1 yr old in first labor!! Pls stand by.. I'm terrified!

Putting a mark on a different toe pad of each kitten can help identify them. I have used welping collars on orphans, but never with a mom around. Luckily, I've yet to have two kittens I could tell apart, which includes two sets of twins. One's fur has been a little darker or one has had a white toe, etc...

With 9 kittens and her being young you are absolutely going to need to supplement.

Separating the kittens into two groups and rotating them every hour or two with mom is likely going to be needed.

Weighing the kittens daily is going to be extremely important in this situation. You will likely have several "runts".

Mom is going to need lots of canned food and water as well to help keep up her milk production.

Others have managed to help mom through nursing 9 kittens.  Hopefully you are able to hang out with her and function on little sleep for the first week or so.  One member slept in the closet with the mom and kittens.  You will need a box w/a heat source.  Put the 4 largest in the box while the other 5 nurse and switch the kittens every hour or two.  The current smallest stays with mom the whole time.  If the other nipples don't produce milk and there really are 4 you will need to get creative.

You will also need to help mom with potty and cleaning duties. 

I suggest you get some KMR and small needleless syringes if you don't already have some.  Get the powder form, Pet AG, GNC, Royal Canin are good; avoid Hartz and Seargents brands.  You will also want to have Olive oil and unflavored pedialyte on hand.  Udder cream will help keep mom's nipple healthy with all the kittens constantly suckling.  If you cannot find Udder cream, you can use olive or veggie oil to soothe sore nipples.

@sarthur2   @catwoman707   what have I forgotten.

Yes, the scale is a must.  Journal how much each kitten weighs.  Weigh them at the same time every day.

9? My goodness! Yes, you'll need to keep a close eye and make sure they're all getting enough. Good luck!

CatPack said:

Putting a mark on a different toe pad of each kitten can help identify them. I have used welping collars on orphans, but never with a mom around. Luckily, I've yet to have two kittens I could tell apart, which includes two sets of twins. One's fur has been a little darker or one has had a white toe, etc...

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Were doing what we did with her and her brothers. We're just going to feed them all every 2.5 hours and let them nurse otherwise. We've already fed them all once and they ate well! Nobody is crying now and we only have one runt. We had to do CPR on it when it was first born but it's just fine now. Thank God! W3re all getting ready to rest now for a few. What a night! Shwew...[emoji]128555[/emoji][emoji]128522[/emoji]

CatPack said:

You'll need to rotate the kittens, especially the first few days to make sure all get colostrum.

I would suspect that the rest of her milk will come in over the next 24 hours.

Kittens don't share nipples well. The strongest get the best nipples and the runt is left with the least favorable.

You need to weigh the kittens daily (around the same time each day.) A kitchen or postage scale works well. Something that weights in grams and ounces is preferred as grams are more accurate with newborns. Kittens should gain an average of 10 grams per day. If a kitten goes more than one day without gaining, then you'll need to supplement. Weight loss is not acceptable and means the kitten needs immediate intervention and possibly vet care.

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Thank you for being so kind. I got my feelings kind of hurt from another post. That's so sad about the little ones getting pushed aside [emoji]128546[/emoji] Broke my little heart! We are just going to feed everyone a little supplement every few hours, so she'll have enough milk for everyone to nurse and we know they're getting enough.We have a kitchen scale from her and her brothers because we supplemented them. I'll keep everyone posted. 9 looks like what's its gonna be. She is SOO petite. I can't believe my poor tiny kitten just had 9 kittens! Poor girl! Thank you again!

CatPack said:

Putting a mark on a different toe pad of each kitten can help identify them. I have used welping collars on orphans, but never with a mom around. Luckily, I've yet to have two kittens I could tell apart, which includes two sets of twins. One's fur has been a little darker or one has had a white toe, etc...

