I am fostering for the SPCA, and have a cat with 8 week old kittens, one with a 10 day old kitten, and one who just gave birth tonight and is not turning out to be a good mom.
I heard sounds of fighting, and went to investigate. The mum had her baby dangling from the umbilical cord and was trying to get away from it by jumping on the cupboard and back down. I caught her, wrapped her and her baby in a towel, and tried to settle her, but she wouldn't stay still. Eventually the placenta came out and mom was gone, I cut the cord and brought the baby upstairs where I thought mom had goen. That's also where she has nursed her sister's kittens, so I know she knows how to do it, and thought it would eb a good place for them to bond. Mom pooped in the litter box, and then went into a bedroom and had a wash, ignoring the kitten's cries.
I let that go on for about ten minutes, thinking she needs to do it in her own time, and the other mums were responding to the cries, but took a sniff and knew it wasn't theirs. Then I brought mom over to the kitten lay her down and rubbed her (she was contented with that. Then brought the baby to her, and was able to get the baby to latch on and nurse. I stayed with them for about 10 minutes, and they seemed OK, baby was still latched but not sucking much. I went downstairs, and mom got up and followed me, baby left crying in the cat bed!
Ok, I don't want to force anything, or interfere too much because nature works things out. I also don't want to (and can't with 12h shifts) be left bottle feeding a kitten from birth. Mom's contractions have stopped, it's been 30 minutes so probably that's the only kitten.
Does anyone have advice? Should I wait, try to bond the kitten with one of the other moms? What?
I've called the SPCA supervisor and she is not home.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
The mental pictures are priceless!! HAHAHAHA~~~
I've had to play kitty midwife more than once........I can imagine the scenario all too well.:chuckle One of my cats didn't want me to leave her while she was in labor; the second I looked like I was going anywhere, she got up and tried to follow me. Finally I HAD to go to the bathroom..........and here came Mindy, dragging a half-born kitten after her and meowing like crazy, as if to say "Hey, look what I did!!"
Well, as I said the great Wallenda was a trapeze artist...and Walle was swinging from his umbilical cord as mom jumped all over the furniture and cupboards trying to get away from him. Not with the greatest of ease, but he certainly landed with a flourish.
I had a cat that jumped up and swung around when she had a kitten attached. What color is the little sweetie?
He is gray with a white belly. He has very pink paws right now, but that's because there's not a lot of fur yet. Kittens are also born with their claws out, so he looks like he has webbed feet. His ears are still folded over. Foster mom gets a can of food BID, and I get to babysit. Her older son squawks when she's not right there, and if he's not being held she feels like she needs to reply to every meow while she's trying to eat.
As far as the spay/neuter, mom had a csection to remove the two stillborn kittens, and a hysterectomy (spay), and baby actually belongs to the SPCA. All their animals are fixed, it's a condition of adoption. All my personal cats are also fixed, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Squeaky, he actually looks a lot like your avatar.
This is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to my SPCA supervisor. Maybe someone has some feedback related to the poop/pee issue. I especially don't want the kittens to think peeing on the floor is OK.
Mom of the 4 kittens is pooping and peeing outside the box. I have found poop and pee, and couldn't narrow it down to who, or figure out what was wrong that made them do that. I have shut off the basement, put one box downstairs and two upstairs. they are cleaned every day, and as far as I can tell only the moms and kittens use the box upstairs. My cats have chosen to stay down most of the time. So last night about an hour after I cleaned all the boxes, and everyone had food and water I caught her squatting in the porch. Today after I got home from work there were several puddles in the porch, and poop beside the litter box. Anything beside the litter box I count as a good try, but another room is not cool. So I went upstairs and found more poop, and was crabbing out loud as I cleaned it up. I took a puzzle box off the floor and slammed it down on the trunk, and crabbed some more. That little stinker walked up to the trunk, and took a paw, whacked the box back on the floor and strutted out. WELL! If I hadn't been so stunned I would have cussed her out. Surely that wasn't a coincidence- but I've never seen a cat that smart. Anyway, if she does it again, I'm sticking a cork up her ass.
