Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Denise070 on July 14, 2009, 17:46:38 PM
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Hi there
About six months ago i took in 3 sisters from a friend of a friend etc. I was told that they was all neutered.
Well over the last week or so i noticed they where putting on weight, but didn't worry as i was convinced my girls was spayed.
Well imagine my shock when on Friday one cat gave birth shortly followed in the next two days by the other two.
Gismo had 4, Jess 5 and Whiskas 3, sadly Gismo lost one of hers it had a very funny shaped head and half the size of the rest of the litter.
Well i have loads of questions.
1) What damage have i caused the mums and kittens by not giving extra care during pregnancy.
2) I have put all the mummies on kitten food and cat milk and increased food 3 fold. Do they need any more supplements
3) When can i handle the kittens as i would like to move them all into the spare room where the dog cant find them
4) The other main worry i have is that the mums keep swapping babies, sometimes on will be feeding most of them, will this do them any harm.
5) When do the kittens need worming
6) what should i expect from the next eight weeks.
Thanks in advance
Denise
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:welcome: to Purrs Denise
:omg: Certainly sounds like you have your hands full there - what a shock that must have been! I don't know much about newborn kittens myself but we have lots of experienced rescue members who will hopefully be along to help shortly :hug:
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Welcome to Purrs :) What an experience!! :shocked:
Ive no tiny kitten experience but I'm hoping someone (more than one someone, I expect :)) will be able to offer lots of advice and as Helen says, will be along shortly
In the meantime :hug: :hug: :hug: It sounds like you and all the Mum cats are coping :)
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Hi,
you will find plenty of advice on this site and one that I have bookmarked is
http://www.kittenrescue.org/pages.php?pageid=15
I'd move them as soon as possible if they are in danger but be aware that they will need a lot of handling, so if they are tucked away in a spare room and not likely to get this you will have timid kittens on your hands. It might be better to ban the dog into the kitchen.
It will not matter if they swap babies. worming normally occurs after 3 weeks but I have been guilty of not doing it until they are old enough for the kitten milbemax tablets as the paste you use is not very pleasant to use - especially with so many kittens to do.
Good luck with them , I have a mum and 6 kittens and after 4 weeks it all goes a bit manic.
Don't let the mum cats out in case they have an accident, though with 3 mums on the go you will hopefully not need to hand feed. But the mums can get pregnant again very quickly and I have known a feral who came in with some 4 week old kittens drop another set!
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Hello Denise and :welcome: to Purrs
Don't panic - it sounds as though you are doing a very good job
Cats do not generally need any extra care during pregnancy. Do mum cats look ok at the moment?
What to expect in the next eight weeks - eyes will probably open somewhere between five and seven days. Kittens will take little walks after eyes open and will play with each other. The kittens will probably go to the food bowl anytime after three weeks but will still be feeding on mum as well. At about five weeks using bowl more often and not feeding on mum very much. This is just a broad generalisation and I am only going by memory.
I went to the Vet to have mine wormed, he used the paste and I had them checked over at the same time.
Good luck and some pictures would be lovely.
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:welcome: to Purrs, Denise: glad you found us.
There are plenty of rescue members - like Angie from Covcats, who has responded already - and between them they will be able to give you lots of good advice.
:luck:
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Hello Denise and :welcome: to Purrs
Don't panic - it sounds as though you are doing a very good job
Cats do not generally need any extra care during pregnancy. Do mum cats look ok at the moment?
What to expect in the next eight weeks - eyes will probably open somewhere between five and seven days. Kittens will take little walks after eyes open and will play with each other. The kittens will probably go to the food bowl anytime after three weeks but will still be feeding on mum as well. At about five weeks using bowl more often and not feeding on mum very much. This is just a broad generalisation and I am only going by memory.
I went to the Vet to have mine wormed, he used the paste and I had them checked over at the same time.
Good luck and some pictures would be lovely.
All mums looks wonderful, up and about and happy to feed the kittens
I am going to move the cats out the bottom of wardrobe in a while so will take some pictures then.
Whats the earliest i can get mums neutered and i dont want this to happen again
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Wow, 11 are going to be amusing in a few weeks time!
Would like to say you havent caused any damage as you had no idea what was going on, dont give yourself a hard time :hug:
Have you any idea how you are going to rehome them all? It wouldnt hurt to speak to a few rescues so they have some advance warning if thats the route you think you may take.
