Penelope and Her Kittens

[karagraaf]

Thanks. I feel a bit silly writing about it but I guess I'm just worried, I want them all to get loving homes. I love this little girl and her adventurous spirit. I hope someone out there does as well! I grabbed her while she was sleepy and she fell asleep on me, so that was nice

 

[karagraaf]

So kittens are 5.5 weeks old. They nurse but eat kitten food 4 times a day along with mom. Right now I just give two bowls full of food and let them all gather around and eat. Some stay and finish it up with mom, others take a few nibbles and leave. I figure it's ok since they still are nursing. Should I be feeding each one separately? Do I have 6 dishes out with a specific measured out for each kitten if not, When should I start doing that?

 

[shunra]

They don't know whose dish is whose.  So long as there are enough dishes they can all get access that's fine.  I think I used 2 dishes with my litter of 6.  If you put 6 dishes out they will all eat from whichever dish they fancy regardless of the name on the dish.

 

[karagraaf]

Well obviously I realize they don't know who's bowl is who's, they are just animals. But do I give them each a dish and make sure they eat X amount of food (seperatly if need be) or just fill up 2 bowls with an undecided amount of food and let them eat as much or as little as they want, even if some aren't eating as much as others.

I am not concerned with them having their own designated bowls to eat from but with them eating enough

 

[di and bob]

I've had kittens around several times and many do not seem to eat as much. Don't worry about it unless the others are not letting one eat. As long as they each have a taste they'll be fine. Some may have just nursed and are not hungry. Believe me, when they get hungry and mom is trying to wean them, they'll eat! I used to have big 'fights' around the plate, pushing and shoving, just like when they were nursing! Good luck, and bless you for being a good cat person!

 

[shunra]

Let them eat as much as they want and they should be fine.

 

[karagraaf]

Thanks! At what age do I monitor how much they eat more closely?

 

[StefanZ]

Thanks! At what age do I monitor how much they eat more closely?

A good tip is to continue to weigh them. Not longer daily as when they were  small kittens, but still at least once a week.

This way you you get a good feeling if they have enough,

 

[ozo7]

As long as you know they are all eating, you're good.

Weighing them will also give you a 'normal' to go by.......when they are growing,

and easy to tell if you have one that may need extra.

Weighing when the are grown can give you an early heads up to a problem.

If they all are nursing, I wouldn't worry how much dry they ate.

 

[skeletor]

I read the directions on my kitten's kitten food. "Feed as much as your kitten will eat".

I would only start worrying about weight when their body type changes. If they start to build some non-fluffy "Fluff". I'd continue to weigh them and make sure that they stay relatively close to each other in weight.

 

[karagraaf]

I think the mom may be going into heat.. She is acting a little different.. Crazy yet more affectionate as well. The kittens are now 6 weeks old. Should I get her spayed right now or wait until they are at least 8 weeks old? They are still nursing but not much at all.

Also the mom has awful gas. I actually heard her pass gas even! Which is so odd for a cat! She passes gas all the time and it smells just awful- clears the room! I can't imagine she can be feeling well. I am assuming the food is to blame and I have switched but nothing is changing. She was gassy when I first got her in October. I thought it was probably because she was pregnant at the time and didn't think much of it. It seems to have gotten worse though. She was dewormed twice and I don't see any worms, so I do t think that is the issue.. Any ideas?
TIA

 

[StefanZ]

You can spay her now, if you wish or must. Esp if the vet is taking the flank incision.  If you are sure she is keept inside, no possibility of  getting outside, you can wait too, to these usual 8 weeks.

Just be sure the heat is over when she goes to the surgery - its more difficult and risky to spay when in heat.  (experienced surgeon does manages it just fine, but why make if the difficult way?).

Re gasses.   I would still suspect worms.  Often you need two - three times of dewormer

What dewormer did you use?      Im thinking, the most common is to deworm them for round worms. But it may be tape worms too...

Food is possible too. what food did she had, whad food does she has now?

Do you give her com milk, or any products from cow milk?

Cow milk can give gasses.   Products from milk shouldnt, but you never know, there are always exceptions...

