How long til my foster cat gives birth

[Sarthur2]

D donnak

I love that you have moved her into the bathroom with her babies! I was going to suggest that you move her from the utility room into a room in the house.

My impression was that she felt exiled, and more time around people will definitely benefit her. Is there any way that she and her babies could have the run of your bedroom during the day?

As for the 2 babies who cry more, they seem to be craving human affection. I suggest that you bring them out together without the others for short periods of time so they can get extra attention.

I also hope mom will begin to put on weight. I think that when she is re-homed eventually she will enjoy more human attention and interaction, along with access to a whole house.

I think some of her stress stems from being confined away from people. I'm glad she seems happier in the bathroom for now. You surely don't need her bolting out the front door though!

 

[donnak]

She is definitely happier and has started eating a bit more. Her fav food is scrambled egg and chicken mixed up with krm. I've put a box in the bath tub which she likes to sit on and watch the babies. I'm more than happy for her to have my bedroom too, in fact I think she would love it as she could sit on the window sill and look out into the garden. I was just a bit worried about the babies in case they got into mischief and hurt themselves. They are 5 and a half weeks now, do you think they will be OK to roam. I don't want momma getting stressed. Alternatively I could put a baby gate on the bathroom door so momma can have the upstairs rooms and would be able to jump the gate to get to babies when she needed to. I've found homes for 4 of the 5 babies. I'm concentrating on momma's litter before even thinking about moggys new babies. I really do hope we've cracked it now with this beautiful momma. She was sat in my lap today purring her head off. I would let her come in with my cats and dog but each time I've tried her she has hissed and swiped at then. It's such a shame as she would have the run of the house if she could just get along. But this is better than nothing. I almost can't wait until morning so that she can explore upstairs. Thanks so much for the continued support and don't worry all doors and windows are staying closed!

 

[Sarthur2]

Kitten-proof the bedroom and let the mama and her babies have it. I'm so glad to hear that mama kitty is doing better. Were you to keep her permanently, she would eventually explore the whole house on her own and meet your other pets in due time on her terms as well.

You're doing a fantastic job!

 

[donnak]

Thanks so much. I let her explore the upstairs today and she loved it.she went willingly back into the bathroom for lunch and when the kittens were sleeping she came back out, had her egg and went and lay in my bed. Shes just fine back tinti the bathroom for food and some kitten time as is purring her little head off. I'm going out now for a wee while but when I get back I'll let the kittens out with her too for a while. I would love to keep them all but from an affordability view I have 3 cats and 1 dog so I think that's my limit. But the family she is going to are living and have no other pets after their last cat died recently at a ripe old age so I am very happy for her.

 

[Sarthur2]

I'm glad she is happier now!

 

[donnak]

Well thanks for the good advice.

 

[donnak]

Hi folks I'm a little concerned about foster litter 2, moggys kittens. They are now 1 1/2 weeks old and have gained weight really well and steadily until 3 days ago. 3days back the lowest weight gain was 4g and the highest was 8g. This continued then I've just weighed them today and one kitten gained nothing whilst the biggest gain was only 4g. Moggy is such an attentive mommy. The kittens arein the kitty play pen along with the litter food etc but the door is always open. Sometimes moggy comes out for a bit but 9 times from 10 she is lay with or nursing her babies. Is it normal for the weight to drop off then pick back up perhaps? The kittens seem happy, not crying and often sleeping but I don't want to mistake sleeping for contentment when it may be purely lack of energy. Moggy is on wet and dry kitten food plus krm and she looks quite good and not at all skinny. Ive been told to supplement her on chicken and rice. Any ideas? On a positive, scar is loving the new upstairs set up and is a very happy cat and kittens.

 

[handsome kitty]

This doesn't sound good.  @sarthur2   Should she supplement?

 

[donnak]

Thanks for the response @handsome kitty. I'm really starting to worry. They were all doing so well. Moggy seems fine, eating normally although her appetite has dropped off very slightly. She seems happy and bright. I'm used to fostering much older cats and kittens so this is new territory. I have always seen a constant and steady weight gain in previous kittens so obviously this sudden decrease is very concerning. I didn't want to jump in there with supplementing and then it have a knock on affect on moggys nursing but I've been weighing am and pm for two days and I'm now wondering if its time to strp in but also why is this happening. Moggy hasn't been wormed since she came in because she was pregnant. I was going to wait until the kittens were two weeks as advised by the Vet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sarthur2]

D donnak

They sound fine to me. Let's get today's weights first. Can you please post them?

Sounds like mom's doing a great job and the babies are content. Once in awhile it's okay if the weight gain slows for a day. That's why they are weighed, so we can see where they are. I find weighing them at about the same time just once a day to be sufficient.

I'll wait to hear back from you.

 

[donnak]

I'm going to post each kittens weight gain separatly so you can compare easier, please bear with me........

 

[donnak]

Jellybean
Weds 210g
Thurs 220g
Fri 224g
Today 234g

 

[donnak]

Cola
Weds. 188g
Thurs 212g
Fri. 216g
Today.216g

 

[donnak]

Caramel
Weds. 198g
Thurs 216g
Fri. 216g
Today 218g

 

[donnak]

Liquorice
Weds 158g
Thur 166g
Fri. 172g
Today 178g

 

[donnak]

Sherbet
Weds 216g
Thurs218g
Fri. 232g
Today 244g

 

[donnak]

They still seem content and happy babies and moggy is eating well and looks real happy

 

[Sarthur2]

D donnak

So they are 11 days old, and with the exception of Licorice, they are weighing between 7 and 8 ounces. As they should weigh around 16 ounces, which is a pound, at four weeks old, they are right on target as it's not quite the halfway point yet.

Now, I don't see a problem with Licorice, as he started out as the smallest, and is still the runt of the litter, yet has gained steadily. He's gained 20 grams in 3 days - not bad.

Jellybean has gained 24 grams in 3 days. Cola has gained 28 grams in 3 days. Caramel has gained 20 grams in 3 days. Sherbet also gained 28 grams in 3 days.

Our rule of thumb is 6-10 grams gained per day. Over 3 days' time that would amount to between 18 and 30 grams per day apiece.

They've all achieved this, and importantly, no one has lost any weight.

However, looked at over the last 24 hours, Cola gained nothing, and Caramel only gained 2 grams. The others did fine. Therefore, it could be that these two are not suckling from the choice nipples. You will want to observe and either rotate the kittens so they get extra when the others are sleeping, or supplement those two kittens perhaps 4 times during 24 hours with 10-12 mL's each per feeding.

It can't hurt to supplement Licorice as well, since he's the smallest, just to give him a leg up. But he's managing well.

Let me know how they like the extra feedings, and what the weights are tomorrow.

 

[donnak]

Thanks so much I will certainly do that. Yet again fab advice put in easily digestible terms. Thanks so much. Will do exactly that and get back to you tomorrow. Thanks again

 

[donnak]

I actually weighed the kittens 2 hours ago but for some reason this didn't upload. Here goes again.

Put the 3 kittens on moggy and made sure they had their choice of teats plus supplemented but I think ibgot more down their tummy's than in their tiny mouths. Weight gains for today is as follows:

Jellybean +6g
Sherbet+16g
Caramel +4g
Cola +16g
Liquorice +2g