Hello everyone, glad I found this forum because I am a first time grandma to 9, 5 day old kittens. I feel like things are going well but I am so nervous and could use some reassuring. Our cat Rain is an inside cat but she escaped for 24 hours in late May and a few weeks later, we noticed her getting round and knew there would be babies. I take responsibility for the accident and she is 100% getting spayed at 8 weeks postpartum. This was a first for me so I did lots of research and had her nests all set up, got supplies together and waited for the birth. I went out of town for a night and when I got home she was in heavy labor and gave birth to back to back babies 20 mins later (pretty sure she was waiting for me). She chose the floor next to my husbands chair to give birth (not one of her many boxes) but once the first 2 were born, I moved them to a basket and over the next 3 hours she had 7 more in the basket! The birth went well. She cleaned them up and has been an exemplary mama. They are now in a warm bathroom with the basket, litter, food etc. She nurses all the time and I have been weighing them daily and they are all gaining anywhere from 7-12 grams a day. I have 3 that are very small which definitely makes me worry some but they all seem very content and happy with round bellies and clear urine. I have supplemented a couple of the small ones if it looks like they are behind for the day but they do not love it and since they are all gaining, I have mostly been leaving it to mom. I started feeding mom kitten chow weeks ago when I knew she was preggo. She still gets that plus wet food 3-4 times a day. I mix some kitten formula into it once or twice a day as well. She free feeds and is making lots of milk. I know this is a lot for her so I am trying to focus on giving her everything I can so that she can keep being such a good mom. She is a small, lean cat normally and she really looks sunken now but she was really huge at the end.
Is there anything else I can be doing for her? Can I use Bag Balm on her nipples? She nurses a lot and I want her to be as comfortable as possible.Thanks for listening!
Is there anything else I can be doing for her? Can I use Bag Balm on her nipples? She nurses a lot and I want her to be as comfortable as possible.Thanks for listening!