Help!!!!! Nesting Cat(s)

I have two female cats who were littermates and are very close to each other. They are both outside cats and expecting. One of the females had a litter of 6 kittens 1 week ago. The second female is due any day now. The first female to give birth moved her litter of kittens from her nest to the second female's nest. Now at any given time both adults can be found in one nest nursing the first litter of kittens. How can I separate the mother and mother to be? Will it endanger the second litter of kittens to exist in the same environment with kittens a week older? Will the first litter of kittens use up all the colostrum from the unborn ones? Please help.

Originally Posted by danigurl07

I have two female cats who were littermates and are very close to each other. They are both outside cats and expecting. One of the females had a litter of 6 kittens 1 week ago. The second female is due any day now. The first female to give birth moved her litter of kittens from her nest to the second female's nest. Now at any given time both adults can be found in one nest nursing the first litter of kittens. How can I separate the mother and mother to be? Will it endanger the second litter of kittens to exist in the same environment with kittens a week older? Will the first litter of kittens use up all the colostrum from the unborn ones? Please help.

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Danigirl....can you bring both cats and their kittens indoors and keep them indoors only. The problem is that cats can become pregnant again as early as a week after giving birth and it is best if both these cats are indoors and able to care for their kittens.

Katie

It is really really important to keep both cats indoors and seperated with each of their litters. Please have them kept indoors until the kittens are weaned and they are spayed when the babies are 8 weeks or so. They get pregnant so quickley and will even if they aren't in heat. They need to be spayed too for their health. It is not good for them to be continuously getting pregnant over and over again forever. If you spay them asap then it will greatly reduce the risk of them getting cancers and other diseases when they are older. Plus, with each litter they have, that is dozens and dozens of more kittens that you will be responsible for vaccinating and spay and neutering and that will just rack up huge vet bills.

Hi Danigurl07 and welcome to TCS!

Have you brought these two indoors? If you haven't, you should if this is at all possible. The best solution would be if you could confine them together somehow since they are close, preferably in the same room, but confined within that room. I use extra-large dog crates for this and have found that they come in very handy even after the delivery - you never know when you might need to confine a pet. If you find you don't need them, you can always sell them. They are relatively inexpensive at Wal-Mart, I bought my extra-large one there for less than $60 I think ... but even the size down from that would be ok and I think it is less than $40. This would still allow these two girls to be together.

The colostrum doesn't normally come in until after delivery, however, it isn't a good idea to let the kittens you have now nurse from the 2nd Mommy.

Also, just a little reminder ... both of these girls can get pregnant again in a very short time after they have their babies. You must not let either of them go back outside again at all until you have both of them spayed. You can safely do this after the kittens are all completely weaned, probably somewhere around their 8 to 10 weeks birthdate. Additionally, outside can be a dangerous place ... the possibility of something bad happening and preventing these little girls to properly care for their babies is very high. There are also deadly diseases out there which they can bring inside to the kittens. Just so you know ...

Originally Posted by gayef

You can safely do this after the kittens are all completely weaned, probably somewhere around their 8 to 10 month birthdate.

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I think you mean week, not month

Oooops, thanks Jen for a good catch! I will go and edit that right now. LOL

Thanks for your help everyone!!!

Originally Posted by danigurl07

Thanks for your help everyone!!!

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Keep us informed on how it goes to get these girls indoors. Gaye has provided you some really useful information. Our goal is to help your 2 cats and their kittens and have this be their final litter.

Katie

Please keep us updated on how the kitties are doing. I used to have outside cats that weren't spayed...it was so fun to see the kittens. But in time I realized that it was too dangerous for all, moms and babies out there. Now I foster pregnant cats, so I still get the fun of babies, without adding to the overpopulation problem.

In fact, I have a litter of six fosters born 3/14/06, so they are probably the same age as yours!

Hello Everyone!!! Sorry it took so long for an update..... I moved the two mothers and first litter of kittens inside to the same enclosed room(I knew they wouldn't have it any other way). The second mother gave birth to her kittens 10 days after the first(I was at church and a little shocked when I got home). She also had six kittens. As I expected, she did not give birth to the kittens in her nest but in the nest with the first litter of kittens. After about 2 days of persistence I succeeded in keeping the litters separate. Unfortunately, it took twice as long to train the mothers to only run to thier own kittens' cries. All of the first litter has eyes wide open. They are using their legs whenever they aren't sleeping and are quickly learning how to climb out of thier bed. Two kittens in the second litter have thier eyes open, but they aren't quite in the exploratory stage yet. I am a little worried about the first litter though....Lately, thier mother has been very slow or non-responsive to their cries. Many times she will sit outside of her nest and watch the kittens look for her and try to climb towards her(of course they can smell and see her a little). If I place her with the kittens, she will usually stay for a few minutes or until I leave....If she continues to do this, I will be ready(I am heavily armed with powdered milk, nursing bottles, and baby wipes). Thanks again!

When was the first litter born?

The first litter was born March 16th.

They are still very young, are you weighing them every day? I would do that to see if they are gaining a sufficent amount (10-20 grams is normal) and then suppliment as needed.

How are the two moms and the 12 kittens doing. I would be pulling my hair out WOW.