I'm a foster mom for a young rescued moma cat with her 5 babies. It was all going very well... kittens are about 4 weeks now, but then mom practically collapsed and looked like she was choking. We took her to the ER and first they thought it was heart condition but then realized her calcium levels were dangerously low. They kept her over night (we paid a LOT of money). They gave her calcium iv and sent her home with calcium tablets.
Meanwhile I was up every couple of hours trying to feed the babies KMR and kitten food. 4 out of 5 seem fine.
The vet said take mom away she can't feed the babies. But the nurse (quietly) suggested I let the one kitten stay with mom which will help both of them wean off. So. Here is my dilemma. Took mom home. Separated her from babies and just brought in the one who was not eating (which calmed mom down) then took him back to his sisters. Brought mom to have her levels checked and her calcium is fine. I told dr what I did and I got yelled at. (Never mentioned the nurse). It is now 4 am. I just fed the babies. The one I practically force fed. Mom is very restless crying for the cats and her nipples are huge and warm. She is obviously engorged. What do I do? Do I let her take care of the one cat? Will that slowly dry her up or will that just prolong the whole thing ? How do I help her with her nipples now so she is not in pain? The babies are eating a mixture of KMR and kitten wet food. I'm not sure if that did not get them constipated as I see no poops around except for one. I will be fostering these kittens for at least another 4 weeks. The situation with the calcium issue is unusual and the place I foster for people were also debating if I should fallow vet or just let one kitten stay for extra week.
Any opinion, idea would be greatly appreciated. I want to make this easy on the mom so please help me with that most and foremost. Sorry for the long note.
Meanwhile I was up every couple of hours trying to feed the babies KMR and kitten food. 4 out of 5 seem fine.
The vet said take mom away she can't feed the babies. But the nurse (quietly) suggested I let the one kitten stay with mom which will help both of them wean off. So. Here is my dilemma. Took mom home. Separated her from babies and just brought in the one who was not eating (which calmed mom down) then took him back to his sisters. Brought mom to have her levels checked and her calcium is fine. I told dr what I did and I got yelled at. (Never mentioned the nurse). It is now 4 am. I just fed the babies. The one I practically force fed. Mom is very restless crying for the cats and her nipples are huge and warm. She is obviously engorged. What do I do? Do I let her take care of the one cat? Will that slowly dry her up or will that just prolong the whole thing ? How do I help her with her nipples now so she is not in pain? The babies are eating a mixture of KMR and kitten wet food. I'm not sure if that did not get them constipated as I see no poops around except for one. I will be fostering these kittens for at least another 4 weeks. The situation with the calcium issue is unusual and the place I foster for people were also debating if I should fallow vet or just let one kitten stay for extra week.
Any opinion, idea would be greatly appreciated. I want to make this easy on the mom so please help me with that most and foremost. Sorry for the long note.