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Handsome Kitty said:

Others have managed to help mom through nursing 9 kittens.  Hopefully you are able to hang out with her and function on little sleep for the first week or so.  One member slept in the closet with the mom and kittens.  You will need a box w/a heat source.  Put the 4 largest in the box while the other 5 nurse and switch the kittens every hour or two.  The current smallest stays with mom the whole time.  If the other nipples don't produce milk and there really are 4 you will need to get creative.

You will also need to help mom with potty and cleaning duties. 

I suggest you get some KMR and small needleless syringes if you don't already have some.  Get the powder form, Pet AG, GNC, Royal Canin are good; avoid Hartz and Seargents brands.  You will also want to have Olive oil and unflavored pedialyte on hand.  Udder cream will help keep mom's nipple healthy with all the kittens constantly suckling.  If you cannot find Udder cream, you can use olive or veggie oil to soothe sore nipples.

@sarthur2
  @catwoman707
  what have I forgotten.1
Yes, the scale is a must.  Journal how much each kitten weighs.  Weigh them at the same time every day.

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There is nobody on this earth who adores cats as much as me, so I believe I'll be able to hang. I've no choice! It's just very stressful and anyone who has cared for orphaned or needed to supplement any baby animal would 0feel the same stress! We supplemented her and her brothers and at times fell asleep half in the closet, half out (not that big of a closet) Right now me and hubbs are tag teaming. We have her and the babies in a large tote with a heating pad in the laundry room and a bed made on the floor in there for us (taking turns in there. I'm on the couch for right now and hubbs is on the floor. We both work midnights at a university. We are telling them apart fine. They were still wet when I said they look alike. We even have a tailess one (dad is tailess) Mommy's milk has come in to at least 6 nipples. She's ate like a champ and drank loads now. We are just going to feed all of them a little KMR every 3 hours to help mom out,so she'll have enough milk. She wouldn't move from the babies until I went in and told her she needs to eat and get a drink. Our vet said to NOT keep her brothers away from them but we've been scared. We really have no choice because we can't keep her locked up in that tiny room. (We live in a small apartment. Not efficiency but a one bedroom, one floor. The room she's in is small with all the stuff in it and we took out all we could. Will she make sure the boys won't hurt them? Thanks again for your time and you don't have to worry that we won't care for our children and their children!!

Handsome Kitty said:

Do you have a heating source you can use for the kittens while mom is giving birth.  It's not good for them be get cold. Be sure to cover the heating source with a towel so the kitten are not directly on it.  You can use a heating pad on low, hot water bottle or even a sock stuffed with raw rice microwaved for 5 minutes.

You can stop worrying about the vet.  If she has had 2 kittens after the first was stuck, the crises has passed.  Were two of the kittens sharing a sack?

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No they weren't sharing a sack. (Sorry, didn't see your question. It's been a long night and I've been a wreck! I imagine it was because it was her first litter, she needed to stretch some. Plus the fact there was 9 in a tiny 6-7 pound one year old baby herself. My poor girl! All's well now. No worries and hope there isn't anymore worries!! Thank you again!!

I strongly advise you to keep her either in that room or a large dog crate. The thing is the males may very well try to mate with her again or go along and bother the kittens. I wouldn't think they would harm them on purpose but its better to be safe than sorry. 9 babies, that is quite a large litter. Another thing is that the little babies are very fragile, do be sure everyone who comes in contact with the kittens washes their hands very well before and after handling them. 

