A pregnant stray mother cat came in to our local animal shelter not that long ago.
When she arrived she was at a healthy weight, and she has since given birth in the shelter. She gave birth to six, but kicked one out of the nest. She is now down to five 1 week old kittens.
The kittens appear to be healthy and doing fine. The mother cat has been a great mom to the remaining kittens. However, in just a few days after giving birth she has lost a significant amount of weight. She is a bag of bones. Her appetite is not the problem - she is being free-fed dry kitten food and is being supplemented with wet food. Nourishment is never in short supply and she is eating a fair amount. I believe her significant weight loss to be a result of the stress of shelter life. It must be extremely taxing to live in constant fear of the dogs barking and howling right next door - especially while trying to care for a litter of kittens.
For this reason my family is strongly considering fostering this mother cat and her kittens until she is back up to a healthy weight and can be adopted. Unfortunately, previously-made arrangements will prevent us from being able to take her and her kittens until 2 weeks from now, when they will be 3 weeks old.
However, if/when we do bring them into our home - what diet should I be feeding her? I'm thinking of free feeding dry kitten food, but what brand/type would be best for weight gain? What brand/type of wet food should I be giving her as a supplement? I want her to gain back some weight, but I don't want to do anything that might compromise the health and safety of the kittens.
When she arrived she was at a healthy weight, and she has since given birth in the shelter. She gave birth to six, but kicked one out of the nest. She is now down to five 1 week old kittens.
The kittens appear to be healthy and doing fine. The mother cat has been a great mom to the remaining kittens. However, in just a few days after giving birth she has lost a significant amount of weight. She is a bag of bones. Her appetite is not the problem - she is being free-fed dry kitten food and is being supplemented with wet food. Nourishment is never in short supply and she is eating a fair amount. I believe her significant weight loss to be a result of the stress of shelter life. It must be extremely taxing to live in constant fear of the dogs barking and howling right next door - especially while trying to care for a litter of kittens.
For this reason my family is strongly considering fostering this mother cat and her kittens until she is back up to a healthy weight and can be adopted. Unfortunately, previously-made arrangements will prevent us from being able to take her and her kittens until 2 weeks from now, when they will be 3 weeks old.
However, if/when we do bring them into our home - what diet should I be feeding her? I'm thinking of free feeding dry kitten food, but what brand/type would be best for weight gain? What brand/type of wet food should I be giving her as a supplement? I want her to gain back some weight, but I don't want to do anything that might compromise the health and safety of the kittens.