okay, a little back story. Mom cat was a stray who was picked up had two very small kittens that passed. The shelter had kittens brought in around the same age as her kittens 1-2 days old. Mom cat is nursing the kittens. She refuses to use the litter box. She has not used the restroom in about 12-24 hours. I reached out to my rescue is this normal? I don't think she has been cleaning kittens. She will only feed them in a crate that is hidden. HELP
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Foster Mom And Orphan Kittens
- Thread starter melbee
- Start Date
Just to get a better picture - how do you know she is not cleaning them after she nurses them? And, is the reason you know she is not 'going' is because you have a litterbox outside the hidden crate and you have never seen her use it? Could she be going in the hidden crate? Also, where is her food? I am not questioning you, just trying to an idea of the set up. Thanks for your patience!
I currently have a foster mom and kittens too but the kittens were brought in 2 days before their mom. I have them in a kennel with a litter box. She actually did the same thing. I was worried when she didn’t use the litter box for almost 2 days but then she started “going” without any problems. I believe it was just the stress of being caught at put in a home.
As for cleaning them, if she is allowing them to nurse, she almost certainly is cleaning them. Typically when they reject them, they will not allow them to nurse. If she is weary about people (most street cats are-especially if they have kittens too), she will be too concerned about you being there to clean them in your presence.
Just give it some time. I actually just took my foster mom’s kittens away because they are weaned and they were driving her crazy in the kennel. I also have 3 kittens that are younger than hers and she accepted them and is now nursing them as of today. She is much happier with her new babies and her litter is doing well also so it was a win-win.
As for cleaning them, if she is allowing them to nurse, she almost certainly is cleaning them. Typically when they reject them, they will not allow them to nurse. If she is weary about people (most street cats are-especially if they have kittens too), she will be too concerned about you being there to clean them in your presence.
Just give it some time. I actually just took my foster mom’s kittens away because they are weaned and they were driving her crazy in the kennel. I also have 3 kittens that are younger than hers and she accepted them and is now nursing them as of today. She is much happier with her new babies and her litter is doing well also so it was a win-win.
