New Momma Cat Concerns

jwfan4life

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Hello. I am very glad to find you!! I went out to get my paper this morning and there was a very pregnant cat on my porch who was in distress. No sooner did I pick up the paper when she darted inside to the great distress of my three cats inside!! I found her in my bedroom on some clean clothes I was folding and she started going into labor.
I was totally confused but helpful when I could be and now I am the caregiver of a mother cat and 6 BEAUTIFUL kittens!!
Now here are the problems-I had never seen this cat before today so I have NO idea how or even if I should help her. She is feeding the kittens and keeping them clean. She doesn't seem to mind me too much and thats a good thing since she is in my bedroom(of course my other cats are in a revolt since they slept with me before the army arrived). I have put a litterbox in the room although I have no idea if she has ever used one.
She has food and water.
I am at a complete loss of what to do! If anyone could give me some advice I would be forever grateful!!
Valeri
ALSO-she is having a hard time breathing-she can breathe but it sounds like she is stopped up, like a cold.
ALSO ALSO-I read on a website that a mother cat will probably not eat the 1st 24 hours after birth-How long does the no appetite thing last?
THANKS!!
 

mountainmomma21

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Originally Posted by jwfan4life

Hello. I am very glad to find you!! I went out to get my paper this morning and there was a very pregnant cat on my porch who was in distress. No sooner did I pick up the paper when she darted inside to the great distress of my three cats inside!! I found her in my bedroom on some clean clothes I was folding and she started going into labor.
I was totally confused but helpful when I could be and now I am the caregiver of a mother cat and 6 BEAUTIFUL kittens!!
Now here are the problems-I had never seen this cat before today so I have NO idea how or even if I should help her. She is feeding the kittens and keeping them clean. She doesn't seem to mind me too much and thats a good thing since she is in my bedroom(of course my other cats are in a revolt since they slept with me before the army arrived). I have put a litterbox in the room although I have no idea if she has ever used one.
She has food and water.
I am at a complete loss of what to do! If anyone could give me some advice I would be forever grateful!!
Valeri
ALSO-she is having a hard time breathing-she can breathe but it sounds like she is stopped up, like a cold.
ALSO ALSO-I read on a website that a mother cat will probably not eat the 1st 24 hours after birth-How long does the no appetite thing last?
THANKS!!
wow... what a surprise! As far as not eating, Ebony got over that pretty quick... she had the babies on Thursday evening, vomited on Friday evening and Saturday morning. She began eating on Saturday after a quick trip to the vet where she checked out just fine. As far as the kitty cold? I don't know but it seems like maybe she should be seen if she can't breathe well. Have you asked neighbors if they are missing a momma cat? Keep me posted and let me know how the new family is doing!
Erica
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by jwfan4life

ALSO-she is having a hard time breathing-she can breathe but it sounds like she is stopped up, like a cold.
ALSO ALSO-I read on a website that a mother cat will probably not eat the 1st 24 hours after birth-How long does the no appetite thing last?
THANKS!!
Valeri...sounds like this cat needs to be seen by a vet....if she has an Upper Respitory infection or Pneumonia she could spread it to her kittens. One of my foster kittens recently died from Pneumonia..so it is serious if she does have runny eyes and/or a runny nose. Since you don't know this cat's history...keep it away from any of your existing animals until it can be seen by a vet.

Katie
 
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jwfan4life

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Hello. Thanks to everyone for their advice and my mother cat and is much better. Now I have another problem..well two or three.
For some who don't know the stray mother cat, whom I'd never seen before Sunday, ran into my house, into the bedroom and had her kittens! It caused quite an uproar with my other cats but we are managing.
She was an outside cat as far as I know and now she is wanting to go out. She is not being pushy or hateful, she just goes to the door. I am very weary to let her out, one because I don't know if she'll come back and two, I've heard that a cat can get pregnant even though she just had a litter of kittens. She is a very good mother..she takes very good care of the babies and I think she would come back but I would like some opinions from people who know. I am brand new at this and I don't know what to do.
One more question please. I've already noticed a bully in the litter. He pushes the other five out of the way to eat. When he gets done with one teat he pushes another out of the way and takes their teat. Could it be that he is not getting enough to eat from the mother and should I think about supplementing their diet?
I would appeciate any advice you could give me!
Thanks,
Valeri
 

hissy

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She is more than likely in heat- do not let her outside she will become pregnant-

There is always a bully in a litter and the kittens scent a nipple- when they are rooting around, they are looking for the nipple that has their mark on it (that is what kneading the mom's belly does) it marks the nipple. If they smell another mark on the nipple they will move off until they find theirs.

If you notice that all the kittens are not eating- then you can supplement with bottle feeding every three hours for the first week. But they do need mom's milk as well.

www.kitten-rescue.com will help you with the feeding schedule


We had one year during a rainstorm, a strange cat showed up out of the ferns back by the creek and carried a kitten into our knife shop and dropped it on mike's lap! We had never seen this cat before- she proceeded to do this four times, then we took her and the kittens to the house upstairs to the cat room. About 5:00 p.m. she started pitching such a fit and so I told mike I was going to let her out, I did, and she ran back to the rear of our land and vanished in the woods. 45 minutes later she came out dragging the largest kitten I have ever seen, dragged him right to me, and I picked them both up and carried them to the house. We named her Fern and four days later when I went upstairs to check on her, she was dead.
The kittens have since been adopted out to loving homes, and we kept one of her litter-
 
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jwfan4life

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Originally Posted by mountainmomma21

wow... what a surprise! As far as not eating, Ebony got over that pretty quick... she had the babies on Thursday evening, vomited on Friday evening and Saturday morning. She began eating on Saturday after a quick trip to the vet where she checked out just fine. As far as the kitty cold? I don't know but it seems like maybe she should be seen if she can't breathe well. Have you asked neighbors if they are missing a momma cat? Keep me posted and let me know how the new family is doing!
Erica
Hi Erica,
Momma is eating and drinking now. I have ask every neighbor within a 1 or 2 mile radius...nobody!! Someome just probably just dropped her off.....some people really make me sick!!
Thanks for asking and for the advice!!
Valeri
 
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