Expert: Ali - 6/9/2009

Question
My cat (named Kiddy) is a first time mother and gave birth to three kittens about three days ago. On the first day, she was the model mother: she was always with them, she made sure they were fed and warm, and whenever they'd cry, she would frantically look around for them to see if they were safe.
However, the day after the birth, she vanished around noon. We searched around for her, but couldn't find her. Thankfully she returned a little bit after 8 o'clock. We thought it was a one-time thing and that she wouldn't do it again. However, today she left around noon and hasn't been back yet (it's about 2:30 am as I type).
This kind of behavior is incredibly strange given Kiddy's normal temperament. Normally she's very relaxed and calm, and purrs more often than other cats. She also has never strayed beyond our fence before and was always within range of sight.
I can make the commitment to feed the kittens every two hours as they need, but Kiddy is part of our family and my younger brother (her "owner") would be heartbroken if she just abandoned us and her offspring. I just want to know if her behavior is somehow normal amongst first-time mothers, if it will stop, and if there's something I can do to make it stop. I especially worry since my family and I will be heading out of town for several days in about a week, and then there's no telling if Kiddy will run off from the sitter or not.
I realize that it's late at night, honestly I should be in bed right now, but this incident has me very concerned. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I hope I can get some answers.

Thank you.

Answer
Rachel,

I usually recommend that nursing queens be kept indoors to reduce their risk of being hit by a car, becoming pregnant again (which new moms can do as early as 24-48 hours after giving birth) or experiencing some other traumatic event. If your queen is normally allowed outside she may not appreciate the change, but it's in her best interests as well as those of her newborn kittens. If your kitty is a Houdini door escape champion it would be best to place her and her newborns into a quiet, dimly lit room behind a closed door - that way there aren't any accidental escapes. Having mom raise her kittens is best for their overall health and development, so I don't recommend hand rearing with formula unless there's some reason it's absolutely necessary.

If you start noticing that the kittens are irritable or they're cool to the touch and their bellies feel empty this is a fairly accurate way to know for sure if they're getting enough to eat. Low blood sugar can kill kittens under 9 weeks quite quickly so it's best if mom's not allowed outside for the time being. Newborn kittens should spend much of their time quietly nursing or sleeping in a heap by themselves or with mom. Given the complexity of the situation it's best to keep a close eye on all of the kittens to make sure that everyone seems okay.

There are a number of opinions about how old kittens should be when they leave their mother and move into adoptive homes. I've cared for many kittens over the years and in my experience kittens who stay with their mother for the first 10 - 12 weeks are less likely to have certain health and behavioral issues. It really is best if mom cares for her kittens until they're at least 10 - 12 weeks old, at that time they're less fragile, they've been eating solids for awhile, they won't usually suffer from low blood sugar (can happen quite suddenly in kittens 9 weeks old or younger and it can be fatal if not discovered in time) and by the age of twelve weeks kittens have learned some basic etiquette in terms of how they socialize with other cats and their human caregivers.

Although young kittens are cute it's important that you play the role of helping socialize them with people so that they behave appropriately and have a better chance of living in a permanent home. Never allow any kitten, no matter how adorable to chew any of your possessions, never ever permit a kitten to bite, scratch or attack any part of your body - this includes hands, feet, fingers and toes under the blankets at night. Kittens should be taught that they can play with mom, their siblings and toys. If kittens think that biting or scratching is a game it can cause their adoptive family to euthanize, abandon or admit their cat to a shelter because they're worried that their cat may hurt someone. In North America the leading cause of death in cats is euthanasia due to behavioral problems, some problems are completely preventable by properly socializing cats when they're tiny kittens, others are prevented or reduced in intensity by spaying/neutering kittens as early as possible.

Newborn kittens have very little resistance to infection so it's important to keep mom and her babies away from any other pets and be sure that anyone who handles this little family takes time to thoroughly wash their hands in hot, soapy water to reduce the likelihood of passing along some sort of infection. Kittens should stay with their mother for at least the first 12 weeks of their life, this is when they're growing most rapidly and they also learn important skills including how to defend themselves, how to stalk, pounce on and kill prey, how to interpret feline body language and respond appropriately. The first 12 weeks of a kitten's life also include milestones such as potty training, eating solid food and learning skills like bite inhibition and not using their sharp claws/teeth on any part of any person's body which are important parts of their socialization and will help to ensure that these baby predators are as adoptable as possible.

