Expert: Marcia Owen - 3/28/2008

Question
My beutiful cat Lucy gave birth to five lovely kittens on 27 March 2008,Its the first time for me to know that they can bring five not six so is it normal ??. she eats normally as i watched her and im wondering when i can take her away from her kittens to the vet for check up ?? and when can i clean her up ?? because she cant leave her little kittens for along while. im really worried about her and want to know if she's ok. I want also to know what should i feed the kittens and when should i start feeding them ?? thank you

Answer
Hi

I am answering your two questions together.  Congratulations on Lucy's kittens and 5 is a perfectly normal sized litter.  As long as Lucy has milk and they are gaining weight on a daily basis you should not need to feed them until they are around 4 weeks old and then I would start them off with finely chopped fish and once eating well, mix in ordinary wet tinned cat food.  Always leave biscuits down too and they will discover those when they start to investigate their surroundings.

As to Lucy herself, if she is sneezing then it would be a good idea for a vet to see her and there is no reason why you can't take her away from the kittens for an hour or so to do that.  Just make sure they are nice and warm while you are away. The sneezing may be a stress thing and may just need a course of antibiotics.  Do make sure your vet is fully aware that she is feeding very small kittens and he will be able to give you an antibiotic which will not harm the kittens as some will no doubt get into her milk.  That would be a good thing by the way as if Mum has got a bit of a cold then the antibiotics in the milk will also help to protect the kittens.

Marcia.