I adopted a pregnant cat some time ago. She gave birth to 3 kittens (1 died) and now the 2 kittens are 7 weeks old. They are still nursing but are already eating more solid food by the day.
A few days ago I found a box of 6 kittens (about 2 or 3 weeks old) with the mother dead by the side. Since no one seemed to want them and no one I know can foster them, I took them in and fortunately, the previously adopted mother cat has no problem nursing the additional kittens.
The thing is, I'm about to travel for 2 weeks, in a week's time. There will be someone coming every 2 days to check in on the feeder and clean the litter etc. My concern is: initially I put them all in a small spare room but I found that the mother cat sometimes runs away from the new kittens (maybe 6 is overwhelming to her at times). I caught some of the kittens sleeping by themselves in a corner and I don't think that's a good thing. So I moved them to a 2'x4' 3-story cage to make sure the new kittens get to nurse properly and be together all cozy and everything. But now I'm not sure if the cage is big enough. The 2 older kittens are in the same cage but they mostly stay near the top.
Is there any concern with this setup? Should I get a cage with a bigger surface/floor area? Or should I just put them back in the spare bedroom? Is it OK for them to be in a multi-story cage so the mother can "get away" from time to time but not too far? Or should I just have them boarded at the vet (this is the most convenient but will cost me a lot). As soon as the new kittens are eating solid food I won't worry too much.
By the way, the mother is healthy and by looking at the teats she still has enough milk for the kittens, I think. In any case, I'm bringing them to the vet in 2 days and get their advice (they are closed for a week and the next nearest one is more than an hour away). Until then, any advice on this would be greatly appreciated :-).
A few days ago I found a box of 6 kittens (about 2 or 3 weeks old) with the mother dead by the side. Since no one seemed to want them and no one I know can foster them, I took them in and fortunately, the previously adopted mother cat has no problem nursing the additional kittens.
The thing is, I'm about to travel for 2 weeks, in a week's time. There will be someone coming every 2 days to check in on the feeder and clean the litter etc. My concern is: initially I put them all in a small spare room but I found that the mother cat sometimes runs away from the new kittens (maybe 6 is overwhelming to her at times). I caught some of the kittens sleeping by themselves in a corner and I don't think that's a good thing. So I moved them to a 2'x4' 3-story cage to make sure the new kittens get to nurse properly and be together all cozy and everything. But now I'm not sure if the cage is big enough. The 2 older kittens are in the same cage but they mostly stay near the top.
Is there any concern with this setup? Should I get a cage with a bigger surface/floor area? Or should I just put them back in the spare bedroom? Is it OK for them to be in a multi-story cage so the mother can "get away" from time to time but not too far? Or should I just have them boarded at the vet (this is the most convenient but will cost me a lot). As soon as the new kittens are eating solid food I won't worry too much.
By the way, the mother is healthy and by looking at the teats she still has enough milk for the kittens, I think. In any case, I'm bringing them to the vet in 2 days and get their advice (they are closed for a week and the next nearest one is more than an hour away). Until then, any advice on this would be greatly appreciated :-).
