Two days ago I was presented with a mother cat and her four 6 or 7-week-old kittens. The kittens are exceptionally plump and healthy (for unwanted strays) but Mother Cat is very thin. I don't know why they were removed from their last foster home but they settled down very quickly in my large cellar. I was told they had been fed on tinned food and kitten milk.
One Problem
A few hours after arriving it was obvious that the very hungry Mother was suffering from diarrhea. A lot of food was disappearing and consequently a huge amount of cat litter had to be disposed of! I stopped the milk (KMR) and put her food on a shelf at a higher level to try to separate her from the kittens, so that they could at least have a chance to feed and she could eat normal food, Things worked out fine yesterday and all 4 kittens licked at the food even if they didn't actually eat anything. But, she`s learnt that mashed up baby food at ground level is far better than her own food and eats it up as fast as I can open a sachet.
I leave a lot of food out for her and she's rarely eaten it all by the next mealtime but the kitten's dish is always empty before I even leave the room. I try different flavours but all the cat food (kitten food included) comes from the same company.
I would like to get the kittens weaned as soon as possible so that Mother can recover but it's a vicious circle - they will never be weaned unless food is readily available. At the moment, Mum eats the lot!
By the way, I was told not to let the mother cat eat baby food and was given some medication to put in her own food to improve her general condition. I can't leave her food where the kittens can reach it though I do leave some normal cat food on the floor for the kittens to chew on. Tomorrow I will start deworming them all. Perhaps this will solve the diarrhea problem but it will be a battle of nerves as Mum doesn't like me much.
Has anybody had a similar experience?
PS The babies are lovely - all tabbies - 2 girls (who have already been promised a new home) and 2 boys. Mum's lovely too.
One Problem
A few hours after arriving it was obvious that the very hungry Mother was suffering from diarrhea. A lot of food was disappearing and consequently a huge amount of cat litter had to be disposed of! I stopped the milk (KMR) and put her food on a shelf at a higher level to try to separate her from the kittens, so that they could at least have a chance to feed and she could eat normal food, Things worked out fine yesterday and all 4 kittens licked at the food even if they didn't actually eat anything. But, she`s learnt that mashed up baby food at ground level is far better than her own food and eats it up as fast as I can open a sachet.
I leave a lot of food out for her and she's rarely eaten it all by the next mealtime but the kitten's dish is always empty before I even leave the room. I try different flavours but all the cat food (kitten food included) comes from the same company.
I would like to get the kittens weaned as soon as possible so that Mother can recover but it's a vicious circle - they will never be weaned unless food is readily available. At the moment, Mum eats the lot!
By the way, I was told not to let the mother cat eat baby food and was given some medication to put in her own food to improve her general condition. I can't leave her food where the kittens can reach it though I do leave some normal cat food on the floor for the kittens to chew on. Tomorrow I will start deworming them all. Perhaps this will solve the diarrhea problem but it will be a battle of nerves as Mum doesn't like me much.
Has anybody had a similar experience?
PS The babies are lovely - all tabbies - 2 girls (who have already been promised a new home) and 2 boys. Mum's lovely too.