Pregnant Momma Kitty.. some help?

[thumpity]

Thankies! and will do!

Originally Posted by celestialrags

yea two new babies so far! Any more yet? what are the colors?

Hopefully more! Both Grey Tigers, ^.^

 

[leto86]

Originally Posted by Thumpity

Thankies! and will do!



Hopefully more! Both Grey Tigers, ^.^

I love grey tigers

Good luck!

 

[leto86]

Babies are coming! so far two orange males and a dark tabby male

 

[leto86]

a little female was born... calico

 

[poohandwendy]

Aw, how sweet! Congrats on the new kittens! Do you think she is done or are there more to come?

 

[leto86]

I htink so.. she's still really big... so I figure at least two more.. gotta be. x)

She's really tired right now... and letting them nurse.

 

[leto86]

Heres two pics.

Momma nursing the 3 boys



and the only female so far

 

[leto86]

a black and white male was just born

 

[ncarpi75]

This is so exciting!!!! Please post more pics!! They are so cute!!

 

[leto86]

she's had 9 in total.. but the first born didn't make it

 

[poohandwendy]

Aw, sorry to hear the first boy didn't make it.

Holy cow, she will have her work cut our for her with the remaining eight!

My Shenzi had 8 kittens last August. One suggestion...get a small kitchen scale that will weigh the kittens in grams. Then weigh them every day for the first few weeks. It really helps to know their progress and will tell you if any aren't getting enough milk. The important thing is that they should always be gaining, never staying the same and definitely not losing. I think the should be gaining like 10-20 grams per day, if I recall correctly. (I will look for the chart of normal weight gain, it's somewhere around here...I think I have it bookmarked)

What I did is weighed them everyday and then supplemented the ones with the least weight gain that day (bottle of KMR). It would vary, but some of them definitely will be little 'piggies' and hog the best nipples. Especially with a large litter, it is important to keep a close eye on their weight gain.

Best of luck to you and your little kitty brood! Way to go mamma kitty!

 

[poohandwendy]

This is what i was talking about, sort of: Btw, they are so precious!

Normal Weight Gain:

Birth weights of kittens range from 85 to 120 grams and should double in the first 1 to 2 weeks. Kittens average about ten grams of additional body weight per day. Although this is a good average, they tend to grow in spurts. Seek a veterinarian’s advice if the kitten does not double its weight in 8 to 12 days

 

[ncarpi75]

They are absolutely adorable! Congrats!!

I am also sorry to hear about the first kitten...

 

[gayef]

Weighing those babies daily is very good advice. Large litters can be stressful on both babies (fighting for a position to nurse) and Momma (having to provide 100% of the nutritional requirements for all those kittens for the next 4 or so weeks!) so weighing the babies is a great way to chart progress.

Give Momma as much as she wants to eat whenever she wants it. Don't worry so much about overfeeding right now as she will take what she wants and walk away when she has had enough. But she is going to need the extra food, especially now with a litter of 8 to provide for! Bless her heart.

I am sorry you lost one. I know that had to be extremely difficult for you. *sigh*

They are so cute just born, thanks for the pics!

~gf~

 

[babyharley]

Awww!!!

She finally had them!!

How exciting, I just love them, they are so precious!

8 babies? Wow...she has her work cut out for herself now doesn't she?

I love the orange babies - I want one so bad!

I hope she is feeling okay!

 

[kluchetta]

Oh, they are so, so precious! I'm so sorry about the little boy. RIP little one.

Watch momma's health like they said; we almost lost our momma cat when the kittens were about 10 weeks old. The vet said the stress of 8 babies was probably to blame.

 

[leto86]

How do I weigh them? I don't have anything but a normal scale.

Momma was already free fed before. I got soem KMR, and made a bit up for her to drink. Also have some incase I need to bottle feed.. the little grey girl looks like she might need it.

All together

 

[ncarpi75]

Precious, absolutely precious!

 

[poohandwendy]

Originally Posted by Leto86

How do I weigh them? I don't have anything but a normal scale.

They sell kitchen scales that will weigh grams in most large grocery stores and Walmart type stores, not sure what you have access to. (they are pretty inexpensive, less than 10 dollars) Usually, they are stocked with the measuring cups and kitchen utensils etc. I think they are sometimes called 'dietary' scales. A regular scale will not work because it will not show the tiny (gram) amounts of gain or loss you are looking for.

They are absolutely adorable! They all have such different markings, it will be interesting to see how they look in a few weeks. Precious!

I agree, the grey girl looks pretty teeny. I think I would supplement her from the start because she is visibily behind the others in weight already. Do you have an animal baby bottle or syringe to use? if not, you will need one. There is a very helpful sticky at the top of this forum with info on how to hand feed kittens. i found it very useful.

Good luck to you, your new babies are beautiful.

 

[gayef]

I certainly don't want to cause alarm here, but you might want to prepare yourself in the event you lose the little grey one ... watch her carefully and make sure she is getting enough nutrition and warmth. In such a large litter, there is normally one or two very small ones and those are the ones who normally have problems.

The scale I use is from Wal-Mart and has a large bowl to place upon the scale. I paid less than $20 for it and it works nicely.