HELP for my friends new litter of kitties

[Catmam2OceanBlue]

Just looking for some advice I have a kitten boy called Ocean Bleu who's 6month and his sister kitten who my neighbour has got out and got pregnant.. she's had her litter yesterday a litter of 4 kittens. I feel awful for her she's a really tiny kitty herself so must of been difficult.. Anyway she keeps carrying her kittens upstairs by her mouth and hiding them, obviously looking for a nice quiet place for them, she's feeding them brilliant but can't really be bothered with the kittens once she's fed them and hides them and goes down to her owner for extra cuddles. My neighbour keeps losing them round the house. She has a crate but the mother cat stands on babies and gets restless in there so she hasn't kept up with using it. I think it sounds very instinctive and normal to carry her babies abit rough as they would in the wild so I've told my neighbour don't over handle the kittens as mother needs to bond no matter how anxious you are watching it happen. I'm wondering have I given the right advice? I think mother kitty can sense my neighbours anxiety too which doesn't help as she never had a litter of kittens before. The worry is she's losing the kittens when the mother kitty is hiding them in drawers etc and that's a worry as she has a household of 3 kids who might accidently sit on them or squash them.

Any advice appreciated that I can pass on

 

[Norachan]

If she's in a house with a lot of children, which is potentially going to be quite noisy, it would be a good idea to confine the mother and her litter to one room. Cats do move their litters around, but moving them multiple times in the first day is a sign that she's anxious.

I'd really recommend kitten proofing the room and keeping the kittens confined until they've had their first vaccines.

Kitten Proofing Your Home: 13 Practical Tips – TheCatSite Articles

It's OK to handle the kittens, but maybe only your neighbour rather than all the kids as well. I'd suggest only allowing one person to handle them and take care of the mother until they're over the first couple of weeks, as that's when they're at their most vulnerable.

The mother cat will come into heat again soon after giving birth. Tell your neighbour she needs to make a spay appointment for her within the next 4 to 6 weeks and make sure she doesn't get out again in the mean time.

 

[StefanZ]

A good idea is if your neigbour, the owners, too become members here, and can directly ask for advices. Especielly If there comes more problems.

Re the spaying. Its fully possible ot spay relatively early after delivery, as mentioned above. Kittens will usually be able to continue to nurse.
But if she is an inside only cat, and no expecial problems, the most common is to spay moms when the kittens are about 8 weeks. I mean, the vet may react if an earlier spaying is wished.

But if they cant quarantee the momma is ALWAYS inside only, no chance of sneaking out, its wise with an earlier spaying... because she will almost surely try to sneak out.
Its fully possible to spay afterwards also, but spay abortion isnt fun.

 

[Sarthur2]

Is the neighbor’s kitten your former kitten? And you have the brother? Is he neutered?

I agree that the mother kitten and kittens need to be in one room only and children should not handle the kittens for the first 3 weeks. She needs spaying soon and not let outside as Norachan stated.

Will your neighbor possibly let you “foster” the mom and kittens for a few weeks at your house? It might solve these problems and take a load off your neighbor.

It’s very kind of you to post on her behalf. I can fully understand your concerns!
Catmam2OceanBlue

 

[Catmam2OceanBlue]

Is the neighbor’s kitten your former kitten? And you have the brother? Is he neutered?

I agree that the mother kitten and kittens need to be in one room only and children should not handle the kittens for the first 3 weeks. She needs spaying soon and not let outside as Norachan stated.

Will your neighbor possibly let you “foster” the mom and kittens for a few weeks at your house? It might solve these problems and take a load off your neighbor.

It’s very kind of you to post on her behalf. I can fully understand your concerns!
Catmam2OceanBlue

I baught my kitten from a home that was in poor condition with the cats health not a first priority they didn't have warm sleeping area just a cardboard box and were eating from Ash trays.. I didn't realise the conditions these kittens were living in when I baught my boy and I told my neighbour and she went to the home and baught all the rest of the litter, kept a girl and rehomed the rest to better homes. So yes I have a boy from the same litter as the girl kitten my neighbour has who has just became a mother kitty herself. I have a dog at home and a toddler so not sure my living situation is any better for the new litter of kittens as my toddler can be boistrous at times, luckily our kitten is used to that and the dog does her own thing but I imagine a new mom kitty may be overwhelmed with all that having just had a litter.

She had noticed the mother kitten taking the babies upstairs so she placed them in a bed box under her toddlers cot so it's abit more peaceful for the time being

 

[Catmam2OceanBlue]

I have my boy booked in to be neutered in the coming week. I have had alot of issues getting him neutered when he was younger because the vets in my area wanted to do it alongside microchipping and vaccines so it wasn't too much for a kitten to go through all at once. I was refused him getting done due to a national shortage of vaccines due to increase of cat ownership during covid and deemed too uncomfortable for the kitten to go through the other procedures then have to come back for vaccines once they became available so my vets only recently started taking appointments again to get all 3. He is really a house cat but does venture to the front of the house on occasion so it's my priority to get him neutered and my neighbour is taking kitten mom to get spayed soon as she's able too

 

[catsknowme]

Your kitties are certainly in good hands and the children will have furry friends who will be trusted confidants until,ideally, the college years. Until they are weaned, a good practice is to allow only minimal handling of kittens - overhandling of neonates is included in the " inappropriate environment " category of reasons why tinies die before they are of weaning age (after weaning, infections are the leading cause of death). Moving the nest to a more peaceful area was an excellent move!