Mother Cat Eating All Kittens' Food (and leaving her own till last)

gilmargl

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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.
 

GemsGem

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I'm not quite sure why you were told not to give her kitten food. :confused:

Mother cats are normally put onto kitten food as soon as they get pregnant, then stay on it throughout until the kittens are weened. They need the extra protein, vitamins etc that kitten food contains to keep them in the best condition. Especially with your girl being a stray and underweight, the kitten food would provides the extra she needs to put on weight quicker than normal adult food. :D
 
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gilmargl

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Sorry for not replying earlier but, at the moment, my foster cats are taking up just about all of my time. Thank you GemsGem for your quick reply.
I'm not quite sure why you were told not to give her kitten food.


Mother cats are normally put onto kitten food as soon as they get pregnant, then stay on it throughout until the kittens are weened. They need the extra protein, vitamins etc that kitten food contains to keep them in the best condition. Especially with your girl being a stray and underweight, the kitten food would provides the extra she needs to put on weight quicker than normal adult food.
I agree - and most kitten foods include a note that they are suitable for mother cats. For this reason, when the problem got worse, I decided to ignore the advice I'd been given and fed cat and kittens kitten food.

The situation did not improve and, as I had an appointment at the vet with another of my fosters this morning, I took the opportunity to discuss the issue and was given antibiotics for the next 5 days. The reason I had been told not to feed kitten food was because there had been quite a few cases where stray mother cats had reacted similarly when given high protein food (perhaps for the first time in their lives). I bought some kitten food from another company, cooked a chicken breast and now, with the antibiotics, I'm hoping for the best.

Unfortunately, she spit out a quarter of her second tablet this evening. I hid it again in some liver sausage, filled her bowl with the remaining chicken and oops! One of the kittens had managed to jump up onto her shelf and was attacking her food. My attempt to grab the kitten, scared the mother who is now even more timid than before. She would normally at least feed her kittens in my presence but tonight she stayed up on the top shelf, much to the annoyance of her offspring. She has eaten all the chicken but has left some of the liver sausage. I hope she is at least feeding her babies now that I've left the room. The two girls spend a lot of time nibbling at the kitten food so I think they'll survive but the boys prefer to play climbing up my legs and onto the shelves. 

Something tells me that this young family is not going to be quite as straightforward as I had hoped. Let's pray that the kittens don't become ill. If I have to take them all to the vet, I'll need some help getting Mother into a cat carrier - when I am in the room she refuses to go anywhere near the carriers which the kittens play in.

When I've got a bit more time, I'll take some photos and add them to this thread.
 

mservant

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It does sound like you have your hands very full with this crew.  Good that you spotted the kitten heading for the medicated food!  Not so good it gave mum a scare....

It does mean handling mum but I have found the easiest way to pill my cats is to crush the required amount of tablet to powder form between 2 tea spoons.  You can then use a bite resistant plastic spoon or similar to place the powder quickly at the back of your cat's tongue, then offer a treat straight after.  It is harder for them to spit out- though desperate cats will put on a good show of foaming at the mouth if it is a large quantity of powder.  You can also mix it with something nice and smelly like a mashed up sardine if she will eat things like that.
 
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gilmargl

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Well let me finish this thread with an update which may help others facing a similar problem. As often happens, the kittens find new homes and I am left with Mum. Emily is still with me, now living in the house with my other 3 cats, and still far more interested in mashed up food for the cat with tooth problems or dry diet food intended for the older cat with kidney disease, than in anything I put down for her. 

Looking back I believe the problem was that she was a stray, taking whatever she could beg or steal from men at the building site. She had to seize every opportunity when food was available, which was why she ate her kittens' food. She vomited a lot, had diarrhea but no medical condition could be found. Once the kittens had gone to their new homes I kept her in the cellar on her own until finally the violent vomiting became less frequent. On Christmas Day I let her out of solitary confinement, and, though for a time she preferred to sleep in her own quarters at night, she soon became the most dominant of my cats.

She is the only cat interested in everything that goes on in the kitchen and dining room. She has stolen a lettuce leaf (swiping it out of the dish) and eaten it. Her day centres around our mealtimes. She will not take her afternoon nap on my bed until she has tasted our lunch and is certain that we are only eating toasted sandwiches or mushroom soup. Because she is so dominant, keeping my other cats out of my bedroom and generally being quite a bully, I am still hoping that somebody will adopt her. She is a stalker and a grabber - following me everywhere and grabbing at anybody who gets too close to her. She is slowly getting used to other people stroking her although even for me there is always some risk of being swiped at or bitten involved!

Here is Emily at the breakfast table.

Still, I will miss her if and when she goes.
 

Sarthur2

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She really looks sweet! It is wonderful to hear this many months later that she is living in your house and sleeping on your bed - basically making herself at home! I have had this experience with strays who have had to fight for every bite, and it is not fun. They are pitiful really, thinking every meal is their last, and horning in on the kitten food. Since they experienced it from birth, they have a tough time changing, and their lives do seem centered around food and eating. It was surely the healthy eating that her poor system had to adjust to when she was so ill in your cellar. It makes me happy knowing she is warm and safe with you and with a belly full of food! I hope you continue to enjoy Emily. Sometimes it is the odd strays who we bond with most due to their dire straits and peculiarities. Bless you for all the good you have done for this cat and the kittens! :)
 
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