My Foster Cat Is Pregnant

[jasminstanley88]

She actually did not eat the egg dish I don't know if it was a coincidence or not but I'm trying again tonight. As far as the KMR goes the directions on the can says feed 2 teaspoons of powder per 5lbs of body weight daily mixed in regular food and that's for pregnant and lactating females. Should I do that or do 1 cup mixed with 1 or 2 cups water? My son is no longer in daycare and really isn't home alot. He's in the stage of terrible 2s times 10. I try to keep him away from mom and kittens but him being as loud as he is mom can still hear it even if we're outside. But usually he has a pretty busy week schedule with me and family so he's really not around too often. And on the weekends it's definitely quiet around here. Mom's doing good tonight though. She's calm and doing her thing.

 

[Sarthur2]

Oh, so good to hear that she's having a good night.

With the KMR for mama kitty, I put 1/3 cup of powder in the measuring cup, then add 2/3 cup of water and mix. I give my kitty a dish of it with about a quarter to a third of a cup of the formula to drink a couple times a day. Refrigerate the rest to keep using. My mama kitty loves it. I guess you can mix the powder into her food, but most cats enjoy drinking it. Really, whichever way she will take it for extra nutrition. Mama's four kittens are lapping it up now too. Your kittens will benefit from it after they start weaning.

Let me know how it's going!

 

[jasminstanley88]

I did the egg again and she actually ate it!! I also did the KMR as you suggested and she drank that too!! I'm assuming she liked it cause she drank about half of it. I don't know if that was too much but I haven't seen any messes around from a possible upset stomach so I guess it wasn't too much.

 

[Sarthur2]

Awesome! This will really pump her up and help her to produce good milk for her babies. It's not too much. I leave it down, and mine returns after awhile to drink more. If she leaves a little, I just dump it and give her more in the evening. Just glad she liked both! And let's hope this does the trick. A first-time mom can be stressed with a new litter, for sure. It is a big change, and taxing on the body. So far so good. Have you seen much panting since yesterday?

PS: It shouldn't upset her stomach. The KMR is lactose-free. It's why cats shouldn't drink regular milk, because they can't digest lactose.

 

[jasminstanley88]

Do I give her 1 raw egg everyday? And for how long? Surprisingly she did it once yesterday but it happened when I had company over. It was a friend of mine and her 1yr old son. Once they left she was still nervous but after awhile she was fine. Before Stella had the first kitten I wanted to move her box but literally right as I was gonna move it she had the first one. It was in my room. She's been in my room since I took her in. I leave and have left my door open for her but she never really ventured far. Only out to the hallway. Even now she will only leave my room go to the top of the stairs in my hallway and go back to my room. I'm afraid to move her and kittens. And my room is pretty much the only safe place I feel she's comfortable with. Plus my brother who lives here has a dog, a pitbull and she's very friendly and lovable, I don't wanna have them interact right now. Before I took Stella in she would come around when my brothers dog was outside. Sometimes they got along other times they didnt. But hopefully after some point soon we can slowly introduce everyone and it goes well. But for now everyone is separated and like I said my room is the only safe place for her and the kittens right now.

 

[Sarthur2]

Totally sounds like stress to me. It's the thought of strangers and noisy little ones that are giving her a fright. She's nervous for her babies. It's good she's in your room. My mama cat would go an entire week in the bedroom with her kittens, because her food and litter were in there and she wasn't leaving her babies for the world! When she did come downstairs, it was for maybe 5 minutes. And then she was constantly looking at the stairs, and one little mew would send her running back up. I'd continue with an egg a day for awhile while she's nursing full-time. When the kittens start on mush around 4 to 5 weeks old you can back off, depending on how you feel she's doing. An egg a day is cheap enough, and the formula will last awhile, though with my kittens drinking it now I just today finished my second can. But still cheaper than a vet bill for keeping them healthy!

PS: And no dog definitely for quite awhile since they didn't grow up together. And when you do introduce them, it should be supervised and brief initially, but not while the kittens are this little. And my kittens are 11 weeks so I've gone through 2 cans of KMR in not quite 3 months. Not too bad for cost.

 

[jasminstanley88]

How many kittens do you have? That's another question I have to ask...when the kittens are starting to go to food what do I give them? When it comes to the dog I agree 100% I do not want them interacting at all for now. Definitely wanna wait awhile until everyone's comfortable. Any idea when it would be an appropriate time to introduce them? Oh and when the kittens are weening should I follow the feeding directions on the KMR can or is there another amount to give them?

 

[Sarthur2]

I took in a pregnant stray in late February. She had clearly been someone's pet prior to becoming a stray, as she has one of the sweetest temperaments of any cat I have ever had. She had been hanging around since December, and the neighbors and I had been feeding her. I finally took her in as I was becoming attached and couldn't bear the thought of her delivering kittens in the woods.

On March 15th she delivered 4 beautiful kittens - a solid black one, an orange one, a grey one, and a grey and tan one that looks most like her. Three boys and a girl.