The most important thing is to keep all mums 100% indoors, no quick trips to the loo or anything! They can get pregnant again so quickly :(
Ideally your vet will want to wait until their milk has dried up, this will be a little while after the kits have weaned. They can be spayed earlier but its not ideal.
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Hi Denise and :welcome: to Purrs
Can't offer any advice as I've never had kittens (neither have my cats! :rofl:). You've certainly come to the right place for lots or advice on your new babies and we look forward to seeing pics of them. The next few weeks are gonna full of fun and mischief at your house! :rofl:
Sam, Foxy, Zephyr and Rossi xxxx
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:welcome: Denise
Oooo yes ;D you will need new curtains :evillaugh:
Imagine sitting down and having 11 little bundles jumping all over you ;D Heaven!!
Def love to hear how mums and babes are doing and love to see pics :)
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Hiya Denise, Welcome to the friendliest cat site I have found after The Hovel, I would book a vets appt, take them all down and make sure that they are all wormed, vaccinated etc before they find new homes, but will also make sure that Mums aren't anaemic ect. PDSA are very good in these situations as are Blue Cross, if there are any relatively locally, it might be worth the petrol money to visit? I don't know and wouldn't want to know what your income bracket is, but RSPCA, as well as the other organisations mentions do free spaying for people on low incomes.
Hope that helps.
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hi denise, welcome to the forum. What area are you in, just in case we have someone local who could help with some local advice?
Good luck with the little one's.... life in your house is going to be fun fun fun in a few weeks time! ;)
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I live in North Devon, i am not sure what charities we have around here as we havent lived her that long.
Here are some pictures
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Great pictures ;D
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hopefully someone on here will be able to help and you will be able to get a list of Cat Chat as well.
can I just make one suggestion, it may be an idea to give mums a bed that isn't quite so thick. Beds that are very thick can somtimes cause mums problems as they can't always tell if they are lying on a lump in the cover or a kitten. Some mums can be rather clumsy and not very 'with it'.
Doesn't have to be mega thin but something flat, IMHO, would be better. That said if mums are managing fine then you look to be doing a grand job with the little one's.
well done mums and you!
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What little cuties :Luv2: :Luv2: :Luv2: Your house is going to be CHAOS in a few weeks time :naughty:
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hopefully someone on here will be able to help and you will be able to get a list of Cat Chat as well.
can I just make one suggestion, it may be an idea to give mums a bed that isn't quite so thick. Beds that are very thick can somtimes cause mums problems as they can't always tell if they are lying on a lump in the cover or a kitten. Some mums can be rather clumsy and not very 'with it'.
Doesn't have to be mega thin but something flat, IMHO, would be better. That said if mums are managing fine then you look to be doing a grand job with the little one's.
well done mums and you!
will get that changed thanks for the advice
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Hi Denise, what a shock !, we had a similar situation, we took in a cat who we didnt know was pregnant and we ended up with five kittens, I am by no means the authority on looking after kittens, but I have been around cats all my life and had to learn quickly about kittens when Gracie Dirty Face had her's so I am more than happy to give you the knowledge I have, I will PM you my phone numbers and feel free to call xx
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Aww, what lovely cats and really cute kittens. Must have been a bit of a shock though!! Sounds like you are doing a pretty good job with them so far.
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Just AWWW! Those kittens are just so sweet, I don't think that homing them is going to be a problem. :Luv: :Luv2:
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Mums are gorgeous too :Luv:
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:welcome: to purrs, I don't have any kitten advice but there are plenty here that do ;D
What gorgeous bundles of kitteness you have their, you certainly are going to have your hands full :wow:
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I love that last picture "Don't bother me, it's feeding time" - stunning cats, all of them. Good luck when the kittens get big enough to run riot around your house. ;)
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11 kittens! There's not going to be a breakable item left unbroken in a few weeks! :evillaugh:
They are all gorgeous, Mums included, you look to be doing a fabulous job. One heck of a surprise though!
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When I had my unexpected litter of kittens (not personally) we built a kitten enclosure with MDF, lined with HD plastic on the floor, when they got to the point where Mum wanted some space and to stop the kitts getting into trouble. Incidentally that is how my cat got his name. "Oi, Trouble, don't climb the curtains". (his method of escaping the enclosure), "Oi, Trouble, not out the door." ect. :rofl: