- Joined
- Jan 22, 2016
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Hello everyone! I'm new here - but I have a few questions and would appreciate any advice!
I took in an abandoned stray cat about 2 months ago, took her to the vet and low and behold she was pregnant. The Vet estimated that she was very young (around 7-8 months) as well as very petite with a large litter.. After weeks of worrying how the birth would go, she gave birth to 5 beautiful and healthy kittens without a hitch on January 6th. Last Friday (January 15th) I went to check on her and found a huge hole in her stomach (she stays completely indoors; has not been around any other household pets since giving birth) I rushed her to the emergency vet to find that she had two ruptured mammary glands, which caused immediate swelling. The vet concluded that continuous clawing/kneading of 5 kittens on tight and tender skin caused the laceration. Long story short she underwent emergency surgery to remove those ruptured mammary glands and the dead tissue. I went ahead and had her spayed per his recommendation (which I was going to do after she finished nursing anyway) and she returned home the next day.
Now the vet said that she could resume nursing 24hrs after surgery with all 5 slowly being reintroduced to her. I was incredibly worried about them clawing at her incision (which seemed like a wonky stitch job to begin with) and that she might not be able to handle all 5. Well, here we are a week post-op and she can still only handle 2-3 kittens in with her at a time. I'm bottle feeding all of them and rotating the kittens out with mama at each feeding so that they each get a chance to be with her several times a day. But my main concern through all of this is that I think her milk is drying up!!!! I asked the vet if getting her spayed during surgery would cause this, and he said no because they preform spays on cats who have c-sections all the time. However, since she has come home she has had issues with her milk. The babies still nurse but I'm not sure how much milk they're really getting. When I swap them out the kittens that come from her often seem hungry and I have to feed them formula. When they're with her they sleep soundly and never cry (as hungry kittens do) so I assume they're getting something? I tried to gently express milk myself when she was laying in my lap earlier, but nothing came out (perhaps i was being too gentle?) and her teats did not feel "round" or filled with milk-but rather "flat" like you could feel her muscle underneath. Some of her nipples and skin on her belly seems chapped-nothing too serious, just kind of like chapped lips.
Anyway, all of this to say do you think her milk has dried up? Is there anything I can help to increase her milk supply if there is still one? The babies are only 2 weeks and 2 days old, so I would love for them to still be able to get the nourishment from her milk...I'm just not sure what to do! She is my first queen, so I am learning each step along the way.
Thanks for any and all help!!!
I took in an abandoned stray cat about 2 months ago, took her to the vet and low and behold she was pregnant. The Vet estimated that she was very young (around 7-8 months) as well as very petite with a large litter.. After weeks of worrying how the birth would go, she gave birth to 5 beautiful and healthy kittens without a hitch on January 6th. Last Friday (January 15th) I went to check on her and found a huge hole in her stomach (she stays completely indoors; has not been around any other household pets since giving birth) I rushed her to the emergency vet to find that she had two ruptured mammary glands, which caused immediate swelling. The vet concluded that continuous clawing/kneading of 5 kittens on tight and tender skin caused the laceration. Long story short she underwent emergency surgery to remove those ruptured mammary glands and the dead tissue. I went ahead and had her spayed per his recommendation (which I was going to do after she finished nursing anyway) and she returned home the next day.
Now the vet said that she could resume nursing 24hrs after surgery with all 5 slowly being reintroduced to her. I was incredibly worried about them clawing at her incision (which seemed like a wonky stitch job to begin with) and that she might not be able to handle all 5. Well, here we are a week post-op and she can still only handle 2-3 kittens in with her at a time. I'm bottle feeding all of them and rotating the kittens out with mama at each feeding so that they each get a chance to be with her several times a day. But my main concern through all of this is that I think her milk is drying up!!!! I asked the vet if getting her spayed during surgery would cause this, and he said no because they preform spays on cats who have c-sections all the time. However, since she has come home she has had issues with her milk. The babies still nurse but I'm not sure how much milk they're really getting. When I swap them out the kittens that come from her often seem hungry and I have to feed them formula. When they're with her they sleep soundly and never cry (as hungry kittens do) so I assume they're getting something? I tried to gently express milk myself when she was laying in my lap earlier, but nothing came out (perhaps i was being too gentle?) and her teats did not feel "round" or filled with milk-but rather "flat" like you could feel her muscle underneath. Some of her nipples and skin on her belly seems chapped-nothing too serious, just kind of like chapped lips.
Anyway, all of this to say do you think her milk has dried up? Is there anything I can help to increase her milk supply if there is still one? The babies are only 2 weeks and 2 days old, so I would love for them to still be able to get the nourishment from her milk...I'm just not sure what to do! She is my first queen, so I am learning each step along the way.
Thanks for any and all help!!!