Expert: Ali - 10/1/2009

Question
Hi, just wanted to know if you think it is normal for a nursing cat with 7wk old kittens to have some hardening behind the nipples, the actual nipple isn't swollen and she doesn't appear to be in pain an is eating and drinking normally, do you think its more serious or is this normal on a cat who has kittens who don't feed often?

Answer
Lisa,

My thought would be that mom may be at risk for mastitis, the kittens are far too young to have stopped nursing entirely - normally a queen left to her own devices will permit nursing (in the absence of extreme circumstances, health issues, abuse, neglect, etc) until her kittens are roughly 8-9 weeks old, some queens will permit their offspring to nurse for longer periods of time, others will wean their babies ASAP (watch for this though because it can mean that mom's pregnant again if she's been allowed outside, queens who have just given birth can become pregnant again as early as 24-48 hours after delivering a litter). If your queen's mammary glands seem hot to the touch, become obviously painful or she's red in that general area she should see a vet ASAP to receive the medical treatment she needs and alleviate her discomfort.

Since you have very young kittens I've also taken the liberty of passing along some information about their needs. If everything is completely normal and everyone is healthy I don't recommend that people get involved with the weaning process as this can result in behavioral issues ranging in severity from fairly minor issues to major problems with bonding, inappropriate interactions with people or other household pets, etc. Many behaviorists believe that the younger a kitten is taken from mom the higher the likelihood is that they will develop behavioral issues that could result in their future adoptive families resorting to euthanasia. In North America the leading cause of death in cats is euthanasia secondary to behavioral problems so this is a very real and serious threat to the lives of cats. Mother cats are more than capable of weaning their babies under normal circumstances, obviously if there's an exceptionally large litter of kittens and mom isn't producing enough milk to provide adequate nutrition for each kitten in the litter or mother or babies becomes ill then human intervention becomes necessary to provide mother and babies with the best possible chance of remaining healthy and surviving.

Under normal circumstances kittens should NOT be separated from their mother or littermates until they're at least 12 weeks old (you could re-home them at 10 weeks of age if exigent circumstances made it necessary, but I'd recommend avoiding this outcome if at all possible. Not all kittens develop and mature at the same rate, sometimes kittens aren't ready to leave their mother's care and the family group (mom and littermates) until they're 3 1/2 months old or more, others will pretty much wean themselves independent of any human intervention or persuasion from mom. These tiny adventurers may believe they're ready to go sooner rather than later, but they still can learn valuable cognitive, behavioral and psychological skills within the family unit. Ideally the more that kittens can learn from their mother and siblings the happier, healthier (psychologically, emotionally) and generally more well rounded they'll be as they grow up. Kittens removed from their mother's care too early will often have difficulty interacting with other cats appropriately since they haven't been given the basic tools to read feline body language and follow basic social etiquette. Obviously any cat or kitten will react badly when another feline infringes upon their territory without proper introductions so it's not unheard of for even the nicest, most well adjusted spayed or neutered cats to have vocal and physical disagreements when they're presented with a less than ideal situation.

If your queen hasn't weaned the kittens on her own and they've been separated from her within the last few days I think that it would be in her and their best interests to be reunited so that they can continue learning basic cat skills they'll need later in life as well as helping to alleviate mom's discomfort with her extremely full (and most likely very uncomfortable) mammary glands. If you've ever breast fed I'm sure you'll appreciate that engorged breasts full of milk aren't very pleasant to deal with, in fact it's downright painful. As for the fact that mom seems to be eating, drinking and otherwise behaving normally it's important to be aware that cats are very capable of hiding excruciating pain and serious illness until things have become very serious or even potentially life threatening. The reason that cats do this is because they've evolved over time as small predators, showing weakness, injury or illness can result in a larger predator noticing the vulnerable kitty and making a meal out of him or her, essentially this means that a lack of obvious symptoms or actions pointing towards pain or illness doesn't mean that these factors aren't present. I've seen cats with very serious illnesses or injuries appear perfectly fine and have their diagnostic testing come back revealing incredibly serious health problems that cause serious pain or serious injuries that they've successfully managed to hide.

A queen weaning her kittens at 7 weeks of age is somewhat early, but not unheard of, especially if there's a chance that mom may be pregnant again - domestic cats can become pregnant again as early as 24-48 hours after giving birth which would mean that mom might have been served if she goes outside unsupervised at all. If mom has gone ahead and weaned the kittens on her own then I'd recommend trying to offer some basic comfort by helping to drain some of the excess milk that's causing her mammary glands to be engorged. You can do this by using a heating pad wrapped in a thick towel set on low as a hot compress for about 15 minutes or so every 3-4 hours if at all possible, depending on your queen's personality this may not be feasible, if that's the case then I'd recommend trying to get mom to sit still for 5+ minutes while you apply the hot compress every hour or so when you're able to in the evening. I've found that wrapping the heating pad in the towel, pre-heating it and having the cat sit in your lap while you restrain her gently so you can apply the hot compresses tends to be okay with most queens provided that you're able to strike a happy balance between restraint and freedom. Generally it's best to use a clean towel for the heating pad each time because mom's milk may begin leaking from her teats as a means of relieving her discomfort.

It's very important to monitor this situation closely since you will want to avoid having mom develop mastitis if at all possible so my recommendation would be to keep a close eye on mom though because if she develops a fever (normal kitty body temperature is roughly 100.5 - 102.5 degrees Farenheit) that's generally a fairly good indicator that she might be fighting an infection. In the event that your queen does develop a fever it's extremely important that you do NOT give her any over the counter human medications without a vet's explicit instructions since many drugs commonly found in medicine cabinents are toxic to cats, for example a single regular strength acetaminophen tablet contains enough medication to kill a cat. In the event that your queen starts showing obvious signs of pain or illness it's very important to be aware that by the time a cat begins showing signs of illness or pain the situation is often much more serious than it appears. A qualified vet should assess this kitty ASAP if she's got a fever or there's any obvious signs that she's not acting like she normally does. If you have any further questions, concerns or you'd like me to clarify anything in this answer, please feel free to contact me again and I will do my absolute best to help you out to the best of my ability.