Expert: Ali - 5/13/2009

Question
hi i adopted a pregnant cat she has had 4 kittens who r now 4wks old she has been a briliant mum but unfortunatly has developed an infection (mastitus i think) the vet gave her 7 day course of antibiotic and said to seperate the mum and kitten they were still nursing and im finding it very difficult to feed them they wont feed from the bottle properly only taking a little nor will they eat kitten food i was wondering if after the seven day r up can they be put back with her and will she be able to feed them again thanking u in advace for any information u can provide

Answer
Tracy,

I'd recommend that you try a different tactic with these kittens, it might be more successful. It's important to realize that young kittens are in need of high quality nutritious foods that are high in calcium, calories and fat because they're energy needs at such a young age are pretty high. Since cats are substantially different than dogs or people in terms of their nutritional needs it's important to understand them so that you can provide your kittens with the healthiest possible start in life. I can send you an article on the pet food industry that provides you with more information if you're interested in learning more.

Many foods sold in general pet supply stores, grocery stores and discount stores are pretty low quality and sometimes the main protein sources aren't even accessible to the cat who's eating the food. Cats are true carnivores, that means that they need to eat high quality meat based diets. When Menu Foods recalled most pet foods on store shelves when pets started to get sick and die as a result of the contaminated ingredients from China I lost a lot of faith in the pet food industry. My eldest resident cat almost lost her life as a result of eating contaminated food, a food that I really believed was the highest quality, most nutritious food on the market. I wasn't sure that I'd ever feel comfortable feeding the majority of commercially produced cat food to any of my cats again, so my vet recommended that I check out the information at catinfo.org. This site was created by a veterinarian who wanted to educate cat caregivers about the unique nutritional needs of cats and the medical problems commonly associated with improper nutrition. If you aren't comfortable feeding the kittens a diet like the one described at this site there are a few other reasonably priced, high quality alternatives to consider.

The two brands of commercially produced cat food that I recommend most frequently are Wellness and Spot's Stew by Halo, they're high quality, holistic cat foods made from human grade ingredients and I can say for sure that Spot's Stew by Halo isn't nearly as expensive as some of the premium foods that are widely available. Since these kittens aren't able to nurse from their mom when they'd normally still be nursing throughout the day it's probably a good idea to pick up a commercially available kitten weaning formula, KMR makes a decent one. The weaning formula will help the kittens out by providing them with some extra calcium, vitamins, fat and protein than canned food alone.

At 4 weeks of age these babies can be taught to eat solids like canned cat food, but in a situation like this it's better if you serve the canned food mixed with weaning formula (made according to the directions) so their food is kind of a thick, soupy texture. It's best if you warm meals for your kittens to body temperature so that they're more likely to be interested and eat enough to meet their needs, if you do this in the microwave be sure to stir the food thoroughly and use your fingertips to check for any hot spots because kittens can end up with some serious burns on the inside of their mouths if their food is too hot.

Sometimes young kittens who lose their mom before they're weaned for whatever reason have a tough time accepting solids when all they want to do is nurse. If you dip your finger into the canned food/weaning formula mix and touch the kitten's nose with it he'll instinctively lick it off. Some kittens take longer than others to get the idea, but once they understand the concept the rest is fairly simple. When the kitten learns that he can lick food off of your finger then you can make him come to your finger for his food while you gradually move your finger closer to the food until the kitten's eating off the plate on his own. In some cases this might have to be repeated a few times, but in my experience this method of introducing solids works well.

It's possible that your kittens may get a case of diarrhea because they're not used to eating solid food. If this happens then I'd suggest adding two tablespoons of plain, organic, unsweetened yogurt to each meal and mixing it together well. The yogurt should help prevent or at least reduce the severity of diarrhea because it contains good bacteria that are typically found in the digestive tracts of mammals. If you have any trouble convincing the kittens to switch over to solids I have a few more tricks that I can share with you. Another important thing to remember is that once you've mixed the weaning formula according to the package directions it's only going to be good for about 24 hours. A way to get around wasting excessive amounts of kitten formula is to make a large batch according to package directions and freeze it in ice cube trays, once the weaning formula is frozen it should keep for about 3 months if you store the cubes in ziploc bags.

Since these babies are in a tough situation it's quite possible that they'll develop a habit of trying to nurse on human fingers, ears, lips, clothing, blankets, stuffed toys, each other's fur, ears, tails, etc. That's not uncommon in situations like this. I've had very little success in completely eliminating such behavior over the years so I suggest redirecting your kitten to a safe "security blanket" to suck on - be sure it's something that can't be swallowed because if your kitten swallows a foreign body he may need emergency surgery to remove it from his digestive tract. I still think it would be in your best interests to speak with your veterinarian to determine whether or not it's appropriate to allow the kittens to nurse from mom following the antibiotics because it's quite possible that they will want to do so and mom may be willing to allow them to nurse.