Mom isn't stimulating the babies to poop...

[shan]

Hi! My baby girl, Hammy, is a first time mom and is quite inexperienced at this motherhood thing. Her babies were born 4 days ago (8/22) and i haven't seen her cleaning them the way she should. The babies are all eating and seem healthy. I've cleaned out their bedding everyday and can see that there has been bowel movements, but as I said I haven't seen mom doing it. I have taken warm water and cotton balls to do it but I don't know how often and to what age I should continue. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks

Shan

 

[gayef]

If you are seeing evidence of bowel movements in the nest, then it is a pretty safe bet that Mom is doing her job. So, it probably isn't necessary for you to do it ... unless you are able to sit and observe your girl 24/7, you may not actually see her do it.

Why do you feel you need to do this other than the stated reason - you haven't seen Mom do it? Are the babies bloated or otherwise failing to thrive? You mentioned everyone was nursing normally and seemed otherwise healthy. I don't see why you feel that stimulating them yourself is what you need to do.

All that now being said, you know your kitties much, much better than I do, and if you feel this is necessary now, then you will need to stimulate them about 5 or 10 minutes after every time they eat.