Caring for stray mama and her kittens

[Franklincats2023]

About 9 days ago a stray cat gave birth on our property (we live in the country) to her 4 kittens. We brought them into our screened in porch, gave them a box with towels, and food for mama. She’s done great feeding them and she’s pretty friendly with us. She’s fine for us to touch babies to change towels etc…we had the screen door propped open during the day, but she’s stayed in until today and she wondered around somewhat close by. She came back in with my son and got back in with babies. So my question- should we keep the screen door open during day for her or keep her in? How do we tell that all babies are doing good? Thanks fir any guidance. Never had cats before so very new to this.

 

[Sarthur2]

Please keep the screened door closed. At some point she will go into heat again and possibly disappear for days while mating. She will return pregnant again. In the meantime, the kittens will be without a mother and need hand rearing with syringes or bottles and kitten formula.

Place a litter box on your porch if you haven’t already, and warn your son to use another door.

You can weigh the kittens daily in grams using a digital kitchen scale to track their weights. They should steadily gain 6-10 grams or more apiece each day. You can flea comb them if they have fleas, and their eyes should be open by 2 weeks. If you see pus or crust around their eyes, wipe with a warm damp cloth.

Please plan to get mom spayed when the kittens are 6-8 weeks old so that she does not have back to back litters and can go outside again.

The kittens will need spaying and neutering around 12-16 weeks of age, along with kitten vaccines. Please do not give them away to just anyone, especially without spaying or neutering. They need to stay with their mom during this time.

We have lots of informative articles about kitten care, and are here for all your questions!

F Franklincats2023