Help with pregnant stray

Here are the promised pictures of the litter.

Cute little greaser guy with his hair slicked back. I will name him "Greaser:"


Utter Chaos:


I had 10 kittens today, and boy are my eyelids heavy!:


There are a couple runts, so send good vibes towards them. I tried picking them all up so that they can get used to human contact, however, each kitten would freak out, and then momma would freak out, and then I would freak out. So instead, I just pet them near their eyes, ears and noses.

Momma cat was licking each one I held vigorously after I put them back down, so clearly my scent was not pleasant to her. Now, if the two I am worried about survive the night, we will be able to start giving them proper names. I might buy a scale after work tomorrow to see which ones need the most attention. I will also buy kitten formula just in case she runs out of milk.

Thanks a million guys. I am interested in making a donation to the people who run this website, or some other kitten related cause because without you guys, I think this cat might have been on her own. Who do I talk to about that? I would pledge a small amount like $100.00, but its something!

One more picture for posterity.

Lining up for food:

Utter Chaos! What a perfect title to the picture and really makes you wonder if that's where the phrase came from

I'm sorry one didnt make it, but glad the other 9 are holding their own, and sending vibes that the wee(est) ones make it through the night!

If the mom wont keep them separated, maybe you can try to make sure the littlest are getting some nipple-time. With having so many look alike, you can take a toxic-free marker and color under their armpits so you can tell them apart, or [what I like to do] paint their toenails.

Thanks for the pictures! They are adorable.

PS - dad was a Tabby

Checked in on them and they were all doing fine. The runty one looked like he grew to be nearly the same size as the others...or perhaps his fur was slicked back before or something. Anyways, he seemed to be doing fine as did all the others and momma cat is still very protective. She started flipping out when I was separating them to do a head count. When I get back from work, I will take and post more pictures.

Yay! Congratulations!

Since there are so many kittens, should I be supplementing their diet with kitten formula? Can the mom run out of milk? It doesn't look like she has eaten that much food since giving birth.

I keep hearing from people - even my aunt who works at a vets office "9 Kittens??? Wow I have never heard of that many in one litter!!!"

I will just have to work twice as hard at getting them good homes. My aunt also said it shouldn't be too difficult because:

1. Kittens here don't start in huge numbers until the summer. These will be early so there will be less supply of kittens.

2. Everyone loves kittens.

That is a HUGE relief for me. Unfortunately, summer is when I usually work 80-90 hours a week, but I will do whatever it takes to get these kittens adopted . I am still anxious about finding them good homes, but I feel much better now. I will buy a scale and start giving the smaller ones some formula tomorrow to make sure they are gaining weight, although they all look bigger today already. The one who is a runt pushed what I thought was the alpha straight off his/her mother's nipple.

Anyways, enough words. Everyone likes pictures. Here they are:

Two for the money:


Flat face:


Tabby:


Runt: (strong for a runt!)


On more thing - we did touch them a good deal today, but none of them liked it very much. They are so cute when they squirm. Momma cat is much more chill about letting us hold them today. She is such a good momma cat, I am so proud of her!

They are adorable!!! Runt is my favorite - he looks so silky soft!!!

On occasion nursing cats can get sick from nursing but for the most part it is from undernourishment. As long as she is allowed to free-feed and you are giving her high calorie food (kitten food) I think she will take in what she needs. But it couldnt hurt to offer her a can of wet food a day or even supplement her diet with KMR (kitten milk).

I'm glad the little guys are pushing back and getting their fair share of milk. I think you will find it helpful once you have a scale to keep track of their weights and confirm they are getting the nutrition they need. As long as they are gaining you probably wont have to supplement, but if they take to a bottle or eye dropper, it wont hurt. Of course, as with humans, they get antibodies from their mother's milk so I wouldnt supplement them too much as long as they are nursing fine and gaining weight each day.

Thanks for sharing again! They are definitely cuties!!!

I have found that kittens really like to be supported and cuddled when held. I hold mine against my chest or either in my hands with both hands. Usually they will scream for a little bit and then calm down. Those babies are adorable good luck with them!

Wow, bet you weren't expecting to have 10 cats in your spare room.

I was sorry to see that one didn't make it.
I hope the others (and momma cat) remain healthy.

Kittens do grow very quickly, so if they look bigger to you from one day to the next- the probably are!