New baby is doing well, and as the vet says, if he can wail that loud he's well fed and healthy. Mom is getting a can of wet food twice a day. Someone in the family has figured out how to tip over the recycleable garbage can, and pulls out any cans that smell tasty. I have also noticed kittens squatting where their mother has previously peed, and I say "NO!" and put them in the box. They have no problem peeing in the box, in fact they don't even come out of the squat as they fly through the air, just wait for the landing, and go. Their mother is going to be in a room alone if I lose my patience. Maybe the basement, cause the other room is carpeted. It seems too mean to do that now, but in a few days I may feel crankier.
Canoe... you either got kitties from 'the wrong side of the tracks', or probably a combo of that, and bladder/worm troubles and 'I wanna mark up the world as my territory' problems. That is a lot of work! I'd try to cut down on how many house guests I had at one time. That smell is really hard to get out of a house!
I tend to agree with both of you. All the moms came from a house with 15 cats and don't seem to have the manners I'd expect. They're all skinny and not into being picked up.
I've got 2 others that live under my bed, and come out to join me when I'm sleeping.
Plus my own 4, I have a 16, 13, 3, and 1 year old. The two youngest find the kittens so immature, and the two oldest want to be left alone to sleep.
I dewormed all my adults yesterday, so that may help. I agree it's too many, but my supervisor was slammed with pregnant females. We all know how they multiply if left in the original home.
What a great story! It renews my faith in people. Plus, without opposable thumbs, these kitties will never get on Google and then complain they didn't get proper care! Thank you for what you did and I think that the number of responses you got gladdens my heart as much as anything else. Good job!
Ohh, improper litter box use. Wow, where to start. Huge issue. OK, mom may be stressed. If she is one that is not spayed, it may be territorial. I have a couple of girls that choose to pee outside the box only when in heat. Try putting mom in a room by herself, if you can, even if it is in the basement. I have a girl who prefers to be in her own room, even though she gets less attention from me.
Second, have you tried different litters? Some cats prefer a particular type. One I would recommend trying is Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract. There is also Kitten Attract for the little guys. I have not tried it, but my cats love the regular Dr. Elsey's clumping litter. It's a finer texture than others, which the kitties seem to like. The World's Best Cat Litter is corn-based, and it also has a nice fine texture. I like it for the really little guys who haven't learned not to eat litter yet.
If you can, try to vary the type and location of the box. Some lke covered boxes, some do not. Mine, for some unknown reason, like these doggone round boxes I found. They are harder to scoop for me, but the cats like them. (Sigh.) Some cats like a really private location. Also make sure nobody can ambush a litter box user by siting the box where there is only one approach to it.
You might rule out a medical problem. Frequent pees outside of the box can be indicative of a bladder problem; poops outside the box may be d/t worms. Make sure you are using an appropriate product for the type of worms. We worm routinely for roundworms. We don't have tapes, but they are frequent whenever there are fleas present.
Regarding the kittens going where mom went, you need to use an enzyme product on the pee spot. They can still smell the spot when you can't. Nature's Miracle is my favorite enzyme deodorizer. I also like X-O. The cheaper brands work OK, I just don't like the fragrance they come with. If it's a carpeted location, you have got to get the padding and subfloor underneath clean/deodorized as well.
VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN
22 Articles; 9,996 Posts
The mental pictures are priceless!! HAHAHAHA~~~
I've had to play kitty midwife more than once........I can imagine the scenario all too well.:chuckle One of my cats didn't want me to leave her while she was in labor; the second I looked like I was going anywhere, she got up and tried to follow me. Finally I HAD to go to the bathroom..........and here came Mindy, dragging a half-born kitten after her and meowing like crazy, as if to say "Hey, look what I did!!"