My cat gave birth to three kittens

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the catsage

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Thanks for the replies. They are being cute, especially when running with the tail raised. They are in a small room, they are mostly running inside there, one of them came to the other room then went back to hers :p

The mother is obviously being annoyed, she is sleeping all day and they jump on her etc, she even hissed a kitty once when he jumped from the bed on mothers face while she was sleeping next to the bed (where I've put a mini bed in case the mom wants more room)...in short the plastic container with the kittens in and next to it a cat bed, mommy sometimes uses it when the kittens spread too much.

And yes I will do a head count whenever I do something, not going to risk anything, but my mum did freak out because one of the kittens looked like a rat and was chewing some card box, their teeth are growing so they chew on stuff every now and then :p
 

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Thanks for the replies. They are being cute, especially when running with the tail raised. They are in a small room, they are mostly running inside there, one of them came to the other room then went back to hers :p

The mother is obviously being annoyed, she is sleeping all day and they jump on her etc, she even hissed a kitty once when he jumped from the bed on mothers face while she was sleeping next to the bed (where I've put a mini bed in case the mom wants more room)...in short the plastic container with the kittens in and next to it a cat bed, mommy sometimes uses it when the kittens spread too much.

And yes I will do a head count whenever I do something, not going to risk anything, but my mum did freak out because one of the kittens looked like a rat and was chewing some card box, their teeth are growing so they chew on stuff every now and then :p
Im wondering a little, if the mom is sleeping that much, she is apperently quite tired.  I mean, she is perhaps not entirely well.  Perhaps somewhat undernourished?
 

talkingpeanut

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They should still be confined to a kitten-proofed room, but they're ok to explore that area. Are you able to keep mom 100% inside and away from intact males until the kittens are weaned? She can already get pregnant again.

We would love to see photos!
 
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ginny

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Depends on if there are small children running around as well. If so, I'd say restrict their activity to a small room and supervise closely when the kids are with them. I recall reading about a tragedy where a 7 year old landed feet first from the stairs right on to a kitten and killed him.

:((

Even if no kids, I'd still restrict their area and kitten-proof! That way if one goes missing, you won't have to search the whole house.
 
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the catsage

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Hello,

The mum is alright, was just tired. They're not letting her sleep by hitting her, jumping over her etc. Even if 2 kittens are asleep at least 1 will be up to annoy the mum, when she sleeps her brother wakes up etc. Poor momma kitty.

As for locking the mum, no she is not locked 24/7 inside, we let her go out at least once per day to have a walk. She likes to hang out with her sister. If she goes into heat she's going straight to the vet to get the hormones etc, in short she's not going to get pregnant. Still have to wait 1 more month before she can be spayed. We cannot keep her inside all the time because she gets way too stressed, and even becomes aggressive. She is feral after all.

We have no children around, and at the moment the kittens are staying in their room. If they leave it I will see them as its on my 30 degree angle from here where I'm sitting at the moment, even while looking at the screen I can still spot any movement near the door of the room. 

Other than the risk of accidentally killing them (which we're going to avoid), is there any potential risk of the kittens spending too much energy for their body to take? Or do they know naturally when to stop wrestling and running around, e.g get tired and stop?

PS. I'll bring pics later as requested

Thanks.
 
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krissy marissy

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You shouldn't let mom out. She can bring in something that gets the kittens sick. Also, she doesn't have to be in obvious heat to get pregnant again. She will just have to deal with it for another month until she gets fixed.

I feel like they're too young to have such range, they should be confined to one kitten safe area or room.
 

NewYork1303

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If you let her go out, she will likely get pregnant. Cats can often be in silent heat so you'll never know she's in heat before she goes out. She also can bring all kinds of diseases back to the kittens that can kill them since they are not vaccinated. 
 

newkitties

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It's been stated, but cats can go into heat without really going into heat.

Cats release an egg upon mating, which means they don't even need to go into heat at all to become pregnant again, and mom can get pregnant as early as a week from giving birth. She should be kept inside until she is fixed.

My cat Buttons just got out of heat, she went into obvious heat 8 days after giving birth. She may be feral and become agitated if she isn't let outside, but she probably wants out because she is in heat. There are some places that will spay a nursing mother by making the incision in another area if you are absolutely unable to keep her inside.

She likely could be pregnant again if she's been going out everyday, I would get her fixed asap or keep her in completely from now on.

I'm not sure what you mean by "getting the hormones" if she goes into heat. If there is a hormone that can be given to delay "heat", it still wouldn't prevent pregnancy as cats don't need to be in heat to be pregnant.

