Unsure about stimulating etiquette with new kittens

[marcus1441]

Hi all! So we've just welcomed three little angels into the family after taking in a stray momma cat. We're fairly sure she's probably only about a year old, herself, so likely this is her first litter. So far she's doing a great job, nursing them just fine, responding promptly to any mewls, and cuddling just about 24/7. Thing is, I'm very paranoid about making sure the kittens are voiding properly, so I've taken to stimulating them a few times a day as I've only seen momma do it herself about 3 times now. I've only gotten them to pee, no poops, and I'm just wondering if this is okay for me to be doing and should I be worried that I'm not seeing poops or is this evidence that momma is doing her job and taking care of that? The kittens are now 3 days old and growing like weeds, very plump and soft and only protest a little when I help them pee, no issues as far as I can tell. I'm just terrified of any bowel/urinary complications arising as I imagine there's not much a vet/medicine could do to help them at this age. Thank you! Hopefully I'm just being an overprotective helicopter dad!

 

[Sarthur2]

You can rest assured that mama kitty is doing her job. There is not much poo when they are on mom’s milk and mom licks it away. This is all normal until they begin weaning to soft foods in a few weeks. You should see stains on the bedding as sometimes they will void on their own, and more so as they mature, so change the bedding every 2-3 days.

Thanks for giving this stray a home! Spay her when the kittens are 8 weeks, and you do not need to continue stimulating them. Enjoy the little family and do keep us posted!

 

[marcus1441]

You can rest assured that mama kitty is doing her job. There is not much poo when they are on mom’s milk and mom licks it away. This is all normal until they begin weaning to soft foods in a few weeks. You should see stains on the bedding as sometimes they will void on their own, and more so as they mature, so change the bedding every 2-3 days.

Thanks for giving this stray a home! Spay her when the kittens are 8 weeks, and you do not need to continue stimulating them. Enjoy the little family and do keep us posted!

Thank you! This is great to know I have been able to see some stains on the white kitten (the other two are grey and black, so less easy to spot) which had me relieved, I just wasn't sure how solid poop should look at this age, all the videos I can find on it are foster kittens being bottle fed. And we have her spay scheduled for June!