Cat Not Seeming to Feed Properly

Hey!

After an accidental and slightly overdue pregnancy, my little girl gave birth to four gorgeous, healthy babies 36 hours ago.The only complication we had initially was she didn't chew the umbilical cords herself. For the first twenty four hours, it all seemed fine, she was feeding them constantly and all seemed to be doing okay. In the last twelve hours, she's been leaving her nest constantly, she's rather ancy and has now been confined to one room. Despite that, she's still getting up. She no longer seems to be eating much herself and keeps leaving the babies, hence neglecting to feed her. If I take her and lay her down, she'll allow them to feed for a little period of time before curling up or rolling away from them. She's still grooming and so on but not feeding very well. Also they all seem to be arguing over nipples/having trouble finding them. I also can't get any milk out with my fingers. (I just wanted to see if she'd gone dry on me or something)

Sorry for the long post [emoji]9786[/emoji] Thank you guys!

She may still be settling down.

For now, please spend as much time in her room as you can. Are you feeding her unlimited dry kitten food and several meals of wet per day? She needs quality food to make quality milk.

You also need to get a small scale, and small needle less syringe, and kitten milk replacer. Powdered is best. Avoid Hartz.

Mom can get pregnant again at any time. She needs to stay 100% inside and away from intact males.

How old is she? Sometimes young moms aren't really sure what's going on and need some guidance. Sometimes young moms also dry up. I would get some kitten milk replacement and a scale. Try to sit with her and encourage her to nurse them. It is also possible she is not done delivering or she has a stuck kitten. Maybe consider a trip to the vet if the antsy behavior continues. If it is a stuck kitten it could kill her. Moms usually don't really leave the nest very much the first week. They go to the litter box and they eat. Personally, I bring their food to them so I make sure they're getting something to eat.

Hey, so Smudge is barely a year old herself. She's rather tiny, I was scared there would be issues. Anyway, the vet did an X-ray and was certain she was only carrying four kittens so I'm fairly sure they're all out. Her litter tray and food are right in front of her nest so she's got easy access to that. I've been sitting with her and encouraging her to feed and she's definitely getting better at staying there. I saw some milk when a kitten pulled away so she's not dry at least. If she's still having any feeding issues in the morning, I will endeavour to find kitten milk. Thank you for the help guys!

Hi I hope things have gotten better for smudge and her babies, my cat Baydah had 3 kittens 8 weeks ago and I had concerns don't get me wrong she did all the usual ate the placenta cords ect and was grooming and feeding she didn't leave then for 3 days but I was worried the day after the birth as she seemed huge still so I took her to the vet and am so glad I did, she was totally fine but I was worried sick so the check up allowed me to relax plus he checked all 3 kittens and they were also in perfect health,I also named one smudge as the kittens are pure white apart from the female who had a black smudge on her head lol anyway if I were you id get her checked as I can see you truly love your little princess and if you left it and things went wrong you would be devastated best to go she could even gave some placenta inside and that's very serious,please keep me updated on her and if you have time maybe share with everyone some pics here's one of smudge

Your Smudge is absolutely gorgeous! Mine was named Smudge because of the little black smear across her nose. I'm taking her into the vet first thing in the morning, even though it all seems okay now, just to be on the safe side. I'll put up some pics of my children [emoji]9786[/emoji]

isakandeven said:

Your Smudge is absolutely gorgeous! Mine was named Smudge because of the little black smear across her nose. I'm taking her into the vet first thing in the morning, even though it all seems okay now, just to be on the safe side. I'll put up some pics of my children [emoji]9786[/emoji]

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I really don't advise taking her in if all seems well. It exposes mom and babies to illness since they would all have to go.

Weighing them every day is the best way to know that they are thriving.

I agree that weighing them is the first best option right now. You can use a postal scale or a kitchen scale. They aren't too expensive if you don't already own one. Probably cheaper than a vet visit. I only try to bring my foster moms and newborns in if it's absolutely necessary. Its less stressful on them to be able to stay put. If she's already restless then a vet visit might not be a great idea right now. If she begins showing signs of illness like vomiting, diarhhea, lethargy, etc then I'd definitely bring her in. It almost just sounds like she's young and her motherly hormones aren't quite kicking in. If you weigh the kittens and they are gaining weight and momma isn't acting sick then everything should be just fine