Thank you for taking in a feral and her kittens, we are just trying to make sure she doesn't get pregnant again, as it would be so very hard on her body, especially since she JUST gave birth, not to mention there could be problems because of that, and it's likely she will have many more kittens since the first litters are usually smaller, but the second and so forth are typically larger.
 
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the catsage

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Thanks for all the replies.

I am certain the mother is not pregnant again but it's almost impossible for me to keep her inside, it's better to let her go out at 6AM and come back at 7AM than have her escape while the last person is leaving the house for work/university etc as happened once with me, had to stay home and miss class at university that day. So we made a silent compromise with her, we let her out and she comes back in time.

Our house is small and we barely managed to find space for the litter box in the bathroom, her bed is in another room and the corridor connects both, so I cannot lock her in the room for example as she won't be able to use the litter box, I have to leave the doors open and this gives her access to the outside door whenever we open it. I've tried opening the door and scaring her but it doesn't work, if she wants to go out she will go out no matter what. If anyone has any idea what I could do to keep her in it'd be welcome, but until now I have been unable to find a solution. I've asked the vet if he can do the spaying sooner but he said no cause its not worth the risk.

Reason why she goes outside is obviously boredom. She goes out to play fight with her sister, sometimes eats grass, sometimes just looks around, sometimes does her business in the giant litterbox etc...and is quite aggressive with toms when they come close, cause she sees them as threat for the kittens. I know what the heat symptoms are so my idea was to force her to stay inside with extreme measures only if I see any heat symptom. An extreme measure would be locking her in the bathroom for example but I don't think I should be doing that all the time. It's stressful for me and probably for her too, not to mention the kittens who still need to be with her. The bathroom is small...
 

newkitties

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My bathroom is very small too, but that's where I keep mine and her babies until she will allow me to move them into the XXL dog crate I have. I allow her to roam my apartment every few hours for a little while, under supervision (she and my other female are fighting) I bought a $4 small litterbox off of amazon, it's made for kittens or rabbits, that fits in my bathroom in front of the toilet. We just have to do some gymnastics to use the bathroom. But I have no other option for her since she won't allow to be placed in the cage.

You can't be certain she isn't pregnant again since she will show no signs until she starts rapidly growing 5ish weeks into being pregnant again, since her nipples are already enlarged.

The truth of the situation is, if continued to be allowed outside, she WILL get pregnant. It's just a question of when. I understand how hard it can be to keep her inside, but perhaps you can lock her in the bathroom where she would be fine, and let her roam the house when you are certain the front door will not be opened, allowing her to exit.

If she is bored, you can try playing with her. She'll likely enjoy a laser pointer, which is effortless for you to use! She just wants to exert her energy. She could also be harmed outside, by a car, another animal, or just not come back one day. In which case you would be left to care for the kittens on your own which is very exhausting work.

I'm not trying to be rude at all or hurt any feelings. I've been there and I understand it seems nearly impossible. But when she realizes she isn't allowed to leave anymore, she will likely settle in. If she doesn't it's only a few more weeks until she is able to be fixed.
 
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the catsage

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Hello,

I have a few questions about worms...

1. How can I tell if a kitten has worms?

2. If she/he does, how bad can worms be? Do they have to be removed necessarily or is that optional for some types of worms?

3. Will not treating worms in time cause any problem to the kittens in the future?

Reason why I'm asking is because I am raising 3 kittens for adoption. I've looked closely at their mothers poop, I saw nothing suspicious. It's all brown, no white marks or anything (other than smelling like poop, eek) so I highly doubt she has any worms. She doesn't even have any symptoms of worms, so I believe the kittens don't neither. They've all grown normally, the more dominant male is a bit wider that's it but it happens even with human kids for one to grow more than the others. He was born bigger as well, so that's not a sign that the other 2 have worms.

Reason why I'm asking here is because I want to avoid all unnecessary spending. I don't feel like spending another 10, 20 or even 30 or more dollars for worming if they have no worms to begin with, or if they have worms that do not cause any long term damage. I've barely collected the money to spay the mother and the vets are !@#@!#$ expensive.

Thanks for the replies.

Edit: The kittens will be 4 weeks old in 2 days, so they are 3 weeks and 5 days old at the moment.
 
