Mommy cat too sore to nurse!

Hi everyone,

I took in a pregnant stray two weeks ago and she gave birth to a beautiful healthy litter of 6 kittens 2 days later!

She was doing great, and the kittens are thriving...they have nearly tripled their size and weight in less than 2 weeks!

But for the past few days, she has been reluctant to nurse. She is clearly sore...I have held her in place so the kittens could nurse, but I feel bad. I tried supplementing them with formula but they won't take the bottle.

She is feeding them voluntarily now but I'm not sure if all of them are eating, because she won't stay there as long as she used to.

How often do they need to eat? What signs should I look for to make sure they are getting enough food?

Thanks...

She shouldn't be that sore now. Has she seen a vet for this? As the kittens age she will take more breaks away from them, as they dont need her as much as they did first weeks.
Try to get a kitchen scale to weigh them and make sure they dont lose any weight. I am using an oral syringe to feed the newest kitten-she was week other day but now nurses and sucks the plunger right down.

Welcome to the Forums, Grimresa!



I second everything Catsallaround wrote.

Adding: if you ARE more or less sure the mom is sore, contact a vet. Begin with a phone at least.


Good luck!

She shouldn't be sore at this point---they don't have teeth yet, and it's a big concern because they're too young to supplement with solids. I'd be afraid of mastitis. Definitely call the vet, if she does have mastitis she'll need to get the proper meds so she can continue feeding her babies.