Kitty Kitty (the mama) went into heat again when the kittens were 7 weeks old, so at the end of that week I had her spayed at the vet, though she has continued to nurse them some - but less and less each week.

Over the past three decades, I have had many rescue kittens, all of whom I kept & raised, and all lived to be 18 to 21 years old. The last elderly one I had to put down about a month after the kittens were born, so I would have been cat-free otherwise.

Now the kittens are 11 weeks old, and two are going in this Sat. to the local Humane Society for neutering, and the other two the following Sat. They will also get shots, and I will be given coupons for them to return for their rabies shots when they are older. I did not know this until I called for appointments, but June is kitten month at our Humane Society, and the special is $20 per kitten under 4 months old for the spay/neuter. Pretty good deal! but a fraction of the cost of the private vet even without the special.

Around 4 to 5 weeks old you can wet kitten chow with some of the formula, and many like this a lot because it is soft and tasty. Or you can give them wet food - mine love Fancy Feast tuna - and put down a bowl of the KMR formula for them to drink just like mama is doing. A paper plate works well with little blobs of wet food around it for each kitten. A low dish for the wet kitten chow and/or the formula makes it easy for them to reach. They may not go for any of it like crazy in the beginning, and they can get messy too, but it won't take long before they catch on and are crazy for their food! I also always leave a bowl of kitten chow down for them as well as water (I know - a lot of bowls and plates!).

Two of mine began eating really well about a week before the other two. Same with the litter box. Get a little kitten pan for them at Walmart (about a buck here) and put it down for them when they are 4 weeks old. They learn the litter pan quickly too! Put it next to mama's, preferably in your room for now.

And last but not least, when they start playing and climbing, move your breakables and buy some little mice and balls and such for them to play with. My mama cat plays like crazy with her kittens every day, and yours likely will too!

 

[Sarthur2]

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• Sarthur2
• Jun 2, 2015

Kitty Kitty with Prissy, her only daughter and look-alike.

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• Sarthur2
• Jun 2, 2015

Kitty Kitty with Pumpkin, who is quite the little character!

 

[Sarthur2]

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• Sarthur2
• Jun 2, 2015

This is Mitten, the little runt who is so sweet, fast asleep.

 

[Sarthur2]

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• Sarthur2
• Jun 2, 2015

And this is Blackie, who does not photograph well, on the back of the couch. He's jet black!

 

[Sarthur2]

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• Sarthur2
• Jun 2, 2015

And here's a group picture from the other day. Sometimes they like to hang out at the top of the stairs.

 

[nansiludie]

@sarthur2 Beautiful momma cat and kittens, I hope you can keep the mother cat.

 

[Sarthur2]

N nansiludie

Thank you! I am definitely keeping the mama!

And didn't mean to hog her thread, but the poster was asking about my kittens in addition to asking for advice.

 

[jasminstanley88]

Omg they're so precious!! Mama and daughter definitely look like twins lol. I still gotta get around to calling the local humane society. I gotta get started and plan ahead. I do plan on getting mama and kittens fixed but I don't think I can do it all on my own. Tomorrow the kittens will be 2 weeks old. So I still have some time to go before I can get them fixed. But that's such a wonderful story!! You're definitely an amazing person. I never thought I'd ever have a cat until Stella came into my life. I'm gonna post some more pics of all my babies very shortly.

 

[jasminstanley88]

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• jasminstanley88
• Jun 2, 2015

I didn't wanna disturb them but here's one for now :-)

 

[Sarthur2]

What a sweet family! . I love her front paw over the baby! You have five, right? And has she been calm without panting today? She looks very content in the picture!

And you may want to call your Humane Society and get info on wait time and costs so you know. No rush on the babies yet, but you'll surely want to get Stella spayed in a few weeks. I shelled out the big bucks for Kitty Kitty at my private vet, to get her in and out quickly and back to her babies, but the wait time at the Humane Society around here is about a month out.

You've got a few fun steps to go first. The babies will just get cuter and cuter and you will fall in love with them. It helps to plan ahead and stock up on cat food, litter, and toys in advance. Spread out the expenditures a little. You're doing a fantastic job so far, and I can tell how much you care!

 

[Sarthur2]

And that's how you become a cat person! A stray cat walks into your life and you fall in love! I always think it happens for a reason and is meant to be! And cats instinctively know who will give them a good home.

 

[jasminstanley88]

I'm so sorry it's been awhile since I've replied the babies are a month old today and cute as ever! They're all so playful and full of energy. Any idea when I should start introducing the babies to wet food? And when I should start giving them the KMR? I believe you mentioned it before but I can't remember lol

 

[Sarthur2]

At 4 weeks old as they are now you can begin to give them mush, which is wet food mixed with formula. You can also wet kitten chow with formula (KMR) to make it easy to eat. This is the introduction stage. It can take them the next 2 weeks to really take to the wet food, and they will continue to nurse on mama. But they will get it! Also start introducing the litter pan when they start eating solids. As long as their pan is nearby they will catch on quickly!