Nursing Cat With Hypocalcemia

[Marzena]

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.

 

[Sarthur2]

M Marzena

I would put her back with all of her kittens. She has plenty of milk, and mom is better for the kittens than any substitute. Her calcium levels have returned to normal, and with the pills she should not suffer a relapse. Not putting her back is almost cruel.

This is why I always advise giving pregnant and lactating moms a dish of kitten formula daily.

You can apply a warm, damp compress to her nipples for relief, but the kittens nursing will take care of it too.

I totally disagree with the vet, now that her calcium levels are normal.

 

[Marzena]

Someone suggested wrapping her abdomen with a bandage or miniature dog outfit and leaving her with the babies and just allowing them to feed on her 1 per day while supplementing their food with KMR and kitten wet food. Would that help mom dry up? Or would it cause her more discomfort? Another person suggested just leaving her with one kitten. Vet says that if she feeds 5 kittens her levels will crash again and she could die. Per vet instructions, I am giving moma cat kmr and calcium supplement every 8 hours. I just want to do what is right by moma cat.

 

[Sarthur2]

M Marzena

Most cats feed 5-6 kittens with no problem. I don't understand how her levels would crash since she is on calcium supplements.

Have you allowed the kittens to nurse her yet?

 

[Marzena]

Yes. I just let her do it once a day. And separate her after. She was a stray cat before we rescued her from the pound. The kittens were a week old when we got her. We were feeding her all the right stuff but she must have been depleted from calcium before. Plus she is very young herself. Probably not a year old. Everything was going fine until she almost died. She stayed overnight at er and they gave her calcium via iv. Then once I got her... I gave her the supplement they said and I did let her feed the babies one time in a 12 hour period. She was checked and the levels were fine the next day. But when I told the vet what I did she yelled at me and said I put her in danger. So I brought her home and separated her again. Last night she was so engorged that I got worried about her getting infection and one of the kittens did not want to eat so I did it again. I let the babies feed for a very short time and then took them away. I left her with just the one kitten that worried me. I feel terrible. Everyone is telling me different advice. I don't want her to suffer and I don't want to put her in danger of going back to ER. It's not easy to go against a vets advice but I feel like she is ok to feed once a day. But is that torture for her? I just want to do the right thing by everyone. I feel like if I could do this once a day thing for another week until they are 5 weeks old maybe she would dry up and they would be slowly weaned? But I'm not sure. I usually foster older orphaned kittens. The foster agency says just to listen to vet or to just leave her with the one kitten. But my gut feeling says to somehow make this more gradual rather than this drastic separation from them all.

 

[Sarthur2]

I think you should let the kittens nurse her 2-3 times per day. She will be less engorged, and it will be good for the kittens.

At the least the smallest kitten should be with her all the time.

Vets, like doctors, want their orders followed. I tend to use my own judgement.

Are the kittens eating wet food yet?

 

[Sarthur2]

M Marzena

How are things going today? Has mama cat been nursing her kittens? Is she doing well herself?

 

[Marzena]

Over the 2 last nights I have been feeding them wet food mixed with KMR. I tried bottle feed as well but they prefer the food from my hand. By this afternoon, 3 of them eat it directly from the dish. 1 I feed by hand and the 5th one I feed by hand also but she will not eat too much and so then I bottle feed her also and she's the one I "cheated this morning" and gave her to mom. I don't leave her with mom all the time because the moment mom is done feeding her, mom just jumps away and leaves her there by herself and does not come back. So the couple of times I did this now in the last 48 hours, I just bring the baby back to her siblings who welcome her and snuggle with her.
if you can tell me that mom will slowly dry up with this system then I will just continue on letting the whole bunch feed on her once every 12

 

[Sarthur2]

Mom cats dry up naturally as their kittens eat more food and nurse less.

 

[Marzena]

Soooo... last night she started panting again and I panicked and brought her to the ER. They checked her calcium levels and actually those were fine (thank God) she was probably panting because she was hot from her nipples being hot. So the vet said to bring her home and let her kittens nurse for a little while and then take her away. So last night I fed the kittens wet food/water and then brought in the mom (so they were not starving) When they were all full moma walked away and I took her away. I did the same process today at noon (12 hours later) but this time once she was done feeding I bandaged her belly and let her stay with the babies until they all fell asleep all clean, loved and happy. My plan is to feed them all day by myself and then do this again at midnight. This way, I hope, she will naturally dry up as the kitten completely switch to wet food. I am supplementing her with calcium every 8 hours as per what the vet gave her. I also feed her KMR, kitten food, and salmon from a can to get her more calcium and Vitaminwater D. She seems calmer now and not in pain at all and the kittens are happy too. So I think it's all going to work out . Takes a lot of time and work but if it works it will be well worth it.

 

[Sarthur2]

Like I said originally, once her calcium level was stable, she was fine to nurse her kittens again.