Spayed, Weaning Queen's Abdomen/breasts Have Hardened And Are Warm To The Touch - Is This Normal?

[moxiewild]

Hi everyone!

One of my trap-savvy ferals (Socks) ended up giving birth this past spring. I only found out when she brought her only/remaining kitten to our porch shelter. Her kitten was about ~4 weeks at the time, and her leg had been severed (likely wildlife).

We took them in, and after a month or so, we found out Socks had actually become pregnant again before we had trapped her. She was about 1-2 weeks from giving birth, but we were able to do a spay/abort (7 kittens!!! Would have brought our house total to 17 though, so it was the best decision overall). That happened in early June.

The original kitten has continued to nurse through this whole time. She does eat some solid food, and I feed her 3-4 times a day, but I also catch her nursing quite a bit.

Yesterday my partner asked if I'd noticed that Socks's belly was hard. I went to feel it and it is indeed very hard, very swollen, and very hot. I thought maybe the baby (who is about ~14 weeks now) was finally fully weaning and maybe this was a normal sort of... engorgement that was temporary and it would dry up soon. But then I immediately remembered I had JUST seen her nursing the baby the night before (which had only been about 12 hours prior).

Everything Dr. Google brought up really didn't fit and had a lot more symptoms (though if left untreated, maybe those symptoms will begin to show up)...

Socks is acting completely normal otherwise, nothing else has changed. She is not lethargic, she is not vocalizing more, she is not hiding or overly affectionate, she doesn't mind her belly being touched briefly, her appetite is still as insane as ever. Her ONLY symptom is the hardened and warm belly/breasts.

However - there is one thing, that may or may not be related...

I can't for the life of me remember exactly when and I'm kicking myself for not writing it down. But some time about a month ago I noticed a couple of small blood spots on the bed in their room. I assumed it was from the kitten's severed leg, which had struggled to callous (she still somewhat uses the stump). I checked her injured leg and the wound/sore didn't look like it had recently opened but I checked both mom and baby elsewhere and couldn't figure out what else could have caused it, so I just chalked it up to that.

Right before posting this and racking my brain for any other signs, I remember about 3 or 4 days ago I found another spot that looked exactly the same on the same bed. I checked the kitten's leg, and it couldn't have been that, as it FINALLY calloused about 2 weeks ago, and there were definitely no sores.

Once again, I checked mom and baby over thoroughly and couldn't find anything at all. Without even knowing WHO the blood was coming from, I just decided to keep an eye out.

Now I'm thinking that perhaps this was Socks. I was thinking maybe her spay/abort didn't get everything and she was still going into heat (or rather, just having certain symptoms). I have never noticed a change in behavior for even a single day with Socks since she's been with us and made her biggest leaps in progress, socially speaking (which happened in late May/very early June). Her appetite, affection, bathroom habits, everything, has been completely consistent.

Anyone have any ideas? I will absolutely do whatever is necessary, but just wasn't sure if the hardened belly might be a normal process for weaning mothers. And any ideas about the mysterious blood spots (and possible relation) would also be appreciated.

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like Socks has mastitis. She’ll need antibiotics to cure it. It’s usually quite painful. You need to get her to a vet ASAP, but you can put warm, damp compresses on her belly in the meantime. It will give her some relief, but is not a cure.

Was the kitten’s leg treated by a vet?

moxiewild

 

[moxiewild]

Yes! We took the kitten to the vet immediately and then trapped Socks the next day.

Thank you, Mastitis is what continually kept coming up (particularly in relation to nursing), but because she wasn't having any other symptoms, I thought maybe this could be normal if kitten finally completed weaning. But maybe no other symptoms just means we caught it early? I hope so.

I'm about to head home and take her to the vet, then. Thank you!

 

[Sarthur2]

Please let us know what the vet says!

moxiewild

 

[moxiewild]

Belated update - it was Mastitis. Vet thinks we caught it pretty early.

Socks was prescribed antibiotics and we were instructed to separate her from her kitten for three weeks and force the kitten to finish weaning.

We have an extra large dog crate in their room and just switch out who goes in the crate a few times a day, and then try to allow them 2-3 hours of supervised “together time” to play and cuddle.

The kitten will be spayed in a few days, as well.

Sucks keeping them separated and crated But I am thankful it wasn’t anything more serious.

Thank you for all of your help, Sarthur2 !

 

[Sarthur2]

Thanks for the update! How long has mom been on antibiotics? Is she showing improvement?

moxiewild

 

[moxiewild]

Sarthur2 Sorry, I must have missed your comment!

Yes, she was on antibiotics. I want to say it was for 10 days? The swelling went down completely.

But now I have an update/question.

As I said, our vet advised us to keep them separated for three weeks, which we did. The only time they were allowed to be one another was with active supervision.

We officially ended that period of separation almost two weeks ago.

A few times now when I've gone in there to spend time with them, I've caught the kitten (Immy) nursing on Socks. I can't tell - or don't know how to tell - if Socks is actually still producing milk.

At first I assumed it was just habit from Immy. But I keep catching her do it. And the last time I caught her doing it (I separate them and distract Immy when I see it), once Immy stopped, she was licking her lips as cats tend to do after eating.

And there have been days where it seems like Immy is eating less of her solid food. But it's difficult to discern why. Is she just having a normal fluctuation in hunger that day? Is she just not in the mood for that food or flavor? Or is she still feeding on Mom?

It's just been inconsistent. Most days she eats most of her food. Other days, her plate is clean. Every once in a while it looks like she either hasn't touched her food at all or barely touched it. We tried to keep track of what we're feeding her but haven't found a pattern yet.

I'm just paranoid that Socks is still producing milk, or that Immy trying to nurse has restimulated milk production.

But I'm not sure how to confirm that. Is there a way to confirm without having to take her to the vet?

 

[lutece]

How old is Immy now (approximately)?

It's normal for mostly-weaned kittens to continue to nurse occasionally, if mom lets them. I've seen kittens nursing occasionally as old as 6-7 months of age if they still live with mom. It's possible that Socks may be producing some milk, although it might just be "comfort nursing," which weaned kittens will also sometimes do. It wouldn't be harmful to either Socks or Immy if Socks produced some milk, although I would suggest that you periodically check her belly to see if she develops hard/inflamed breasts again.

I don't think Socks would produce milk enough at this point to make any difference in how much Immy would eat... the variations you are noticing are probably normal fluctuations in appetite.