How do you know if they are getting enough milk??

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jezah

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I just rescued a momma cat and 5 kittens who are 2 1/2 weeks old. I am unsure if the momma(who is skin and bones)is giving enoygh milk. The littelest kitten in the bunch picked up a peice of kitten food today and tried to suck on it. They also always seem to be looking for a nipple on momma.
 
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Look at the skin on their little tummies - is it stretched nicely across the belly or is it saggy and empty looking? What color is their skin on the belly? Is it a nice, pale pink or is it an angry looking reddish pink? Are the babies more wiggly and vocal most of the time or do they settle in quietly at all? Have you weighed them? How much do they weigh? That really is your best indicator.

What are you feeding Momma and how often?
 
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jezah

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I would assume pale pink. However, its hard to tell...3 are black and the other 2 are dark tabby. I am feeding momma wellness kitten food, KMR liquid to get her weight up and Nutro wet kitten food. I havent weighed the kittens...I will do that when I get to the vet to test momma for FeLV and FIV
 
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I was going to say...the vet should be able to tell you if the kittens are getting enough milk from mom. When are you taking mom and kittens in?

Katie
 
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The vet wouldnt look at the kittens without us paying 35$ per kitten. The vet tech looked and said they actually look 4 weeks old, not 2 1/2 like I thought. They were eating baby food we had out for momma today....so maybe they are weaning? They had never had solid food before so I tried to stop them from eating to much but obviously I couldnt take away mommas dry food....and if I took away the baby food the kittens went after the dry food which is WAY to huge for them. So I left out the baby food and the 5 finished off a whole bottle. Is this ok? Also...they have fleas, and the vet gave Momma advantage. The vet did this at around 3:30pm this afternoon and it is now 1:00am in the morning and their are still live fleas crawling on the babies.....
 
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Originally Posted by Jezah

The vet wouldnt look at the kittens without us paying 35$ per kitten. The vet tech looked and said they actually look 4 weeks old, not 2 1/2 like I thought. They were eating baby food we had out for momma today....so maybe they are weaning? They had never had solid food before so I tried to stop them from eating to much but obviously I couldnt take away mommas dry food....and if I took away the baby food the kittens went after the dry food which is WAY to huge for them. So I left out the baby food and the 5 finished off a whole bottle. Is this ok? Also...they have fleas, and the vet gave Momma advantage. The vet did this at around 3:30pm this afternoon and it is now 1:00am in the morning and their are still live fleas crawling on the babies.....
Click to expand...
Jezah...you have to be VERY CAREFUL with using flea control on kittens....the BEST thing you can do is use a flea comb and pick these fleas off the kittens. Also....you can feed both mom and kittens 'kitten food' both dry and wet. I would hold off on having mom spayed until the kittens reach the age of 6-8 weeks of age...but make sure that mom is not allowed back outdoors until she has been spayed.

Katie
 
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