You can also try and give some probiotic.  Human probiotics works as well as these  made for animals.

Consult your vet too, it is surely good to know the reason before the spaying, and have effective treatment on way..

Have major surgery among the intestines AND be full of gasses in the intestines is surely not optimal.

Good luck!

 

[shunra]

Ring your vet and ask him about spaying her.  It varies from vet to vet.  My own vets wouldn't spay a cat I was fostering until she had weaned her kittens, but the vet who early neutered my pedigree kittens would probably have happily spayed her once the kittens were starting to eat solids.

You certainly don't want to spay her until all the kittens are eating solids as in the highly unlikely event of something going wrong you will be left bottle feeding them.

Whatever else you do, be extra-vigilent about keeping her in as cats in heat will often really try hard to escape, and be very sneaky about it.

 

[isabel]

My mom cat is very gassy, too. She has been all the time while nursing - I looked it up online and it seems fairly normal for nursing mothers. Mine's been de-wormed 3 times now. She's eating kitten food (canned Chicken Soup for the Kitten Lover's Soul) mixed with a little KMR since she is so terribly thin. She has runny stools, too.

The kittens' (six weeks old on Friday) stools are firm, and they are all little fat butterballs so I am guessing it will be after they are weaned and my mother cat is on normal food again before she stops stinking so bad? Maybe yours too? It sounds that since our kittens are a similar age our situations are very similar!

 

[karagraaf]

Thanks for the replies. She is in heat for sure now. (And so annoying at that!) last night she started chirping a lot (she is typically a very non vocal cat) and sticking her hind quarters up in the air and rolling at my feet everywhere I go. the kittens are 7 weeks.. They briefly nurse about 2 times a day, not for long at all. I am on edge, i dont want her to spray the house, we just moved here! and Also she is driving me up the wall! I was hoping She wouldn't go through this until after they weaned and then if get her fixed. after this heat, I am guessing the kittens will be 8 weeks old, if not more. So I will get her spayed then. The kittens will surely still want to try to nurse still. Should I just keep her in a seperate room away from them? I don't want to traumatized her but I also want to make sure she heals. Spaying makes me nervous, I've only had to deal with neutering before, which seems much less invasive.

Please tell me I don't have 7-10 days of this constant chirping and rolling around and butt in the air stuff!

For some reason she doesn't try to escape. In fact she was trying to escape so much more before going into heat?? Even so, we have taken extra precautions so she won't escape. We only leave the house through our house/garage exit. And only with the garage door shut so if she does run out, she would just be in our garage and easy to put back in the house before we leave the garage. No more kittens for her!

 

[pinkman]

"No more kittens for her!" SOUNDS AWESOME. :round of applause:

I am not sure how you can calm her down as she is in heat, and have never experienced a cat in heat (lucky me!) but I just wanted to drop by and tell you thank you for being such a great owner, and a responsible one too! But getting a vet's opinion regarding the spay date and taking extra measures to not let her out sound like a good plan!

 

[shunra]

I would book her in for late next week when she should have finished calling.  You will have to keep an eye on her wound when she gets home, but I have friends whose cats have needed sections and they've not had problems.

 

[jasmarie94]

My cat is pregnant & she follows me around every where & I mean every where & she waits for me to pick her up on my bed I dont know when she got pregnant I only noticed her belly about a week ago & I've noticed, that she has been getting closer & I can feel the kittens roll & kick & I heard that they give birth go how many times they you know.
& I do not know if that is true she's my first animal so I don't know what to expect I'm afraid of missing her birth because she's very skidish of everyone but us course me & my grandmother.
I'm not to sure how many cats she's going to have or wear....
& she also just got dirty & she needs a bath would that hurt the kittens in anyway if I went to give her a bath

 

[ashley smith]

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• ashley smith
• Jan 6, 2014

This is my very pregnant cat Midnight. She hoepfully only has days left. Her stomach got hard yesterday, she has been nesting. Her nipples have gotten huge and she wants a lot of extra attention!! I am not sure how many kittens she is going to have.

 

[karagraaf]

I can't imagine her getting much bigger, my cat was really big like her and had 6 kittens hope that's not the case for Midnight though. Good luck!