Nursing mother of 8 week old kittens has swollen breasts, normal looking milk, unsure what to do

[Russianmix]

Me again. Mom cats and kittens have been doing great. Today I noticed all of mom's breasts are swollen, some are a bit red. It seems painful for them to be squeezed. I tried expressing a couple and the milk looked normal. Not sure what to do here, her kittens are weaning themselves (we've never separated them) and eating a lot of food on their own, so I suspect they haven't been breastfeeding enough, since all of mom's breasts seem swollen. But now I'm seeing that milk from a cat with mastitis can be toxic. I'm unsure whether to take away the kitten's food and have them breastfeed more to see if the swelling alleviates, or to separate them and take mom to the vet. Any tips?

 

[Russianmix]

Well, problem solved I think...I took the kitten's food away and left some on a windowsill only mom could reach, came back 30 mins later, and they were all snuggled up with mom's breasts feeling completely normal. They seem to vastly prefer food to milk.

 

[Sarthur2]

Are you sure your cat does not have mastitis? If she does, she will need antibiotics. Get her checked by a vet to be sure.

The kittens need wet food to grow on at 8 weeks, so do not deprive them of their food. They will still nurse mom and over time her milk will dry up. In the meantime, you can put warm damp compresses on her mammary glands to soothe them.

More importantly, it’s time to spay mom so that she no longer reproduces. Have you set an appointment for her spay now that the kittens are weaning? She will be much healthier and happier once spayed.

R Russianmix

 

[Russianmix]

Are you sure your cat does not have mastitis? If she does, she will need antibiotics. Get her checked by a vet to be sure.

The kittens need wet food to grow on at 8 weeks, so do not deprive them of their food. They will still nurse mom and over time her milk will dry up. In the meantime, you can put warm damp compresses on her mammary glands to soothe them.

More importantly, it’s time to spay mom so that she no longer reproduces. Have you set an appointment for her spay now that the kittens are weaning? She will be much healthier and happier once spayed.

R Russianmix

I only took it away for 30 minutes to see if they'd nurse. Everyone seems completely fine now. I was in disbelief. When I left, all of her breasts felt like golf balls and she was in a bad mood, then I came back, she was happy, and felt completely normal.

And yes, she will be spayed soon and will not be going back outside.