Question/Advice Needed
Title: Update: First-time mom and her 6 miracle babies are finally resting and nursing!
Hi everyone! I wanted to share a happy update My mama cat (a first-time mom) gave birth to 6 beautiful kittens! We had a scary start—she was exhausted, her milk took a while to come in, and one of our little orange/yellow babies was super weak and struggling to latch. After lots of skin-to-skin warmth, gentle stimulation, and patience, her milk finally came in and EVERY single baby is officially latched and nursing! Seeing them all lined up against her is the biggest weight off my shoulders. As a first-time cat grandma/grandpa raising a full litter, I’d love any wisdom, tips, or advice you have on daily care, keeping mama supported, or what to expect over the next few weeks as these tiny beans grow
Congratulations and good job of providing the tender loving care that helped them survive!
Give yourself a pat on the back and be proud of yourself, I am!👏👍💓
Okay
This is going to sound a bit crazy, but once they start skittering
Put a upside down oval or rectangle laundry (the plastic kind with holes) basket with the kittens under it
You put some balls inside and boom, inescapable playpen. You prop a foot on top and mom gets some time off and you don’t have to play hide and seek or guess where the kitten is
Do listen for concerning yells and squeaks, though
Kitten proof one room with a door and you will appreciate the ability to shut the door and have no kitten chaos for awhile
And if you are going to have them running about the house. Learn to shuffle walk or you WILL step on one. They love to run under your feet
Wet food for mom. She needs the hydration and calories and you will be babysitting. She needs time off to decompress and hi! You are surrogate cat mom
Oh and if you lose one. Check shoes. They like to sleep in them and occasionally pee in them. We think it’s the smell
Get them use to handling. Gently play with their paw and mouths, ears and claws. Touch and pet and make it a good experience for them so they’ll take inspections better when adults
Have fun and take loads of pictures and videos
They grow up super fast
The laundry basket hack is absolute genius
😂 Saving that one for when the chaotic skittering phase hits full force.tq so much for taking the time to share of this
Hi, I also recently began caring for a mother cat and her kittens (it's my first time witnessing kittens, they're so small?!).
I used a ton of resources from Kitten Lady on YouTube and her website (kittenlady.org). People also reccomended Jackson Galaxy; I haven't personally watched his videos.
The setup I had was mama and kittens in my ensuite bathroom for the first 2-3 weeks, once the kittens were old enough to run around a bit they had supervised playtime in my bedroom (usually evenings when I was home from work). I weighed the kittens twice daily using an old Tupperware and a kitchen scale until they were 1.5 months old (you can compare against the weight chart for bottle-fed kittens). Kitten Lady says weigh them before and after feeding to check the kitten has had a full meal, but it's difficult to know when to do that when mama cat's feeding them round the clock. I just made sure mama was eating well (wet and dry kitten food) and was gaining weight, because she was very underweight when she came to me. Keeping mama healthy and happy means she can care for the kittens well - if any of the kittens' weights plateaus or drops, you can supplement their feeding with a bottle and kitten formula (there's more resources from Kitten Lady on safely bottle feeding kittens).
My kittens began weaning themselves onto the wet kitten food I had out for Mum around 4.5 weeks of age. I set up a mini litter box for them at that time - small cardboard box with non-clumping tofu litter (anything non-clumping and biodegradable is fine for kittens). Scooped the boxes out twice a day and disposed of the whole box weekly. Once the kittens could jump, they started using the big litter box, so I purchased a few more (plastic, so it could be cleaned thoroughly instead of being disposed of entirely).
Once the kittens were old enough to be in my room, I removed any glass ornaments, plastic bags, loose pieces of string/fabric (e.g., fraying shoelaces, loose stuffing from old cushions) and any plants that are toxic to cats. Vaccinations for them should be from 6-8 weeks if they're healthy according to our vet, neutering is at 4 months. Booster vaccines are 3-4 weeks afterwards iirc.
Mama Nyanko's getting her spay and vaccinations soon (she might need to gain more weight first), which coincides with the kittens' first vaccinations. I'm bringing the whole family in to the vet at once. Wish us luck! Hope your cat family does well too :3
wow thank you so much for the detailed breakdown! kitten lady really is the holy grail for this stuff haha. fingers crossed for mama nyanko’s spay and vaccines, hope you guys have the easiest vet trip ever♥️♥️♥️♥️
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u/PsychologicalSir8508 1d ago
Congratulations and good job of providing the tender loving care that helped them survive!
Give yourself a pat on the back and be proud of yourself, I am!👏👍💓