Expert: Ali - 4/30/2009

Question
hi my cat had babies they are 5 days old. but my problem is she only had 2 kittens and she is very fat still.... could she still be pregnent??? and why did she only have 2 is this normal??

Answer
Sanchia,

Sometimes cats will give birth to as few as two kittens, but in my experience an average sized litter is about 3-4 babies for a first time mom. I've personally seen litters with as many as 8+ kittens. It's quite possible that your queen has a large kitten blocking the birth canal trapping other kittens inside of her uterus. The only way to know for sure if there are any kittens remaining is to have mom seen by a veterinarian for a physical exam and possibly an ultrasound or x-rays. If there are any kittens in mom's uterus or birth canal your veterinarian will have to deliver them at the animal hospital via caesarian. At this point since 5 days have passed it's possible that there are deceased kittens inside of their mother, this can cause a potentially fatal infection if the kittens are allowed to decompose and her symptoms are left untreated.

Some signs that there may be problems with mom within a short time after delivering her offspring include neglecting her kittens (not wanting to feed, care for or clean her kittens), restlessness. If the cat's condition goes unrecognized early on it's not uncommon to see loss of appetite and foul smelling discharge from the cat's vagina. If your queen displays any of these symptoms she needs immediate veterinary treatment. If mom's behavior seems normal, she's eating, drinking, urinating, defecating and she's attentive to her babies then she's probably okay. It is a good idea to have the vet check your cat over within a week or two after she delivers a litter of kittens so that no health problems are missed and you can be sure that mom and babies are healthy at this time.

If you have a small kitchen scale measuring in grams or ounces up to two pounds it's a good idea to weigh the kittens starting at birth and continuing once daily until the kittens are 8 weeks old to ensure that they're healthy and growing properly. A healthy newborn kitten weighs around 90-110 grams (3.15-3.85 ounces), usually about 100 grams on average. It's normal for kittens to gain between 7-15 grams per day (1/4-1/2 an ounce). On average healthy kittens getting adequate nutrition by nursing on their mother should double their birth weight by the time they're 7 days old and triple it by twenty-one days of age. The figures pertaining to weight are only averages, some kittens will develop and gain weight more quickly than this, others will gain weight and develop more slowly than average.

At birth a healthy newborn kitten should be plump, warm and very placid. Normally kittens are quiet and relatively inactive after birth. Kittens are born blind and deaf so they find their mother by smell and instinct. Most kittens within a litter will choose a specific teat, identify it by smell and it's not uncommon to hear some fighting between siblings if another kitten is latched onto someone else's teat. If you notice that one or more kittens are crying quite a bit especially around meal times there may be some issue with inadequate nutrition, the kitten could have an upset stomach or some other health issue. If you notice that a kitten seems weak, shivers and is thin the whole family should be seen by a vet to determine the best course of action.
         
At this stage you should be seeing a fairly significant increase in mom's appetite and food intake and the kittens should be spending much of their time quietly nursing and sleeping. You may see some fighting between the kittens over specific nipples, this is completely normal for short periods of time although if it's happening for several minutes or more at a time then the kittens may not be getting enough to eat.

If you notice that the kittens are vocal for much of the time or they appear fussy it's possible they aren't getting enough to eat - if this is the case you can supplement their diet with a commercially available kitten milk replacer or fresh, full fat goat's milk warmed to body temperature. If you do have to supplement one or more of the kittens then I'd recommend using a new oral syringe or a bottle specifically designed for feeding orphaned kittens. In a pinch you can use an eye dropper or a small sterile syringe (must be brand new) without the needle attached to it. Kittens who require supplementary feedings must be fed with their four paws facing the floor, if they're fed like human infants they can choke on their formula and inhale it which can prove fatal.

You should soon be seeing the kittens' eyes open, that sometimes happens as early as 7 days after birth, it can also take as long as 14 days. It's not unusual for one eye to open little by little followed by the other eye. When the eyes first open they're a hazy blue color, this will clear over time and you'll see the kitten's permanent eye color. If you see any discharge from the eyes or nose the kittens and their mother should see the veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment. If the kittens or their mother contract an eye infection (sometimes referred to as conjunctivitis or pink eye) be sure that you wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling the kittens to prevent spreading the infection to other animals and people.

If mom or her kittens have fleas, ticks or other external parasites they should be taken to a veterinarian and treated to prevent the family from becoming seriously ill. External parasites can cause severe anemia in young kittens, if left untreated the kittens can die from anemia. In young kittens it's common for the vet to treat the mother and because the kittens are so close to their mother early in their lives they benefit from the treatment as well.

Contrary to popular belief mother cats don't require human help to wean their kittens, they will normally do so on their own within the first 12 weeks of the kittens' lives. During a kitten's first 12 weeks of life they learn important skills from their mother and siblings including how to hunt, defend themselves and how to understand feline body language and respond appropriately to it. Other basics that kittens learn during their time with mom include things like using a litter box, eating solid food, how to clean themselves and how to respond when disciplined. Most queens are fairly patient with their kittens and it's completely normal for her to begin disciplining her babies quite early in their lives. Mom's discipline of her kittens paves the way to having the kittens respond to humane disciplinary techniques employed by human caregivers.

It's very important that you provide mom with as much high quality food as she'll eat so that she can meet the nutritional needs of her babies and maintain her own energy requirements. I would like to pass along a website that my family vet referred me to after I lost complete faith in most of the commercially produced pet foods. This site address is catinfo.org and it was created by a veterinarian in an effort to educate cat caregivers about their cat's unique nutritional needs and help pet parents understand what health problems can commonly occur if their cats aren't getting the appropriate nutrition.

If you're not comfortable feeding the diet recommended by this veterinarian you can check out high quality commercially produced cat foods. I'm not entirely sure what pet food brands are available in your area, but I am completely confident recommending the following high quality, holistic cat foods made with human grade ingredients: Wellness and Spot's Stew by Halo. Wellness is designed to be fed as a combination of canned and dry food which can get a bit expensive in a multiple cat household. I feed my own cats a combination of the diet recommended at catinfo.org and Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat by Halo.