queen in heat question. after pregnancy.

my queen molly had a litter of 4 kittens on the 19th of april.
all 4 kittens are doing really well, and mum had been doing a really good job.
molly has been confied to the bathroom and up intill a week ago everythign was fine.
we were letting her in to our bedroom for a break from the kittens now and again and giving her a fuss. then returning her back to the bathroom.

however a week ago she came into heat, we knwo this becasue she has been sat by the door whineing and calling.
then 5 days ago i saw her in the back garden!

i went up stairs to the bathroom to see she had ripped the bath panel off, has found a hole (we did not even know was there). had crawled througth the cavity of the wall and escaped.

we have now compleatly nailed everythinbg down. she has spoent the last 4 days throwing her self at the window. she has ripped a claw out and has dropped loads of weight.

what the hell can i do?

i dont belive she was got at when she had escaped. becasue she has not quietened down.

its got to the point now where she rushes from feeding the kittens to jump at the window and back again.

she dosnt seem to be doing anythign else with the kittens other than toileting them and feeding them. is this normal?

vets wont spey till milk has dried out.

molly is looking so thin, obviosuly from all the stress of trying to escape.
however all 4 kittens remain big and plum.

I'd find a very large cage or dog crate and confine her and the kits in it. Mine never acted that desparate when in heat. In fact, my rex queen would not even attempt to go out the door when in heat - but I never took that for granted!

If you don't have a cage, then confine her in one small room and do not let her out - don't even open the windows (she can rip the screen out).

she is already confined to the smallest quiestest, safest room in the house. i have 2 other cats and 3 dogs and a small toddler. the room she is in no one can get into to mess with her.
the window is always shut. the babies are in a builti n cupboard and have been there since birth.

i have a dog cage and have tried her in it. it is big enougth to house an adult boxer dog. its very big.

however she was so violent in there, lashing around that she was squashing her kittensd and this is actually when she ripped the claw off.

im worried she will eventually stress out so much she will stop feeding her kittens.

Originally Posted by pussygalore

she is already confined to the smallest quiestest, safest room in the house. i have 2 other cats and 3 dogs and a small toddler. the room she is in no one can get into to mess with her.
the window is always shut. the babies are in a builti n cupboard and have been there since birth.

i have a dog cage and have tried her in it. it is big enougth to house an adult boxer dog. its very big.

however she was so violent in there, lashing around that she was squashing her kittensd and this is actually when she ripped the claw off.

im worried she will eventually stress out so much she will stop feeding her kittens.

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If she is acting this aggressive...I would seriously consider taking her in to be spayed. Although not ideal solution..it is better than having her trying to get out and risking another pregnancy. Your vet can tell you whether he/she feels it is appropriate to fix her at this time. Make sure your vet is aware that she has another litter and that she is leaving her kittens to get outside.

I just read that your vet won't spay until her milk has dried...but I would get a second opinion...especially given how she is reacting.

Katie

I agree with TNR, get a second opinion. It sounds like it would be in her best interest to get spayed now

I would search all over for a vet who would spay her now because this will get worse..

I agree that getting her spayed will calm her down a lot.

Another thing I would suggest if possible is let her and the babies out of the bathroom.

They are at the age where she would naturally be weaning them and teaching them out to be independent. One of the ways she would do that is to leave them by themselves and push them more and more when they come to nurse. By confining them in a bathroom together, you're not giving her that chance, so it's probably becoming stressful to her she can't do what nature is telling her to do.

Is there any reason why they can't have run of the house or at least a bigger room?

Also, she's most likely pretty sore by now, and the more and longer the kittens nurse (and in a close space like that they will push her to nurse them more) the longer it will take to wean them and have her milk dry up.

She wants a break from them for many reasons, so keeping her confined with them at this age like that, I'd want out too. LOL

I think a combination of the two might help solve the problem.

They are at the age where she would naturally be weaning them

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They aren't even 4 weeks yet...it's only the 9th of May and they were born April 19th. I kept mom and her kittens in a bathroom until the kittens were 8 weeks of age...she was fine. I would think that it would not be a good idea for mom to have free range of the home...especially given that she escaped previously.

Katie

A cat on here had a c-section and was spayed right away and she has been nursing her babies. I am sure at 4 weeks the mom can be spayed and still nurse a few more weeks.. Unless I am totally wrong.

Duh, sorry, the date which would have told me the age didn't register when I read it. she may need a bit of a break also though, perhaps putting them in a spare room or one of the bedrooms, which is a little bigger than the bathroom and might make her more comfortable?

I do know that when the kittens were this age, Deja Vu was spending more time out of the box (although always within seeing and listening distance).

as i type this message molly is on my lap. she comes out into my bedroom for a fuss everyday.
although the kittens are in a cupboard the door is always open and have a towl drapping across the inside door way to stop them climbing out but also to stop draughts.we have started to bring both molly and the kittens out into my room for a bit each day as well.she is confident with this. she will sleep on my bed and let them suckle. or she will take the opertunity when we are handlign them to have a wash and relax.

the kittens are looking very well. she is giving them all she has.

the bathroom is not very small. and she is able to sit on the window ledge and have some sun. witch she enjoys. she also has toys in there.

i sit in with her several times a day.

to be honest i really think it is her desire to mate that is making her this way. she has done it once and wants to do it again.

i cant give her full run of the house becasue there are just too many opertunities for her to escape.

with people coming in and out, and a little girl who knows no better.

the kittens cant have full run of the house becasue of my 3 dogs. who are cat proof but being young (all 3 under a 1 year old). they would just be too rougth with the kittens.

also my other cats go out. and the risk of them brininging in disease to the kittens.
my other cats are 2 catrated males. who are still quite tom catish and play rougth.

i just rang my vet again. he has said that the reason why they dont speay intill the kittens are fully on solids is becasue spaying causes the milk to dry up, its a hormonal thing as the overies are removed.

he has told thought that we coudl; be looking at getting it done when the kittens are 5 weeks old. and i can top up there solids with some KMR rather than them relying on the mother.

they are almost 3 weeks old. so we have not got too long to wait.

i feel a bit better about it now.

I'm glad things are looking up.

You said you had the kittens in a cupboard. Is the cupboard high up? If it is, don't underestimate the ability of kittens to get out of things you think they can't get out of. They could fall and get hurt. Or Mom could accidentally drop them trying to take them out of there.

If the cupboard is floor level, never mind

Originally Posted by Charmed654321

I'm glad things are looking up.

You said you had the kittens in a cupboard. Is the cupboard high up? If it is, don't underestimate the ability of kittens to get out of things you think they can't get out of. They could fall and get hurt. Or Mom could accidentally drop them trying to take them out of there.

If the cupboard is floor level, never mind

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That's a good suggestion, I just assumed the cupboard would be floor level so the kittens didn't fall out of it, but some people may just not know how soon they are able to crawl around. a waist or head high drop could really injure them. My kittens were climbing out through the space in their cage at 3 1/2 -4 weeks old. They are almost 5 weeks and are climbing over child gates and up on the furniture already. (little turds )

yes the bottom of the cupbord is the bathroom floor.