Urgent! Please help!

lorindaleigh

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Tigra keeps seperating two biggest kittens and moving them to a different location. I'm not sure what to do. I have picked them up and put them with the two little kittens 3 times now. This is after leaving her alone for an hour and hoping that she was moving all of them. I'm not sure what to do. Of course she starts doing this as soon as I want to go to bed. Please help!
 
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lorindaleigh

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I dont know if I did the riht thing but I moved all the kittens into one central and neutral location. She layed down right away and started nursing all of them. I am petting her and she is nursing them all right now. When she is done my plan is to get up step back and watch or wait until someone helps lol.

Thanks!

Wanted to add:

The 2 small ones were having a hard time getting food, I moved the 2 biggers ones to the outside and put the little ones in the middle. As soon as I did that they were all able to nurse at once.
 
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lorindaleigh

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I'm worried that she's not producing enough milk. The two that she did NOT move ate twice as long as the two that she moved. The two that she moved ate and quickly fell asleep. The two little ones are still eating. It's been at least 20 minutes. I did notice some fighting over nipples. There's only 4 kittens though and I counted at least 6 nipples (she has long hair and I didn't want to distrub the babies just to count her nipples. Right now I'm feeding her Purina One with a can of cat food once a day, as well as human food treats (chicken, sandwich meat basically whatever I am eating that is meat she will beg for). Tomorrow I'm going to pick up some kitten food for her. Is there anything else that I can do to encourage an increase of milk production?
 
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lorindaleigh

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She went ahead and moved the two big ones again. She keeps stuffing them under my recliner chair. I took them out again and put them back with the two smaller kittens. I also made all the other pets leave my bedroom. She's laying down and nursing them again. So we'll see what happens. What a night!
 

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Some calcium source is never wrong for lactacing moms.. Does she eats milk products? cheese, yoghurt? If you have access to goat milk, is is not wrong.

You perhaps find something yourself too. People usually do.   :)

Your plans sounds good, and if it even works so hurray!

When she did moved them apart.  Was she nursing and taking care of both pairs, or did she essentially abandoned one of them?

*vibes*
 
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lorindaleigh

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Some calcium source is never wrong for lactacing moms.. Does she eats milk products? cheese, yoghurt? If you have access to goat milk, is is not wrong.

You perhaps find something yourself too. People usually do.   :)

Your plans sounds good, and if it even works so hurray!

When she did moved them apart.  Was she nursing and taking care of both pairs, or did she essentially abandoned one of them?

*vibes*

I actually only waited an hour before putting the kittens back together. So I'm not sure if she would have maybe feed one group and not the other.
 

orientalslave

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Mum needs to eat as much as she wants, and human food isn't idea as it's not balanced for cats.  If you aren't weighing the kittens start to do so.  Use electronic kitchen scales that weigh to 1 gramme, or 1/10 ounce.  Weigh them at the same time each day.  If they are gaining weight all is well however it looks.
 

kittytan

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I dont know if I did the riht thing but I moved all the kittens into one central and neutral location. She layed down right away and started nursing all of them. I am petting her and she is nursing them all right now. When she is done my plan is to get up step back and watch or wait until someone helps lol.

Thanks!

Wanted to add:

The 2 small ones were having a hard time getting food, I moved the 2 biggers ones to the outside and put the little ones in the middle. As soon as I did that they were all able to nurse at once.

It might be quite dangerous as i heard that the female cat is very protective over her kitten in their basic instinct and they dont like their kittens to be  touched by others as the kittens had a ''smell'' that they recognise. Any other smell, they might hurt their own child. Dont know if its true or not
 

StefanZ

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It might be quite dangerous as i heard that the female cat is very protective over her kitten in their basic instinct and they dont like their kittens to be  touched by others as the kittens had a ''smell'' that they recognise. Any other smell, they might hurt their own child. Dont know if its true or not

Nay, it is more or less a myth. It may be true for wild animals, but it is not to be true for home cats.

Even semiferales taken in as high preg, usually do accept fosterers handling the kittens without protests. As long as the fosterer does it respecfully and carefully.  Astonishing, but many rescuers did witnessed about it. 

We had even one case described a semiferal, free living mom, she accepted back her sick abandoned kitten after a whole week, when a human rescuer treated the kitten back to health.   surely not the most usual - but it DID happened...

But the saying may be true for other, wild animals, like deers or rabbits.  Both do often leave their child alone waiting in grass for mom to come back when the dark comes.

There is the recommendation not to touch them unless you know what you are doing.
 
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lorindaleigh

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I am exhausted! She decided that she is only going to nurse ONE of the kittens. I have to lay down with her and pet her, only then will she nurse all of them. The kittens seem to push and shove, fighting over nipples. Is that normal?

I just wanted to clarify that human food is not her diet. She gets human food as a treat. I know its a bad habit but it started when I noticed that she was pregnant. I would allow her to have a piece whatever kind of meat I was eating. She doesn't like traditional cat treats, never has.
 

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. The kittens seem to push and shove, fighting over nipples. Is that normal?

I just wanted to clarify that human food is not her diet. She gets human food as a treat. I know its a bad habit but it started when I noticed that she was pregnant. I would allow her to have a piece whatever kind of meat I was eating. She doesn't like traditional cat treats, never has.
Yes, that is pretty normal.  The same question was recently in the parallell tread, this of Brinnan about Deafie...

You are three or four simultaneously at this moment. Use each others experience!   :)

Nay, such giving treats of human food, and esp if it is meats, is entirely OK and also nourishing.

The Food and Drug adminstration does approve, I me sure.

Good you are there keeping eyes open - and doing what is necessary to do.

*vibes*
 
 
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lorindaleigh

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I finally got some sleep. I woke up and she was feeding one of the kittens separately. I wathed and she then went back and nursed the rest. Why is she doing this?
 

levi68

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Where are the kittens right now? In a room by themselves? Often new moms will do this when they feel their kittens are not safe . Block off where she's attempting to move them and hope she gets over it.

Make sure you are weighing the kittens twice a day to monitor if they are gaining. 
 

brinnan

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My two little ones have a hard time nursing, too. The four big ones scratch each other like crazy (looks like 10 year old siblings in the back of a car), and they knock the other two off the nipples a lot. Also, the mom likes to nurse mainly when I am petting her. Still, the kittens are gaining weight, so I am trying not to worry. Cats know what to do!

I have been feeding my mama dry and canned kitten food leading up to birth, and since then I've just about tripled the amount of canned food. She expects me to hold the plate for her sometimes, too. She's getting spoiled! Anyway, today I fixed a bottle of formula because I was going to try to bottle feed one of my little ones. I chickened out/couldn't get him interested, so I let the mama sniff it. She went crazy for it. So I made her a big bowl of KMR, which she eagerly lapped down. I had been sprinkling it in her food, but I hadn't prepared it like formula before. It might seem a bit strange to feed a mother the milk replacer as a liquid, but I figure it will help her, and it seems recommended from what I've read. But boy does she use the litter box a lot since eating so much!

I have also given up on moving her kittens. She knows where she wants them, even if it seems dangerous. They stand a better chance with her mothering, even if I am scared she will suffocate one. Mothers know best, I guess!
 

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I've used lots of blankets with all of my litters and never had one smothered. Kittens will get out from under or scream bloody murder til mom moves.

I disagree that Mama cats know best. Sometimes..they clearly do not. Will the kittens survive...of course. Thousands and thousands of barn cats

prove that even under the poorest conditions...they can survive. :)
 

brinnan

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I've used lots of blankets with all of my litters and never had one smothered. Kittens will get out from under or scream bloody murder til mom moves.

I disagree that Mama cats know best. Sometimes..they clearly do not. Will the kittens survive...of course. Thousands and thousands of barn cats

prove that even under the poorest conditions...they can survive. :)

Mother knows better than me!

And in my case, the mom is basically deaf, so she doesn't hear the mewing. She is starting to regain a tiny bit of hearing, so I'm hoping within a few days she'll be able to at least hear when they are doing the "mommy I'm lost" mew.
 

levi68

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^^^ good point Brinnan. I forgot she's deaf. I think hearing the sound sets of that instinctual "omg" my kitten needs me. Better to be overly cautious with a deaf mom. Glad to hear her ears are improving.
 

StefanZ

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It might seem a bit strange to feed a mother the milk replacer as a liquid, but I figure it will help her, and it seems recommended from what I've read. But boy does she use the litter box a lot since eating so much!
It is normal "short sausage" poo  or it is diarrhea?

If they eat more, there will be more poo. But do you perhaps mean she got very rare poo because of this KMR?    If so, and that kmr gives runny poo - better stop with that. Or at least - try with some different brand, or different solution. Pulver instead of ready maid perhaps.

As I understand it, nobody had yet complained on goat milk. Theoretically not good, but practically works just fine!
 
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lorindaleigh

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She has the two little ones separated from the two big ones. She is feeding the little ones and I haven't seen her feed the big ones. I don't have any kitten milk so I'm going to give her about 20 more minutes and then I'll try coaxing her until feeding them.
 
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