Two newborn kittens, not nursing

Hello! My cat, Minnie, was a stray kitten we took in who soon after became pregnant. She just had two kittens 2 hours ago and they both are really active (crawling around, mewing) but wont latch. They're just looking around for somewhere to nurse and not actually latching. Minnie is cleaning them and keeping them close but that's it. She has plenty of milk, too. I'm going to the store to buy Kitten formula just in case but is there any advice or suggestions? Past experiences? Should I start manually feeding them or would that impede later nursing? Thanks!!

This may be an obvious question but have you tried guiding them to the nipples?

They don't have to eat immediately after birth so don't worry about it.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she has more kittens during the night.  Often they have a couple and then have a little rest and then have more kittens.  We have a good collection of articles in the Cat Health section which you can access by scrolling up to the brown bar, clicking on Articles,and then choosing the Cat Health section and scrolling through the choices.  To make this super easy for you, I am copying the links in here.  You should probably start with the article called "Help! My Cat is having kittens." and then go back to "What to Prepare for the Birth" in case there are more kittens coming.  After reading this information, let us know if you have any more questions.  And let us know how it's going.  I bet those kittens will find those nipples soon enough, they sure are big and pink and ready for babies!

Birth, Delivery and Newborns

View media item 212113Cat Pregnancy

How to Tell if My Cat is Pregnant?

Pregnant Cat? What to Prepare For the Birth

Help! My Cat is Having Kittens!

Post-Birth Complications in Cats

How Do I Know When My Cat Will Give Birth?

Premature Kittens

tulosai said:

 
This may be an obvious question but have you tried guiding them to the nipples?

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I did and they were kind of just like "meh." but FINALLY the grey one found a nipple to her liking and after some coaxing and using some of my personal nursing tricks, the black tabby latched. My only worry is that the black one will have trouble latching without my help. I have a scale and some formula so for now, I'm just checking on them every few hours. Right now their both sleeping (grey baby is still nursing) and Minnie is resting happily!

Red Top Rescue said:

Cat Pregnancy
How to Tell if My Cat is Pregnant?

Pregnant Cat? What to Prepare For the Birth

Help! My Cat is Having Kittens!

Post-Birth Complications in Cats

How Do I Know When My Cat Will Give Birth?

Premature Kittens

Click to expand...

Thank you! I've read most of the articles already (we've been waiting for these babies for a week!) and I'm pretty sure she's done. Her belly seems empty but we're prepared just in case! She has clean bedding, has been nibbling her food and drinking water, and cleaning her babies! For such a young mama, I think she's doing well. As soon as the little ones are weaned, we're taking the whole family to get spayed!