be a cat from mom.
 

kluchetta

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Originally Posted by Jen

I missed this part but I wanted to say that this is how the kittens should be because they weren't seperated from their mother too early like the little 6 week old. She is the one I would be worried about not being properly socialized and taught by the mother and maybe underdeveloped because she left too early. She should still have been nursing at that age and even if she was eating solids, the option to suckle should still have been there. Plus she missed the really critical 8-12 week period where she learns how to be a cat from mom.
Yes, unfortunately that kitten could have some behavior issues from being separated from momma too early.

Speaking of getting momma spayed, make SURE to keep her inside - preferably in an interior room with a door - as she can get pregnant any time now! And it would just be way too hard on her health to keep having litters like that.
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by forever_urs8019

alrighty.. my kits are now a little over 10 weeks old..

and are VERY BIG. lol. you can tell we love our cats.

but yes.. to the point.. i gave one of my kittens away to my best friend at 6 weeks.. she was potty trained and seemed to be alright.. and she did great at her new home
I first want to address this point of having kittens go into their new homes prior to the 10-12 weeks that we advocate. At 6 weeks, a kitten may be eating and have learned to use the litterbox...but we do recommend additional time with mom and siblings to ensure that the kittens are as healthy and socialized as possible. Does she have another cat or kitten as a playmate?? That may help with her being seperated from her family.

I am glad the other ones are still with you and are all doing well. Yes, it is fine for the kittens to continue to nurse on mom...but now is also the time to get mom to the vet to be spayed. Make sure that she is currently kept secured in a room at all times until she is spayed to avoid her accidentally getting out and getting pregnant again.

Katie
 

crazyforinfo

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Molly nursed for a year. The vet told us she would stop on her own and then we can get her fixed. Spunky is short but very full. I never heard of a mom nursing that long and have no idea when they should stop.
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by crazyforinfo

Molly nursed for a year. The vet told us she would stop on her own and then we can get her fixed. Spunky is short but very full. I never heard of a mom nursing that long and have no idea when they should stop.
Is Molly fixed now?

Katie
 

abymummy

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Originally Posted by crazyforinfo

Molly nursed for a year. The vet told us she would stop on her own and then we can get her fixed. Spunky is short but very full. I never heard of a mom nursing that long and have no idea when they should stop.
If my Reecie would let it happen, her daughter Dodo would still want to nurse from her even after she was fully, fully weaned! Dodo's 1 yr old now...!
 
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