Newbie Here - Question About Spayed Nursing

Hello Everyone!

I'm a new member here and have a question regarding a cat that I just had spayed. But 1st - a little about me and my kitties.

I have been owned by cats since the age of 9. I retired about 3 years ago and moved to a hobby farm in the country. I had 6 kitties when I moved here, but am now up to 15. It seems city folk think it's ok to abandon cats/kittens around our place because we have a farm and it's 'country' and we can surely take care of them. Luckily they are correct THIS TIME. I take in any/all cats that show up around my place - no one gets turned away. I am on a first name basis with the local vet - who is wonderful, may I add.

Now for my question re: the spayed cat: She - Cinders, is 22 mos old and had a litter of 4 kittens ten months ago. I have been searching high & low for assistance in getting discounted spay/neuter certificates for Cinders and her 4 kits, but wasn't having any luck. Just as I had a line on some help - Cinders went into heat - uh, oh.

Jump ahead ----

Cinders was apparently, slightly pregnant when she was spayed and after a couple days in isolation/post-op, she has been nursing her 10 old kittens! Huh?

Could she actually be giving milk if she was only 10 days pregnant when she was spayed? Is there any harm in allowing her to nurse her grown kittens?

She might have milk. You never know how these things work out. Or she might just be allowing them to nurse because she's feeling maternal. I found a pregnant stray and kept her youngest son, and she allowed him to nurse for almost a year, even after she was spayed and he was neutered. He's twice her size, so it was really funny to see, LOL.

Anyway, it shouldn't hurt her any. If you notice her nipples are getting sore, you might want to try to do something about it, but I don't think she'd allow that. She'll cut them off when it's the right time for her.

Thanks Willowy - I feel really bad about Cinders being pregnant already by the time I got her to the spay clinic, but I just can't keep letting them have more & more kittens....especially since I'm sure more kitties will show up this spring.

We finally got some nice weather and Cinders seems more interested in going out to explore now than nursing her grown kits. Whew!