Mother cat too rough?

[Sarthur2]

Oh my goodness! Your smallest weighs the size of a 3-week-old at almost 12 ounces already (11.8 ounces)! Your biggest weighs over 13 ounces so is a little piggy on his way to weighing in at a 4-week-old amount. Your kittens are flourishing at the milk bar!

At 3 weeks kittens should weigh 12 ounces, at 4 weeks 16 ounces, which is a pound. The 2-week mark was 8 ounces and they are all well above the mark. If they fail to gain for a day or so it’s because they are stuffed and getting plenty! They are more than hitting their marks!

Relax - you have nothing to worry about!

 

[Malina1996]

Oh my goodness! Your smallest weighs the size of a 3-week-old at almost 12 ounces already! Your biggest weighs over 13 ounces so is a little piggy on his way to weighing in at a 4-week-old amount. Your kittens are flourishing at the milk bar!

At 3 weeks kittens should weigh 12 ounces, at 4 weeks 16 ounces, which is a pound. The 2-week mark was 8 ounces and they are all well above the mark. If they fail to gain for a day or so it’s because they are stuffed and getting plenty! They are more than hitting their marks!

Relax - you have nothing to worry about!

Oh thank you so much!!!!!! I know they’re on the “husky” side but I’ve never seen them not gain weight throughout the day. I’ll definitely keep an eye on them because I clearly love to worry. They’re my kids now too so I guess it’s my job.

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, they’ll slow down for a day or two until they grow again, but my goodness, yours are VERY healthy. Usually with a healthy mom and only 3-4 kittens they get plenty of milk.

I took in a pregnant stray 6 years ago who had 4. They were big and healthy at birth and gained phenomenally like yours, so I stopped weighing them. I kept ALL of them, including mom (who is tiny), and the “kittens” are HUGE cats today (and gorgeous).

Keep an eye out of course, but I think you have little to worry over.

 

[Malina1996]

Yes, they’ll slow down for a day or two until they grow again, but my goodness, yours are VERY healthy. Usually with a healthy mom and only 3-4 kittens they get plenty of milk.

I took in a pregnant stray 6 years ago who had 4. They were big and healthy at birth and gained phenomenally like yours, so I stopped weighing them. I kept ALL of them, including mom (who is tiny), and the “kittens” are HUGE cats today (and gorgeous).

Keep an eye out of course, but I think you have little to worry over.

You are amazing, thank you for calming my fears. We are keeping all of ours too so it will be so nice to see them all grow up together.

 

[Sarthur2]

I LOVE having a cat family. They all are still so close and hang together all these years later, DESPITE the fact I’ve taken in several more strays since then.

I did have mom spayed when the kittens were 8 weeks old, and the kittens were all done at 12 weeks. Mom continued to nurse though for months. I thought she had finally stopped nursing, but one day I caught her STILL nursing two of her kittens several months later (her favorites). Cats are amazing!

Glad you are keeping all of yours. Do get them fixed though at the appropriate ages. You’ll be glad you did.

 

[Malina1996]

I LOVE having a cat family. They all are still so close and hang together all these years later, DESPITE the fact I’ve taken in several more strays since then.

I did have mom spayed when the kittens were 8 weeks old, and the kittens were all done at 12 weeks. Mom continued to nurse though for months. I thought she had finally stopped nursing, but one day I caught her STILL nursing two of her kittens several months later (her favorites). Cats are amazing!

Glad you are keeping all of yours. Do get them fixed though at the appropriate ages. You’ll be glad you did.

Absolutely getting them all fixed! No more babies for mama cat. She gets to be plump and happy the rest of her days. She’s one of the sweetest cats I’ve ever seen, can’t believe someone didn’t want her! They’ll all be inside cats but my husband wants to get them a stroller so they can be “outside”. Been married 25 years this month and we were introduced by a work friend. Her first selling point was “he likes cats”. She didn’t tell one lie!

 

[Sarthur2]

A word to the wise: no stroller. They need to stay inside only. Mine have, and never been sick a day in their lives. Unlike the strays I’ve taken in, who have had to be treated for parasites and fleas, etc. Inside from birth and they will be healthy for life and never know the difference. They never even try to go out. Good your hubby is a cat man!

 

[Malina1996]

So mom and 3 kittens are doing well my only concern is mom still hasn’t started teaching kittens to use litter box yet. She’s still taking care of the potty issue. I’ve noticed a few accidents and I think it’s either the kittens or mom is stimulating them but not cleaning like she used to (who could blame her )

We’ve got Yesterdays News little (tried old fashioned clay and they tried to eat it so removed that).

Mom is super good with her own litter box habits so I’m kind of lost. We had read to put litter box in at 3 weeks so we did. We know there will be accidents and it’s not a problem and we’re trying to put them in the box and help them dig etc.

Any tips or should I just let mom do her own thing? We’d like to move them to a bigger area (in a playpen/run area right now) but would like to have them using the box first.

 

[susanm9006]

Litterbox use is going to be hit or miss with a four week old. Expect you may need to do cleanup duty for a couple weeks until they all get the hang of it. I would also try a softer, smaller litter like Swheat Scoop or Natures Best. These are wheat and corn based litter and won’t hurt a kitten who attempts to eat it. You can also buy an cat attract additive which is supposed to help.

 

[Malina1996]

Litterbox use is going to be hit or miss with a four week old. Expect you may need to do cleanup duty for a couple weeks until they all get the hang of it. I would also try a softer, smaller litter like Swheat Scoop or Natures Best. These are wheat and corn based litter and won’t hurt a kitten who attempts to eat it. You can also buy an cat attract additive which is supposed to help.

Yep I’m definitely expecting spills and cleanups. I’ve had plenty of kittens in my life but was hoping mom would be helping a bit more by now. I’ll take a look at the other litters and additive. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Sarthur2]

Here is a helpful video:

 

[Malina1996]

Here is a helpful video:

I love Kitten Lady! I think I was more questioning mom seeming to want to continue to stimulate them. I guess I thought she’d show them or take them to it etc. We’ve had some serious digging tonight so hopefully by me putting them in there regularly we’ll get there.