Cat refused to let her 2 kittens nurse, abandoned them

[ReneeH]

My 14 month old cat, Henrietta, gave birth to her first kitten on Monday, April 27, 2020 and her second one on April 28, 2020. She refused to take care of them. She did not clean them, let them nurse nor take care of the afterbirth. My 4 year old Tabby, Lilah had her babies on April 18, she had 3 of them. So, I tried to give the newborn some kitty milk that I always keep on hand and they did take a little bit. Lilah heard them crying, and she started getting very anxious! So I gave her both of the kittens and she has become mama to them. She now has 5 healthy, beautiful babies! Here's my question, is it possible Henrietta has come into heat again? The vet said I had to wait 6 weeks to get her fixed, but my male cat is trying to get to her now. I don't want her to have any more babies, only 1 liter that will go to some friends of ours and then no more babies for Lilah and Henrietta.
Thanks for your help!

 

[Willowy]

Yes, she definitely can be in heat again! Keep her away from the male until she's spayed. Since she's not nursing her babies, ask the vet if they can spay her sooner---they say 6 weeks because there's a chance she won't let the babies nurse after the surgery, so if she's not nursing, that problem doesn't exist.

If there's an accident and the male gets to her, she can still be spayed without any trouble for the first 3 weeks or so. It can still be done after that, but it does get riskier after the first 3 weeks.

 

[ReneeH]

Thank you so much! I'll be calling my vet in the morning.

 

[cataholic07]

why not get the male fixed to? he can still breed 2 weeks after being neutered so should still be kept separate but yah he should for sure get neutered to.