Interrupted labor, CONCERNED!

[Sarthur2]

Yes, it appears that she failed to learn a few basic things that she would have learned if she stayed with her mom longer. Early separation can cause lots of problems.

Overall, though, it sounds like she is doing well with her babies under your supervision and with your help. Much of this occurs when cats are young first-time moms and still kittens themselves.

The chirping is called trilling, and it is how moms call their babies to eat, and how they communicate with them. All nursing moms do it.

Getting the kittens through the first 3 to 4 weeks is the challenge. After that time there will be fewer worries!

Kudos to you and your wife on your efforts, and thanks for checking in!

 

[willparker]

Well...as I said we let her in, first as a safe haven with food out of the weather and allowed to come and go. As time went by she stayed more and more but still wanted her time outside so we let her and she got pregnant. We didn't really take responsibility for her until then and realized that if she were to have her babies outside somewhere they'd die. And knowing now her issues, we have no doubt they would have, especially the 1 I saved. We had thought that we would keep a couple and try to find homes for the rest, however many she had. But these 4 we simply can't part with. They all have specific and surprising personalities even being a few days old, and I'm attached to the runt (the last dead/revived one) and couldn't let him go anyway. With 6 kids, there just isn't a choice we can make so we are keeping all, kittens and mommy. And I've always been more of a dog person. Any cats we've had didn't work out well, mainly because they were strays that were sickly or something or destructive, etc. Only 2 had worked out and we bought them. Brother and sister and kept them until we hit a really rough patch and had to move in with family and couldn't keep them. The ppl we gave them to kept them thru old age. Anyway I ramble. We resolved ourselves that if the mom ends up being little more than a milk factory for the babies and we need to love and clean them and whatnot then that's what we'll do. And even then we got a couple jugs of KMR powder so if we need to we can handle that part too. She loves her babies and wants to care for them but she goes about all of it all wrong, and when they are feeding that forced startle she does to herself is a myatery. Sometimes they ain't even feeding they'll be curled up next to her when she does it. At first we thought it was new exhausted mom worrying about them wandering off and as she falls asleep with the relaxation of having them feed that the reason was there but whether she's falling asleep or not, feeding or not, when they are in the box with her she does it constantly every minute or two. And if they are feeding she ends up knocking a couple off and as I said she has bitten a couple of em a few times. So as I said we keep em separate from her except feeding, let her do some cleaning under supervision and try to let em snuggle and bond with her until she gets too fidgety with that crap. Many times it seems like she can't help herself with an urge to clean herself or something. But the kittens ain't going anywhere we are keeping them, we have a home inspection every 6 months per our lease. I'll take em with me in the truck for the hour or so they are here and my wife will be home. But we have decided that no matter what it takes we will raise them until they are more self reliant

 

[talkingpeanut]

Are you sure that mom doesn't have fleas?

 

[kashmir64]

Congratulations on the new family. Sounds like you are doing well with them.

And thank you for your service.

 

[willparker]

Pretty sure. We don't have fleas in the house, treat and shampoo all rugs every week or two (even before letting her in) she's been treated and has a flea collar on as well. And we haven't seen any on her or on the kittens and it would be fairly noticeable on them being short hair newborns.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Oh, yikes. Take the flea collar off of mom! Those aren't especially safe in general, and not for babies at all.

I would comb mom, though. You might find that she's jumping because of bites.

 

[willparker]

Ok so we took the collar off during labor and left it off for awhile, when we started to see some fleas we had put it back on but after your comment removed it again. Now she has been treated and we have been trying to get them. She doesn't like to hold still and the kittens definitely don't so the picking them off has been tedious but there really aren't many that we can tell. All told so far we found 4 combined. But her jumping isn't fleas. She could be sleeping for 2 hours prior to feeding them, wake up, clean herself, go eat/drink, then come back meowing for her babies so she can feed. And during that entire time she isn't biting or scratching excessively- hardly at all actually like she has a flea problem. I don't like bugs in my house and have treated around the exterior and interior barriers to ensure as much along with the previous mentioned flea treatments. That's not it. And we have checked her nipples as well for any excess heat, redness, swelling or inflammation and zero. Zilch. Nada. That are all fine. The kittens actually eat in the order delivered with 1 exception, 1 and 2 switch nipples on occasion

 

[Sarthur2]

So the problem is that mom is jumpy sometimes? Can you provide more details?

 

[willparker]

Not sometimes. It's EVERY time she feeds the babies. Not before nit after not in between feeding only when they are eating which is why we checked her nipples for any signs of infection, tenderness, or hardness if the milk isn't coming out or anything her belly is perfectly fine. She's also wierd with em sometimes too where when she wants to snuggle with them she tries to but is rough, and if they wanna snuggle with her after a feeding and she doesn't want to, she will try to bite them. Not on the scruff or something it's usually on the side of the head or throat. She's growled at em sometimes too. In between feedings because of her behavior we keep the babies together but separate from her and she mews and whines wanting to wake them up and be mommy. When we do let her lay with them after a feeding she will not let them sleep. She will try to push em with her paws or lick them or something and they haven't gone to the bathroom or anything. It's like she wants to mom but really sucks at it and still has issues with their attention. She also seeks constant love and reassurance from me specifically but my wife as well like she wants to make sure she is still my kitty and loved because we spend so much time with the babies. We let the babies on the floor once every day or two to roam a little in the living room. They don't ever go far from me or my wife, but the mom will come running up and sometimes it's concern and mewing like she thinks they got loose, other times she will stop short, growl a little snap her tail and wiggle like she's gonna pounce on em like they are a toy or happy meal. Seems she has serious mood issues or something. She's still a very lovable cat to us but it seems that when she wants her babies she's mewing and concerned and whatnot but if it gets in the way of what she wants in any way, she gets pissy, standoffish, and sometimes a little aggressive to them. Since they were born when I first asked yall about stuff, we have still been taking shifts. Their feeding schedule seems to be back at about 2 hours most likely from a growth spurt but for a while there was about 4 hours or so. And we can't leave them with their mom, can't trust her behavior around them

 

[Sarthur2]

Some of the nipping and licking is normal. Moms do this during mothering to clean and stimulate their babies, and to assert control over them.

I notice they will be 3 weeks old on Sunday, so they may be starting to cut their baby teeth, which are usually in by 4 weeks. Once that occurs, moms will react to painful little teeth on their nipples. Applying olive or coconut oil soothes the nipples.

The kittens begin to be more active at 3-4 weeks as well, and moms get a little nervous as the kittens begin to explore away from the nest.

Your continued vigilance sounds warranted. It will get easier once the kittens begin to eat soft foods and depend less on mom's milk, although mom will begin "disciplining" them at that time by holding them down, nipping, and tussling. It's normal too as long as it does not get rough enough to harm the kittens.

 

[mazie]

Also, as the kittens get older, they soon will begin wet food, They will then become more independent. Sounds like a lot of the stress in your household will ease a bit, for mom and you and your wife as well.