gave kittens away. worried about the cat

umm my cat had a litter of four kittens... we gave them away yesterday... not only is she walking around meowing, as if looking for the kittens, but she has a lot of milk in her breasts, i was wondering if its bad that she has so much milk. if so what can i do to help her?

How old were the babies and were they weaned?

well 1 or 2 months old.. and they were eating solid food

It's normal for the mom to wander around looking for the babies for a while. It's sad, but totally natural. Now that she doesn't have little ones to take care of, the milk in her utters should dry up. Once it has dried, please be sure to have her spayed (unless you are a true breeder, which it doesn't sound like since you "gave away" the kittens) so she does not have to go through this again. It might be hard for you to watch, but think of the distress she's just lost all of her babies. How scary and frustrating that must be for her!

1 or 2 months is really young to be giving away the kittens, they need their mum until they are 12 weeks old at which point she wont mind them going so much.

I would really reccomend getting the kittens back because if they are one month old they will still need their mothers milk.

Originally Posted by maverick_kitten

1 or 2 months is really young to be giving away the kittens, they need their mum until they are 12 weeks old at which point she wont mind them going so much.

I would really reccomend getting the kittens back because if they are one month old they will still need their mothers milk.

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I agree with maverick_kitten...IF this is an option. 12 weeks is the minimum amount of time a kitten should be with it's mother.

There is a big difference between 1 month and 2 month when it comes to kittens.
1 month is only 4 week, no kitten should be given away that early.
Even two month is too early.

When I had kittens, most of them went to their new homes at 8 weeks, and none of them suffered any ill effects.
I found it was actually harder on the mom if they stayed around till 12 weeks.
Though I had some litters eating solid foods when they were a week and a half old, and others not till 8 weeks. So it was more based on the individual kitten, on when they wernt to their new homes.

How can you not be sure if they were 1 or 2 months old?

At least if they were 2 months old they have a better chance being separated from mom.

IMO you should have your cat neutered immediately.

I got Jess when she was 10 weeks old and I got Alfie when he was 6 weeks.

The differences between how they act was immediate, and probably down to Alfie being taken from his mother too quickly and its a mistake I'll never make again. We had problems with him not eating properly after he wasnt weaned properly from his mother, but luckily, thanks to a lot of love and Jess "teaching" him by being a substitute mum, Alfie is getting on lovely now.

Those babies need to be back with Mum - for their benefits and also for hers. But you have to make mistakes to learn from them so hopefully this wont be a mistake that you repeat if she ever has another litter.

Originally Posted by jessalfie

I got Jess when she was 10 weeks old and I got Alfie when he was 6 weeks.

The differences between how they act was immediate, and probably down to Alfie being taken from his mother too quickly and its a mistake I'll never make again. We had problems with him not eating properly after he wasnt weaned properly from his mother, but luckily, thanks to a lot of love and Jess "teaching" him by being a substitute mum, Alfie is getting on lovely now.

Those babies need to be back with Mum - for their benefits and also for hers. But you have to make mistakes to learn from them so hopefully this wont be a mistake that you repeat if she ever has another litter.

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I got my kitten at 10 weeks too, and he was a big kitten, new how to use a litterbox, and was doing great. I think 10 weeks is a good age to get a kitten.

I agree with the other posters on this. I have kittens that are 9 weeks old now and i still wouldnt have them go to their new home. Mom is still teaching them things. Not feeding them as much at all, but teaching them proper things i kitten should know. and still watching over them...

Moms teach them how to play, how to enjoy napping in the sun, proper litterbox techniques, how to hunt the yummy bugs and other side dishes, proper manners, etc.

Moms basically teach their kittens everything they need to know to be successful in life, it doesn't end at weaning, it ends when the mom has passed on her knowledge.

I second Yosemite's opinion. Have your cat neutered Immediately.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

How can you not be sure if they were 1 or 2 months old?

At least if they were 2 months old they have a better chance being separated from mom.

IMO you should have your cat neutered immediately.

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Originally Posted by xocats

I second Yosemite's opinion. Have your cat neutered Immediately.

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I third it.

Originally Posted by goldielocks

umm my cat had a litter of four kittens... we gave them away yesterday... not only is she walking around meowing, as if looking for the kittens, but she has a lot of milk in her breasts, i was wondering if its bad that she has so much milk. if so what can i do to help her?

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you'll just have to be patient, it may take a few days to a few weeks for your cat to get over the loss of the kittens.
Her milk will eventually go away as well, perhpas a good tummy massage will help. I had a few cats love that, and few hate it.
I'd just be a bit more loving/cuddly with her, it must be pretty hard on them to lose thier babies...good luck

I agree with Aquiel, the age that you wean your kittens really just depends on the individual litter, sometimes even the individual kitten! I got my two boys from my mother's back yard where a feral cat had kittens...Hutch left his mom on his own when he was less than 5 weeks old, and was eating solid food. Boots, however, hung around his mom for another 2 weeks. I have also seen kittens wander away from their mothers at 4 weeks and not come back, and seen some fight like the devil at 3 months when you attempt to take them away from their mom.
And about her not being sure whether the kittens were one or 2 months old, I took a glance at her profile and discovered that by her age, she is *probably* living at home, which leads me to assume that her mom was probably the main one in charge of the kittens. And, being a teenager, I'm sure she has a busy life and the exact dates of the kittens births are probably not the first thing in her mind!
So for those of you who are jumping all over her back for not knowing the exact date, take a deep breath and relax. She's just asking about how to make her momma cat feel better, not asking for lectures on spaying (not neutering...that's for male cats lol) and people implying that she is irresponsible for finding the kittens a good home.
I mean really, at least she isn't putting them in a pillow case and throwing them in a river, right?
Goldielocks: I'm sure your cat will feel better soon, she's probably just a little depressed and missing her babies. When we take the kittens away, we don't really give the mom a chance to get sick of them. But she'll move on in a week or so, just be sure to give her lots of cuddles, and good food!

Yes, I agree that kitten developement is fairly case by case, and yes, mom will be ok in a few days to a couple weeks.
Without kittens though, she'll be coming into heat again fairly quickly, so your family will want to think about getting her fixed, ASAP.

Neuter is by the way, perfectly acceptable, regardless of gender.
The word is a form of the word neutral, it is neither a male, nor a female thing, the gender is neuter.