Very cute kittens, BTW. I like Runt.

Thanks yet again for the advice. All kittens are still alive and none of them seem like the odd kitten out. They are very assertive about getting to their mother's milk.

Marianjela, did you mean feed the momma cat the kitten formula I bought or feed the kittens? Also, I have some wet cat food for her. Someone at work was telling me not to feed the kittens the formula yet because they need their mothers milk and she might stop feeding them. So far, she just lays there and all they do is feed off of her or sleep or mew when she gets up to go to the bathroom or eat.

Feed the mom kitten food as it is higher in calories than regular cat food. This doesnt mean you have to stop feeding her food you already bought, but when it's time to get new food, you might want to consider it. She could use the extra nutrition feeding all those babes.

And I think you're friend is right about feeding the kittens KMR, as long as they are nursing well and gaining, I wouldnt interfere. Not so much to prevent the mom from stop nursing, but so that the kittens arent too full and dont nurse on mom's milk.

The kittens are so adorable! The largest litter any of my fosters ever had was 8. What a handful you have there!!

Ahh ok, I gave her 2 cans of wet cat food for the first time yesterday and she devoured it as though it was her last meal. I have never seen her eat like that.

I have noticed that she seems to get diarrhea when I feed her kitten food or the wet cat food, but she always goes in her litter box so its no big deal. Once we get the first couple weeks out of the way, I will take her to the vet to get a fecal exam and see if she has any other issues.

The runt clawed the hell out of my neck today...these kittens are stronger than I would have thought and their claws...well they are born with claws that are sharp. Guess I better get used to getting scratched up...

If you have a little patience (well a lot considering you have 9 kittens) you can clip their nails. Just use regular nail clippers but be careful not to cut too far or below the vein in their nail. I would probably wait until they are older though. They probably will whine when you do it and the mom will get concerned, so I usually distract mom with food, then cut. But I dont start to cut my fosters' nails until they are moving around and playing.

Anyway I'm glad to hear they are all doing well. Cant wait to watch them grow!

Its ok, I don't mind being scratched up. I play pretty rough with my adult male cat and usually have scratches on my arm and hands. Momma cat is still doing a better job than I could have possibly imagined.

Just an update on these kittens. They are all still doing well and getting bigger. Momma cat is still doing her thing, just chilling in the box and letting them feed. She goes crazy for wet cat food.

I think I might have to get a bigger box soon if these guys keep growing at this rate. A couple of them have one eye open and one has both eyes open, but I do not think they can see yet. I will post some pictures later today. They are starting to get VERY cute, even though their eyes are not open yet.

Hello, update on these kittens. All 9 remaining are still alive and they have all opened their eyes. They are definitely past the "rat" stage and into the "cute" stage.

They are still pretty tiny compared to the pictures I have seen on this message board of similarly aged cats, but I guess that is to be expected. All of them are bigger than they were at birth.

There is one that is smaller than the rest and he/she is the only one without a pot belly. I am pretty sure it was the surviving runt. I split him and a couple of other small ones from the pack so momma can nurse him, but I have a feeling she will just put them back into the box. I might try feeding him the kitten milk we bought, but he is pretty feisty when I pick him up.

Is it normal for them to still be pretty wobbly at 2 weeks? Also, I have yet to see any poop in the sleeping box but momma cat does lick them a lot. Is this normal?

Yes it's normal for them to still be wobbly. They will actually be walking at about 3.5 weeks old. Momma cat still stimulates them to poo/pee and eats it all and keeps it clean. When they are about 4-6 weeks old they will start using the litter box. Good luck with the little runt others will give you more help in feeding him. When my runt was 3 weeks old he learned to eat from a saucer he never accepted a bottle from me. He grew to be the biggest of the litter.

Thank you for your quick reply. The runt is extremely cute. Separating them didn't work because I only have one box right now, and the kittens got all scattered, so I just put them back into the box with the others. I will just hope he makes it to the solid food stage...he is pretty feisty when I pick him up.

I am really surprised at how strong the kittens are even at two weeks old. They do not like being held very much, it actually takes a bit of effort to contain them when they start flailing.

The worried look they get in their eyes and their furrowed brow is pretty cute, even if they are a bit distressed when I pick them up...

I will post pictures on Friday.