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mingsmongols

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You cant tell unless they have grown to the point were there visable in there poop and even then some are never visable to the naked eye. Thats why the vets do a fecal smear where they look at a sample under a compound light microscope. By not treating the potential problem there are risks. They could be minor or life threating depending on the type of worms, but that is if they do infact have worms. When you go to get there first set of shots you could have the vets worm them and skip the fecal smear. Its less expensive to treat them then to test for them and the prescription meds your vets use is much more effective then the otc stuff. If momma kitty has been outside in the last six months, if you have other animals coming in and out of your house (such as a pet dog), or you yourself have handled other animals away from home then not scrubbed down and changed your clothes when you got home then there is a risk of worms.
 

jennyr

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I agree in principle with the above advice. It is very rare for kittens NOT to have worms. But what do you intend to do with them? Are they being adopted out? Often the original owner gets the kittens wormed and vaccinated and then charges the adopters the cost. It ensures that they will go to a good home who will care for them properly, rather than just being given away free.

If you do decide to worm them now, you can normally get worming tablets from the vet for a few dollars and administer them yourself. That is more efficient and no more expensive than buying from a petstore where products can be actually damaging to a kitten's health.
 

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The worms which practically all will have, is the round worms, because they come with mommas milk.    Round worms may also be dormant, and come over to the kittens even if the momma were dewormed.

So the danger is imment in practically all cats.  I saw once a debate, if inside only, well dewormed cats - alike is common with purebreds - if their kittens needs deworming too.   I dont remember now the exact conclusion, but the self fact a number of breeders did debate, shows the question isnt easily answered.

So, do deworm them - in first hand against round worms.   IF they had a flea infection at any time - also against tape worms.

Follow the advice above.

The vet will probably give you a Pyrantel preparate against round worms, which is also mild. He may also choose to give you some broader spectrum preparate.

Dont yourself buy any OTC preparate, before you are absolutely sure its a good brand, made by a reputable factory.  Quite a few OTC preparates arent.
 
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the catsage

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Ok. How do the deworming medicines work? Do they come as pills, in bottles etc?

Do I need to buy a whole bottle (or whatever form they come in) or can I simply buy just enough for the 3 kittens to use?

Also, what's the price I should expect to pay? And more importantly, how can I give it to the kittens? They still only drink mother milk and eat solid food from my finger, but I'm not feeding them solid food (it's wet but more solid than milk) because of litter box issues...their paws are too weak to dig in the clay for now. Going to wait at least 1 more week before feeding them cat food, so how would I give them the worming product? They still do not lap water.
 

talkingpeanut

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I don't think it's urgent that you treat for worms right this second. You can wait until the kittens are a bit older. Consult a vet.
 

Sarthur2

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I agree. If there are no obvious problems there is no need to worm the kittens until they go for vaccinations and spaying at around 8 weeks or 2 pounds. [emoji]128522[/emoji]
 
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the catsage

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Thanks for the replies. I guess I'll wait a bit with the worming for now. 

My other question is, how do I litter box train the kittens? Or will the mother do that? I've locked her inside for now, she has given up trying to go out (luckily). 

I have 1 medium sized litter box that the mother and 3 kittens are going to have to share for a month. I need to do something to allow the kittens to use it without having to climb on it, cause it's a bit high. I'll make some paper stairs or something if required, but I'm not buying a temporary lower box. The spending has already gone far beyond what was planned so we're trying to cut all unnecessary costs, this is the box the kitten we adopt will use when we give the other 2 away and release the spayed mother back outside.

So now back to the litter box bit. Will  I have to train them or will the mother do it, now that she's 24/7 inside? When will they start using it, after they start eating solid food or later? And what about the scooping routines, if 3x 4 week old kittens and a mother use a box, how often will I have to scoop it? Will twice a day be enough? I don't think the kittens will do a lot of stuff, or will they?

Thanks.
 

siobhanb24

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I also have kittens that are nearly 3 weeks and have been walking around on there own since just before 2 weeks so the kitten might off just wondered and got a bit stuck so just keep an eye and try not to worry that ur cat is moving them these kittens also wonder off blanket to under my bed here's a picture off my beautiful kittens

 
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jayjaylou

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Hi

  The mother will potty train them or they just learn themselves very quickly from watching mum.

Twice a day scopping should be enough.

Just be aware that some kittens will try to eat litter. Some litters can totally dry out a kittens mouths

and can be very dangerous to them.

I've always used pine wood litter pellets.

Also , you don't need to buy a special kitten litter tray. Have you any old baking trays or roasting tins

that can be used then thrown away? It won't be long until they can use a normal sized litter tray.
 
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