Queen acting strange on 9th day after giving birth

Home The Daily Kitten Cat Chat Forum Cats & Kittens Queen acting strange on 9th day after giving birth

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #865855
    Rachael Taylor
    Participant

    It’s been some time since I last posted. It’s been a busy cat mom life. Anyway, I recently adopted two cats (fixed adults male and female) and rescued a pregnant mother. This is about the new mom.
    She delivered 9 days ago. There were some stressful points during the delivery but she and all 5 babies bounced back quickly. Mom is roughly 14-16 months old and this was her first(only) litter.
    Okay so the problem right now is this, she’s suddenly refusing to feed her babies longer than 5 min at a time, running around mewing strangely and only going to them when they are extremely vocal.
    We have another female who is attached to them who spends more time with them than mom does. She grooms them to help them potty and snuggles them to keep them warm. Mom is okay with this and will actually seek her out to take over when she decides to leave them.
    I’ve been tracking their weight since birth, supplementing the smallest a bit so she gains appropriately everyday.
    Mom doesn’t have a fever, shows no signs of mastitis and is producing well if the heaviness/fullness of her tears is my indication.
    I am worried about her current behavior though.

    #865856
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    It’s a good thing you have a surrogate mom and YOU to help supplement them. I would be watching them very closely and making sure they are getting enough nourishment. They can bottom out quickly. Sad really that she’s not nestling and cuddling with them. She is very young and her own mother may not have been a good mom herself. This happens a lot and could be a reason she acts uninterested. Another reason could be she is coming into heat again, and the reason she is acting restless. Make sure that there is not way for her to get outside, and there are no unneutered males inside your home. If you see that she loses interest altogether in nursing them, I would get her spayed ASAP. It still might be a good idea to have a vet check her to see if something else is going on–fever, mastitis, infection somewhere. She would benefit from eating kitten food and having some KMR or goat’s milk also for the extra nutrition, since she is still a lactating queen.

    #865857
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Concats on the new kittens!

    First time moms don’t always know what to do with their babies. Now that she’s taken care of them, she want to get away. In comes the surrogate who is happy to take care of the babies. It’s not a bad deal for both “moms” since you’re feeding them.

    Cats can become pregnant while they are nursing kittens. Most cats go into heat about one to two months after delivery but can go into heat within a week of delivery. This could be part of her restlessness.

    A cat can be spayed while she is nursing and will continue to produce adequate milk for her kittens. Some veterinarians prefer to wait until a cat has weaned her kittens before doing the surgery because the mammary gland (breast) development present during nursing can make the surgery slightly more difficult. Check with your vet and see if this an option now. Purrhaps, this will help her settle down.

    I don’t know if I ever thanked you for fostering kittens. You’re doing an awesome job and seeing the kittens growing up is its own reward, I’m sure.

    PG

    #865861
    Rachael Taylor
    Participant

    When we rescued her she was obviously pregnant. To be clear she didn’t come from a shelter, she was yet another offcast from our landlord into a barn where we live. The moment we brought her in (no experience whatsoever in caring for a pregnant cat) I researched what to do.
    She has been on wet kitten formulate md food with kitten kibble as a filler. Both are either Purina One or Wellness. Once she began to show signs that she was in early labor I bought the scale (gram/ounces) KMR and all possible necessary accessories. So far, the runt/smallest kitten is the only one I’ve needed to supplement with KMR…I use a needless syringe and deposit the formula by the drop inside her cheeks. Until today Mom was doing amazingly for her age and upbringing. Now she’s just seeming so disinterested unless they are really vocal. We do have an intact male but he is seperated completely from her and her litter. We even tried keeping our non mom girl seperate which has proven very challenging lol. She chose to deliver in one of our training cages…small and limited. We tried to transition them to a larger box/den and it only stressed her out so she’s back where she feels safe.
    Our vet will not spay her until her kittens are weaned completely and won’t fix her kits until they are more than 2 pounds. In only 13 months I went from never being a cat person to having ten including 5 newborns lol. It’s beautiful but stressful

    #865862
    Rachael Taylor
    Participant

    Also, the human she bonded with was our 15 year old son but due to his own health needs has been gone for two days. He’s likely to be out of the home for as long as a month. Could this be why she’s acting so strange now

    #865866
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I see two problems – (1) your son is gone. He’s her human and she doesn’t understand why he’s gone. (2) The intact male. She knows there is some something to be had and it could send her into early heat. It good you’re keeping them separated but they can easily find a way.

    Contact an organization that sponsors a TNR (trap-Neuter-release) program and get the guy neutered. It can be much less expensive to have a cat fixed.

