Nursing Momma Cat Not Eating

catnamedpanda

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
1,405
Purraise
58
I have my hands and house very full right now. I have Sky and Cloud in one room. The 2 pregnant cats in the bathroom. And then I have the cat that I didn't intend to bring home a beautiful long haired tabby and her 5 absolutely precious kittens. I am worried about them though, the reason I ended up bring her home too, she is from a high kill shelter 3 hours away. The reason they asked me to bring her home as well is because she waas so scared in the shelter she will not eat or drink. When I picked her up she was just trembling with fear. She seems to have settled down some now that she is in a quite place, and I have seen her snuggling with and grooming the kittens, but she still has not had a bite to eat. I put some wet food strait in the carrier with her but she hasn't touched it, or even left the carrier as far as I can tell to go to the bathroom. I need her to eat soon, I'm just not sure how to get her to without stressing her out more.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,999
Purraise
10,648
Location
Sweden
Calming tricks?  Feliway, dr Bachs Remedy Rescue drops, calming collar,  soft calming music - preferably harp classical music?

Good luck!
 

kailie

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 20, 2010
Messages
9,025
Purraise
25
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
Offer her REALLY scrumptious, stinky food, tuna, really stinky wet food, even baby food (no onion or garlic).
Sometimes I've had kitties who wouldn't eat, but if I left some Temptation treats, they were completely gone when I checked next and that got their appetite going.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,999
Purraise
10,648
Location
Sweden
" that got their appetite going".
This phrase awakes some memories in me, on a situation like this.  Which?

I suspect it was about forcefeeding them some to begin with...  And this gives strengh and appetite for more.   Or a little white caro [syrup] or honey on their gum, should work too.

Like is something done with kittens not having longer the strengh to suckle on their own.

I hope you arent there yet, but the moment may come.

The drawback is, if she is visibly stressed, forcefeeding wont lessen her stress.

But stress does take forces. Its no coincidence most people are hungry when a stress period is over.

So try out all the calming tricks you can use now and here, but make yourself also prepared for some forcefeeding.  (take her wrapped up in a towel. Being helpless they find themselves in the situation).

Forcefeeding doesnt need to be THAT stressing.  Owners to my oldest residents mom, she had no thirst and didnt drank in her older days. So they had to forcefeed her water. One held, one gave water.

And this way, forced, she did accepted.  They held her at life and decent health more than one year.

Later they discovered a water fountain,    Here she drank voluntary, and thus lived one year more, till her time did run out eventually...
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

catnamedpanda

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
1,405
Purraise
58
I'm starting to get somewhere with mom. I tried all sorts of wet food even warmed to make it more smelly, all sorts of treats, there was dry food left out, she wouldnt take a single bite. But I finally sparked something with turkey baby food. I was just about ready to start force feeding her when she decided to try the baby food. She downed the entire jar in seconds I think she realized how hungry she was considering she went over 24 hours that I know of without eating, probably more because she wasn't eating at the shelter. I gave her some wet food after that hoping she would eat it and she wouldn't touch it. I poured some more baby food over it and she licked all the baby food off but left the wet food untouched. I tired mixing it together and she still won't eat it. I would think she would need to start eating something other than baby food, but I am glad she is at least eating something. Do you think she is ok eating the baby food until I can somehow convince her to eat wet food, or find her a food she will eat. I would think she would need to eat something better for her than baby food to be able to produce enough milk for the babies.
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,999
Purraise
10,648
Location
Sweden
Baby food isnt so bad at all, so proceed.   :)    The biggest drawback with baby food is it is more costly than most cat foods.  In the long term a diete on just solely baby food may give lack of some nutrients, but for short term, or as emergency food? Doesnt matter.   

Shoot!

Congrats to this breakthrough!

Good luck!   *vibes*
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

catnamedpanda

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
1,405
Purraise
58
Ok good, I was worried I would cause some more problems with her by feeding her only baby food. I think I will pick up some KMR tomorrow and see if she will take any of that, I know giving nursing cats KMR is supposed to be good. If I offer both the baby food and the wet food side by side do you think she will eventually start eating cat food on her own, or is there a better way to try to get her on cat food eventually?
 

orientalslave

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
Messages
3,425
Purraise
114
Location
Scotland
Have you tried mixing the baby food with a little wet food?  I mean a little.  If she eats that, gradually increase the amount of wet food and decrease the baby food.   Also offer her some biscuits - some cats prefer those, and right now it's more important that she eats than she eats a perfect diet.
 

catapault

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
3,597
Purraise
9,293
When Mist, my elderly (16 / 17 years) cat didn't want to eat after her dentalnit was baby food that changed her mind. My vet said to add some bottled clam juice (available in American supermarkets.) Apparently the clam juice provides necessary taurine.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

catnamedpanda

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
1,405
Purraise
58
I'm not sure where I would find clam juice I have never seen it before. But I did try mixing just a spoonful of wet food with the baby food and she did eat that. I will just have to move her slowly up. Thanks for suggesting it OrientalSlave. I am just glad she is eating. She has no interest in the dry food though, but I will keep leaving it out for her. She is friendly with me, but really prefers to stay in the carrier still, she darts back as soon as she has come out and used the litter box. I think she still needs more time to figure out that she is safe and nothing is going to hurt her or her babies. She does not mind me handling the kittens so I took them out one by one to get a good look at them and sex them, I took a few quick pictures while I had them out of the carrier too. Their fur is the softest I have ever felt on a kitten, they feel like silk. All 5 kittens are female as well. They are just over a week old, when I picked them up from the shelter their eyes were not open yet, but they are now.

Here is mom, it is kinda dark because she is in the carrier but she is a long haired tabby.



Kitten #1- pretty sure she is going to be pointed, the tips of her ears are slightly brown and she is more off white than pure white



Kitten #2- A Tabby and Calico mix



Kitten #3- Tortoiseshell kitten



Kitten #4- Tortoiseshell with white (not sure how the picture got rotated, but still cute)



Kitten #5- Black and White Kitten (was the most wiggly of the bunch, I could only get a clear picture if I held her)

 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

catnamedpanda

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
1,405
Purraise
58
She has been eating a little more wet food, she doesn't like to leave the kittens so I put it just outside of the carrier and she will come to the opening and eat it. I accidentally left out the can that I took food from to mix with the baby food and when I came back she had ate all of her baby food mixture and it looks like she ate a little bit of the wet food too. It is also a good sign that when I looked at the kittens when I transferred them to the carrier from the shelter and when I looked at them yesterday their bellies did not look full and rounded, but today all the kittens have very plump little bellies. I have not heard as much fussing either, so I think she is producing more milk now that she is eating again, and the kittens are very content!
 
Top