Stray had her babies and I'm lost

[yellowhouse]

Middle of the night update:  As of last night (1:30am - yes, I'm obsessed), she was sleeping and breathing peacefully. 

Update this morning:  All six are nursing (three up, three down, very cute) and mama is doing well.  Oldest boy and I went in to clean cat litter, change water and add food.  She was relaxed this morning before we went in, and stayed with the kittens the whole time, but definitely became more alert.  I was looking for a good way to get her under a table, but I like the sheet at the window idea better.  I will also force us to stay out of her area today, except for feeding and watering.  I only have dry food at the moment, but we will be taking a road trip to get wet kitten food (right?).  We can take a road trip to a place that sells kitten meal replacement - is that was mama cat should get for extra calcium?  Is there something about eggs as well?  We have those in the house and I could do that now.  

sarther2 - I'm glad we aren't the only suckers.  I have no idea how we'll deal with rehoming the kittens, but 11 cats is waaaay too much.  So is four, or five, or six (assuming we keep one, it will be six).  I hate cat litter. All our cats are indoor-outdoor, but there is still plenty of litter.  Yuck.

 

[yellowhouse]

And two pictures from this morning.  You can see she isn't too happy with us.  

 

Hidey and kittens1 Aug 22.jpg

• yellowhouse
• Aug 22, 2015

Then she went to eat and left a tangle of kittens.  The striped one on the right is the sorta bully one.  

kittens2 Aug 22.jpg

• yellowhouse
• Aug 22, 2015

 

[handsome kitty]

You can mix a raw egg yolk with the wet food or you can make her a scrambled egg since you don't have wet food.

 

[Sarthur2]

Kitten food is ideal, but a wet cat food with meat, fish, or chicken as the first ingredient is also good - such as Fancy Feast. It has more protein and less fillers.

Will you not be able to purchase kitten formula at a pet store?

You might want to keep two kittens, so they have each other to play with. It's sometimes easier to re-home them in pairs as well. And not before 12 weeks old, so they can learn some manners from mom. Mom can be spayed when the kittens are 8 weeks old.

She definitely wants to be left alone, except for feedings.

I am also happy to hear they have sorted out nipples and all six were latched and nursing simultaneously .

 

[yellowhouse]

We're a good 45 minutes or so from a pet food store, but the plan is to haul all the kids out today.  Meanwhile, I can easily get wet kitten food.  I wish she didn't need to be left alone, because the whole process is fascinating!  Oh well, I'll manage.

Kids are getting noisy, so now may be a good time to get going.  Or maybe they need food (the kids, not the kittens).  Fortunately, loud children are far away from mama and kittens. 

 

[handsome kitty]

Walmart also carries KMR.

 

[Sarthur2]

I hope you find KMR with no trouble, and feed your hungry crew as well!

The issue here is that she's not your housecat, so she is not keen enough on you yet to feel comfortable with you handling her babies. They are very fragile right now anyway, and cannot keep their own body temperature stable for the first three weeks, so it's best to keep things to a minimum anyway.

I had my stray for 2 weeks before she gave birth. She was very sweet, but when I picked up one of her babies, she literally took it from my hand and carried it in her mouth back to the closet. And when they began to leave the nest she watched them like a hawk. Thought my iPhone was a kitten in my hand every time I took a picture.

On the flip side, by the time they were 8 weeks old, she would leave them with me to babysit and slip upstairs to nap away the afternoon on my bed! She had some deep sleeps as I think she was exhausted from the constant mothering.

 

[yellowhouse]

Well, the local shopping trip was a complete bust.  I went to our two local stores (grocery and dollar general) that carry cat food.  Only dry kitten food, which we have, and normal wet food.  None of which had chicken or recognizable meat as a first ingredient.  Most had "meat by products" and "water for processing" as the first two ingredients.  I could get baby food - the chicken one has chicken, water and corn starch.  Or I actually have cans of tuna on hand.  Would any of that work?

Hidey is comfortable with the two adults petting her, only, but still skittish.  When I go in to change the water or set the fans I don't touch her if she doesn't want it.

One other question: she has been licking and biting at her.. um.. vulva?  Where the kittens came out.  Is it sore like when humans have babies?

She's being a very good mama, and all six seem to be doing well, so I'm staying out of her way as much as I can.

 

[handsome kitty]

She could be sore or she could have another kitten to deliver.

Bummer about the shopping trip.  Is there a Walmart nearby?

 

[yellowhouse]

Nearest Walmart is the same as pet stores.  45 minutes or so.  We are approximately 45 minutes from everywhere

I really hope there isn't another kitten.  

What about the tuna or baby food?  Bad idea?

 

[Sarthur2]

That was a bummer.

She really needs wet food, so get whatever you can for now, even if it's not the best. It will be better than nothing. A can of tuna in the meantime would be appreciated, I'm sure!

She's licking because her lady parts are sore! They will heal in a few days.

Baby food works too!

 

[handsome kitty]

You could order it on-line and it would arrive in a couple of days.  They your boys would have a box or two to play with.

 

[yellowhouse]

OK, I'll order KMR online and get some tuna that isn't out of date.  Or baby food.  I also saw fancy feast at one of the local stores, but didn't buy it.  Is there a particular flavor I should get?  Should I mix in an egg yolk?  

Side note: With our other cats, we call tuna the great cat equalizer.  Even those who don't get along will crowd around a plate of tuna.  We put four separate piles on a big plate, then watch and laugh.  They look like the hungry hippo game.

Why does Hidey need wet food?  

 

[handsome kitty]

Fancy Feast Classic is great and affordable.  Wet food has more protein and more liquid.  She will need as much of both as she can get.

 

[Sarthur2]

She very much needs the nutrition provided by wet food to support nursing six kittens right now.

So you know, the kittens will need kitten chow and wet food too when they begin to ween. They will not grow well without wet food, and they need it the first few months.

Fancy Feast is fine. Get different flavors to see what she likes.

 

[yellowhouse]

OK, I had canned chicken and I cooked up an egg.  Wow, she was hungry.  Should I do this again in a few hours?  Here is the plate before and after.

Before:

chicken and egg Aug 22.jpeg

• yellowhouse
• Aug 22, 2015

and after:

chicken and egg gone Aug 22.jpeg

• yellowhouse
• Aug 22, 2015

 

[handsome kitty]

Definitely.  She won't eat it at every meal but if she turn her nose up at it, you have 4 others who will eat it.

 

[Sarthur2]

There you go!

Nursing moms are extra hungry and need extra calories.

She needs to eat like this until two weeks after she weans and is spayed down the road.

 

[handsome kitty]

Think of her as a teenaged boy.

 

[yellowhouse]

*snort*  A teenaged boy  Yup, I'm going to have three of those at some point.  I also remember my younger brothers and their hollow legs.  I've been leaving out plenty of dry food, but I'll be adding more wet.

Question:  While Hidey was snarfing the chicken and egg, the tuxedo kitten seemed like it was coughing.  Another one had jerky movements (like hiccups or dream twitches), and the others seemed to be fairly peaceful.  All of them were piled on each other.  The tuxedo kitten climbed on the top of the pile and stopped the coughing thing when she/he draped his/her neck over another kitten.  Should I add this to my list of things to worry about?  If so, what can I do about it?

Next question:  I see all these posts about weights.  Should I be trying to weigh them?  I can get probably get a scale and some KMR on Monday, or I can order it online.  I know, tons of questions.  Did I mention I'm new to this?  Thank you all for your help!