    #865869
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    You have done a wonderful job in caring for this cat and her kittens especially with no prior experience. It’s a daunting task even for the battle hardened!

    You did an exceptional job in feeding her and keeping her healthy and safe before she delivered, and now having her inside and letting her pick her nest, even though it’s not really the desired place, LOL.

    Hopefully, she will settle down and continue nursing them until they are ready to be weaned. I would just keep a very watchful eye on them to make sure they are getting enough so that you can step in if need be. I would think it’s fine to let the surrogate keep on doing her thing too, it’s helpful for both mom and kits and even her to be caring for the kittens.

    Who knows why she is restless? It could be that your son isn’t there and that is her go-to person, she could be coming into heat, or she is just plain restless. Whatever the reason, she is in no danger and she is not neglecting her kittens. She has you to rely on in case she decides she doesn’t want to do this ‘mom’ thing anymore. 🙄

    It must be a shock to not being a cat person, and then having so many to care for. Cats have taught me plenty over the years–the patience and resilience that mother cats have to care for kittens under the worst circumstances possible, has given me a different view on a lot of things. 🙂

    #865941
    Rachael Taylor
    Participant

    I’m so sorry it took so long to reply, busy cat life. She settled down the very next day, right back to her usual self.
    All of the babes eyes are completely open now and they have taken to climbing out if she leaves while they’re awake.
    I had to remove non mom from the scenario as she was becoming aggressive towards mom.
    We had a scare on day 11, the tiny one I’ve been supplementing started making strange sounds. I hit the net and was convinced I’d allowed her to aspirate her KMR. After 6 hours the rest of them were making the same sounds and our vet finally responded that it was just part of their vocal development. Phew.
    They’re all growing, and so inquisitive now that their eyes are open. I’m positive that the little one I’m supplementing (Nadia) has chosen me. She comes right to me every time I come near them.
    Thank you for soothing my concerns, giving me such great advice.

    #865942
    Rachael Taylor
    Participant

    Side note: mom has decided I’m the best thing in her life since being there through the 2 days of pre labor, 4 hours of active labor and spending the first 4 days/nights right outside of her den asleep or awake. When she leaves now she makes sure I’m aware she’s leaving. It’s tiring but not any more than being a new mom for any of my 8 human children lol

    #865944
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Awww, I love this! Yes, they DO chose their humans and not the other way around…luckily you have figured it out and realize it! Good for you on seeking out vet help when a problem comes up that you aren’t familiar with. Kittens and cats make all sorts of noises, chirps, meows, purrs, growls, etc. but did you know that they don’t meow at each other? That sound is reserved for only them talking to humans!

    I hope you can find good homes for the ones you aren’t keeping, or an animal welfare league that can help with spay and neuter costs.

    #865945
    Rachael Taylor
    Participant

    We are keeping everyone of them. It was somewhat our ignorance that allowed mom to become pregnant. We know by research how devastating the overpopulation problem is, we will be taking responsibility for every single kitten.

    #865946
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I’m so glad it all worked out. The first few days are a lot of panic but you did a great job…even mom thinks so!

    Hopefully, we’ll see each of the gang as our Daily Kitten. Thank you for being a responsible meowmy.

    #865948
    Moonshadow_NZ
    Moderator

    I’m only just catching up with this thread. Sounds like you have had your hands full Rachael but have come through with flying colours thanks to your common sense and the I’net. So glad Mama cat has decided you are ‘her’ person as that makes things easier in some ways but also makes you busier.
    As PG says we hope we can see each kit as the daily kitten in the future.

    #865958
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    I’m excited for you that you are keeping them! I know it’s a big responsibility, but I’ve never been able to give away my kittens either and ended up getting them all fixed–they just become a part of the family!

    #866033
    Rachael Taylor
    Participant

    On the Star kit of day, My Athena was one back when I first found this wonderful place. I’ve yet to submit any of my other munchkins so far. I don’t want to be greedy with them seeing I have many so I’m timid in submitting lol. I want to show off my babies but I tend to want to let others share first

    #866037
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    By all means, submit them! 🙂

    #866052
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    You aren’t being greedy by submitting pics of kittens! WE LOVE KITTEN AND CAT PICS!! 😀

    #866174
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    How are you and the fur gang doing? Do you have pictures yet?

    #866177
    katzenjammer
    Participant

    We want pics! 🙂

    #866236
    Rachael Taylor
    Participant

    I do have a few just been keeping my distance because I caught step throat that caused rheumatic fever and I don’t know if I’ll make them sick. I’ll get my human munchkins to get me some good ones if the rowdy lil purrs will hold still for them lol

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.