Diet and care for emaciated stray Queen. Suggestions please (pics)

Non clumping litter is the super cheap stuff, Johnny Cat, etc and just says clay litter.

Dollar stores carry it too often times.

Mom is not gaining any weight. In fact she has lost a bit. Is this normal?

Weight 
8/25/2016 7.2lb
08/27/2016 7.6lb
9/02/2016.  7.0lb

She has been eating a lot of food. For some reason she does not want Fancy Feast, but eats a lot of the kitten dry food and I cook chicken breast that I give her a little 2 times a day for the past week. 

She is not drinking KMR, but ended up accepting pedyalite combined with water, which she drinks a lot. 

The kittens eat a little kibble and KMR, but they still feed from her. At this point they are about 5 weeks old. 

I think I will be forcing the kittens to eat by just not putting mom inside every 3 to 4 hrs as I have been doing. At night she stays inside with them all night from 11pm til 8am, but she gets food inside the cage at around 6am. She has plenty of food. I think the kittens are just too much burden for her as some have already suggested, but never thought she would not gain weight even with so much food and care. I can only imagine what could have happened if I left her outside getting fed only 2 times a day if she was lucky.

The more kitten food she eats the better - it is very rich in calories.

Is this normal?

Mom has her breasts very swollen and a bit hard. They were not like this before. They looked big, but were never hard. 

For the past few days I have been letting the kittens eat on their own during the day. Meaning no mom for most of the day. They have their mother all night in the cage though. 

The kittens come out and play at least 2 times during the day. but they do not seek her for feeding when they are out. They are only interested in jumping and sprinting like little maniacs. 

Could this be mastitis or just regular hardening due to not feeding them as much?

savethekitty

The bottom two look like they could have mastitis. If so, it spreads easily through the glands. Antibiotics clear it up fairly quickly.

Kittens usually nurse for weeks, and milk dries up slowly. That's not happening here, so she could be infected.

I recommend a vet check tomorrow to be sure. In the meantime, please apply a warm, damp compress to her mammaries to soften them, draw out infection, and offer relief.

Please let us know how she is.

Have you been separating mom from the babies during the day?

talkingpeanut said:

Have you been separating mom from the babies during the day?

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Yes. For the past few days I don't let her inside the cage during the day and the kittens are fine eating on their own. Could  this be happening because they aren't drinking as much from her?

Even thought the bottom breasts are larger and look inflamed, the other breasts are also hardening. 

I have not tried to squeeze them, but I have pinched lightly and she does not seem to be in pain from that. 

Today they came out to play 2 times and they were not interested in their milk, however just now they wanted to feed and she allowed them for just a few minutes and then walked away. 

She has been eating a lot and drinking water as usual. I did notice though that the second time I had the kittens playing around and running, she didn't come out of her spot to be around. She was resting. 

Should I put her inside with the kittens for the night? 

Savethekitty said:

Yes. For the past few days I don't let her inside the cage during the day and the kittens are fine eating on their own. Could  this be happening because they aren't drinking as much from her?

Even thought the bottom breasts are larger and look inflamed, the other breasts are also hardening. 
I have not tried to squeeze them, but I have pinched lightly and she does not seem to be in pain from that. 

Today they came out to play 2 times and they were not interested in their milk, however just now they wanted to feed and she allowed them for just a few minutes and then walked away. 
She has been eating a lot and drinking water as usual. I did notice though that the second time I had the kittens playing around and running, she didn't come out of her spot to be around. She was resting. 

Should I put her inside with the kittens for the night? 

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Why are you separating them?

It was suggested that I give her a break from them in order to let her gain some weight. 

While they do look large, she doesn't appear to have an infection, from what I can see.

They are pinkish but we would be too if all of the sudden the milk was backing up, she is about to start drying up soon from not feeding, and they will feel hard.

Mastitis will not be pale pink, it will look red and hot.

Savethekitty said:

 
It was suggested that I give her a break from them in order to let her gain some weight. 

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She doesn't need a break if they are still young, just feed her well and let her tire of nursing them.

Not sure of their age, and can see mom should be allowed away from them during the day, but if she can go back in at her own leisure, they will nurse.

catwoman707 said:

 
While they do look large, she doesn't appear to have an infection, from what I can see.

They are pinkish but we would be too if all of the sudden the milk was backing up, she is about to start drying up soon from not feeding, and they will feel hard.

Mastitis will not be pale pink, it will look red and hot.

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Thank god! 

catwoman707 said:

 
She doesn't need a break if they are still young, just feed her well and let her tire of nursing them.

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She want to come out of the cage during the day. Just for the past few days I have started to increase the time she spends out of the cage, but they were still feeding from her during the day when they came out to play. Before, I used to put her in the cage several times a day so she could feed them and then when done she would come out. 

I guess it has been my mistake, poor baby, if I don't let her out they jump and harass her inside the cage, but I will keep her inside tonight as usual and tomorrow will revert to placing her in the cage to feed them. 

I hope I did not mess her tiny system. I feel bad. 

No need to feel bad, and yes, at their age they are so rowdy and will wear momma down fast, so if they are eating food on their own, ALL of them, I wouldn't torture her by leaving her stuck in there all night, maybe before bed put her inside, then at bedtime let her out, then in the am let her feed, and so on.

She's a great mom!

Why must the kittens stay caged? Can you let them explore and live in a room now outside of the cage?

sarthur2 said:

Why must the kittens stay caged? Can you let them explore and live in a room now outside of the cage?

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I don't have an extra room. I have the cage in the living room with my adult male and the new adult female. The male will play rough with the kittens if not supervised and I have seen the mother get very defensive with my male several times. In other words I fear what could happen while I am asleep upstairs. I can't keep my male upstairs with me because he will start scratching the door endlessly until I let him out. 

I wish I had more space, but for a 2 bedroom I would have to pay $1500 and it would not be much bigger than my condo right now. Crazy rents here in south Florida and way too many cats to help. 

Then there is also the pottying all over the place!

As long as the cage has plenty of space and they are allowed out to romp at least once a day for an hour or two, it's okay to cage them, it's what they are used to anyway.

I have a cat room that is separate from my house in the backyard, like a completely converted garage turned studio, full of various cages for moms with babies, foster kittens and cats, so I'm used to the caged thing, besides what a mess they make at this age, and so much trouble they can find too!

You have a great setup there! It's like your cat studio

The cage is a dog kennel 37x25 with space for a small, but adequate litter box, food and water. 

I let the kittens out to play 2 times a day and they jump, climb, sprint, chase, harass my adult male and everyone in their path. Then I put them back, they poop and go to sleep.  

This funny thing just happened. I put a little bit of chopped cooked chicken thighs in a small plate for the mom and the kittens went straight to it. What I thought was funny is that one took over and started growling and using his paws to block the others from reaching in. He was quite protective of his chicken thighs lol. Never seen a kitten so young growling to protect his food. Apparently chicken thigh is on the menu for the little ones starting tomorrow.

Yep I have seen this lots of times, and you're right, it's so darn cute to see that! Blocking it and growling.

It's food aggression because they really like it, not so good if it continues as they grow up of course, oh and if you can find a little furry mouse toy with the colored fur on it, you should see that one! Tiny kitten growling with it's prey in it's mouth......lol

UPDATE:

The little vamps took care of the problem last night and this morning (at 6am) her breasts were back to normal. 

I apologize for worrying everyone who has taken an interest in this thread, but know I am grateful I have your advise and concern. 

Here she is this morning.

She looks very happy, relaxed, and comfortable