BubblzMay said:

There is nobody on this earth who adores cats as much as me, so I believe I'll be able to hang. I've no choice! It's just very stressful and anyone who has cared for orphaned or needed to supplement any baby animal would 0feel the same stress! We supplemented her and her brothers and at times fell asleep half in the closet, half out (not that big of a closet) Right now me and hubbs are tag teaming. We have her and the babies in a large tote with a heating pad in the laundry room and a bed made on the floor in there for us (taking turns in there. I'm on the couch for right now and hubbs is on the floor. We both work midnights at a university. We are telling them apart fine. They were still wet when I said they look alike. We even have a tailess one (dad is tailess) Mommy's milk has come in to at least 6 nipples. She's ate like a champ and drank loads now. We are just going to feed all of them a little KMR every 3 hours to help mom out,so she'll have enough milk. She wouldn't move from the babies until I went in and told her she needs to eat and get a drink. Our vet said to NOT keep her brothers away from them but we've been scared. We really have no choice because we can't keep her locked up in that tiny room. (We live in a small apartment. Not efficiency but a one bedroom, one floor. The room she's in is small with all the stuff in it and we took out all we could. Will she make sure the boys won't hurt them? Thanks again for your time and you don't have to worry that we won't care for our children and their children!!

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I hope my post wasn't the one that hurt your feelings.  I didn't mean to imply that you didn't' care about your cat and kittens.  My computer was acting slow and I had a cat meowing at me to go to bed. I just wanted to get that information to you.

It sounds like you have it under control.  I would go by mama cat's actions regarding the boys.  She may not want them near the kittens.  Post some pictures if you get a chance.

I suggest keeping the boys out of the room, at least until the kittens are a few weeks old. Mom can come in and out while you are home, but I would keep her confined while you are away/asleep.

Handsome Kitty said:

I hope my post wasn't the one that hurt your feelings.  I didn't mean to imply that you didn't' care about your cat and kittens.  My computer was acting slow and I had a cat meowing at me to go to bed. I just wanted to get that information to you.

It sounds like you have it under control.  I would go by mama cat's actions regarding the boys.  She may not want them near the kittens.  Post some pictures if you get a chance.

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Honestly,because anyone who loves cats is my favorite people, I want to tell you straight that it was the one that hurt me. I've been sick and crying all day because I feel so overwhelmed to be honest. So, far though, none of the kittens are crying at all and they've all been nursing. There's so many that it's hard to keep track and I'm making a much bigger deal out of this than I need to! My hubbs keeps telling me I need to calm down and then he'll go through questions with me. "Is Lola OK?" (momma kitty) "yes" "Are the babies OK?" "yes" "Are Molly, Teddy and Roo OK?" "yes" "Than what are you so upset about?" and I start... "I can't keep track of who's ate and who hasn't, I feel sorry for Lola, I feel sorry for you getting no sleep trying to help me, sleeping on the floor with them, I feel sorry for our other babies cause they don't understand, how are we gonna find homes for 9 kittens when we couldn't even find one decent home for one before and just kept them all? What are we gonna do Jess? (Hubbs) ... I just love too much!" All the while bawling my eyes out!

So far, we've only been feeding the smallest ones because the first two feedings everyone ate like champs but now, they don't want any and just won't take it. Nobody is crying though and everytime I look in on them, they're either nursing or sleeping. Maybe momma can handle it until they're bigger? She has like 6 nipples with milk now. When she stands up her entire underside is hanging down with boobies! Jess says we just feed the smallest ones every 3 hours and weigh them all each day and if any aren't gaining or losing then we supplement them. Of course still feeding the tiny ones until they pick up some weight. Do you think that's fine from the sound of things?

Oh and about her brothers (which unfortunately one is dad) she isn't paying them any mind. They'll peek over the top of the box but look more scared than anything. Our Roo, poor guy, he's a massive 10 pound cat (at one yrs old AND was the runt) he's afraid of his own shadow! He's the biggest scardey cat I've seen. Poor baby! So I don't think he'd do anything to harm them and Teddy (dad) is a sweetheart and we can't see him hurting them either. Lola isn't the least bit concerned. She would know their personalities being raised with them better than even we do. Right? The vet said to definitely not separate them because all they've known is to have each other and they're a family, just as we all are. I have no choice really. I've not slept since Friday night trying to keep guard and make sure everyone's OK and I HAVE to get some sleep and eat, I've been too upset to eat. Your post scared the life out of me. I'm not in good health and it's so very hard for me to even do day to day house keeping and spoiling the animals. Which I have OCD too and it's SO hard being sick and trying to keep things spotless and tidy all the time! Now caring for 9 kittens, 4 grown cats and a bird (a cockateil who needs a lot of attention and stimulation.)

I know I need to relax since all the babies are content, things are fine. Right? Anyway, I better rest while I can. I'll post pics tomorrow. I need Hubbs phone to take pics and he's gone to work now. Thank you for clearing things up about the post!!! I am so grateful to have this site! Thank you all!! [emoji]128153[/emoji][emoji]128158[/emoji][emoji]127775[/emoji][emoji]128154[/emoji]

Are your two males neutered now? If not, the danger is that they will get mom pregnant again. She can get pregnant again without going into heat and within a week of delivery, so that's obviously not good.

It's clear that you care a lot and I think you're doing a good job so far. You're right to feed the ones who need it based on weighing them every day.

CatPack said:

I suggest keeping the boys out of the room, at least until the kittens are a few weeks old. Mom can come in and out while you are home, but I would keep her confined while you are away/asleep.

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We are going to keep her confined while away and the boys always sleep with me. I have severe sleep issues and only catnap while sitting up (ever) So I never know when I'll fall asleep and it's vital that my body at least microsleeps. So it's impossible to keep her confined while I sleep. Like I said though, they've really just acted like "whatever" about the babies other than curiosity. Mom is usually always in there with them too. She's been such a good mommy! The boys just peek over the edge and then that's it. Them they walk away and go do their everyday stuff like nothing happened.

Roo is already neutered and Teddy would be but we had a horrible Upper Respiratory Virus sweep through all our VERY HEALTHY otherwise cats. It took 3 prescriptions of steroids and antibiotics, three vet visits and A LOT of time and tlc to kick. So he couldn't be neutered when we wanted. He's going Wed though. Then NO MORE BABIES!! Thank you all for your continued support through everything!!! I'll post pics tomorrow sometime [emoji]128522[/emoji]

talkingpeanut said:

Are your two males neutered now? If not, the danger is that they will get mom pregnant again. She can get pregnant again without going into heat and within a week of delivery, so that's obviously not good.

It's clear that you care a lot and I think you're doing a good job so far. You're right to feed the ones who need it based on weighing them every day.

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one is. Neutered, the other is going Wed!

Good that you can get Teddy in. As a note...neutering does NOT immediately rid the tom of sperm. So, he CAN still get mom pregnant again for up to three (?) maybe four weeks post-neuter. So, it is still vital to keep Teddy away from mom.

BubblzMay said:

one is. Neutered, the other is going Wed!

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He'll still be fertile for up to a month, so you'll want to continue supervised visits only for a while. Mom and babies can go when babies are 8 weeks old.

Hang in there!

CatPack said:

Good that you can get Teddy in. As a note...neutering does NOT immediately rid the tom of sperm. So, he CAN still get mom pregnant again for up to three (?) maybe four weeks post-neuter. So, it is still vital to keep Teddy away from mom.

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Thank you so much for the heads up! Hopefully he'll be like Roo and just not at all interested in mating after the neutering!!!!

talkingpeanut said:

He'll still be fertile for up to a month, so you'll want to continue supervised visits only for a while. Mom and babies can go when babies are 8 weeks old.

Hang in there!

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Mom is our baby. She stays!! We have Lola (mommy) Roo, Teddy and Molly (our 7 year old baby girl) They're all "lifers" [emoji]128522[/emoji]

BubblzMay said:

Mom is our baby. She stays!! We have Lola (mommy) Roo, Teddy and Molly (our 7 year old baby girl) They're all "lifers" [emoji]128522[/emoji]

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I meant go to be spayed and neutered. Babies should stay with mom for 10-12 weeks at least before they are rehomed.