Unlike dogs nursing queens don't require any human help to wean their kittens, this normally happens some time in the first 12 weeks of a kitten's life. I would recommend providing mom and her newborn family with a comfy bed made from a cardboard box lined with old towels or a blanket, the box should be large enough for mom and her babies to stretch out and nurse comfortably, have low enough sides that mom can come and go easily and have high enough sides to prevent the tiny newborns from wandering off on their own. I recommend against ever allowing mom and her newborn kittens sleeping in bed with any person because kittens are easily suffocated if we accidentally roll onto them.

Mom should have access to as much fresh water as she likes, she should also have as much of a high quality, holistic cat food made from human grade ingredients as she wants. I've found that Wellness and Spot's Stew by Halo are good quality foods and they're made from human grade ingredients. Wellness is meant to be fed as a combination of canned and dry food which can be a bit pricey. I feed my cats Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat by Halo, a 6 lb bag costs roughly $25 and lasts my 3 resident cats about a month. You can choose to feed canned food, dry food or any combination you like. Mom's food intake can double, triple or even quadruple in some cases while nursing kittens because she has to meet her own nutritional needs as well as those of her rapidly growing family. High quality foods may initially appear expensive when compared to brands sold in grocery/discount stores. When cats are fed a high quality food they tend to eat less because they don't need as much food to meet their nutritional needs. Litter box deposits are less frequent and less pungent. Cats who are fed high quality foods have fewer health problems which means that you spend less money at the vet's office. Another advantage to high quality nutrition for your cat is that she'll likely live a much longer, healthier life.

Kittens learn about things like litter training, using scratch posts and how to interact politely with people from their mother.
When the kittens start being more mobile (2-3 weeks of age) it's a good idea to make kitten sized litter pans available - a cheap, easy and disposable solution is to use aluminum pans with low sides from the grocery store, the ones meant for baking are best, the lower the sides are the sooner the kittens will begin to explore their litter pans. I would recommend that you use a non toxic kitty litter such as one made from wheat or corn to ensure that the kittens won't become sick if they eat the litter and many do, at least initially. As the kittens see mom using a litter pan they will eventually copy her in most cases. Sometimes it's easiest to gently get the little ones using their paws to scratch and dig in the litter and then you or mom can gently stimulate them to urinate/defecate by using a cotton ball lightly moistened with warm water to gently wipe the kitten from genitals to bottom which will help reduce the likelihood that the little one will develop a urinary tract infection. Once the kittens are able to smell urine/feces in the temporary kitten litter pans they will begin to use the litter rather than squatting where they happen to be at the time the urge to go to the toilet hits them.

There is an incredibly serious pet overpopulation issue that affect shelters and rescue organizations. Unfortunately many animal loving staff working for animal welfare organizations are forced to euthanize healthy, adoptable animals simply because they don't have the time, space or resources to devote to each animal until their forever family comes along to adopt them. The euthanasia rate for cats tends to be much higher than that of dogs, possibly because cats are seen as disposable or simply because pet parents aren't taking the simply step of controlling pet overpopulation by spaying/neutering their cats. It's important to keep the new mom indoors and away from intact male cats because she can become pregnant as early as 24-48 hours after giving birth. I would also recommend that you discuss spaying/neutering with anyone who wants to adopt one or more of these kittens, it's important that potential adoptive parents be prepared to accept the responsibility of providing their kitten(s) with appropriate care and spaying/neutering is definitely a part of ethical pet parenthood.

There are many good behavioral and medical reasons to spay/neuter our cats. Cats that have been spayed/neutered are prevented from getting uterine, ovarian or prostate cancers. The earlier in life that a cat is spayed/neutered the less likely s/he will be to develop prostate or breast cancers. Unspayed female cats are at risk of developing a potentially life threatening uterine infection called pyometra which causes the womb to fill with pus, if the uterus ruptures and spreads infection throughout the abdomen the cat's chances of survival are pretty low. The only treatment for pyometra is to perform an emergency spay, this procedure is much riskier than a routine spay because the cat is already quite sick which is associated with higher risks of anesthetic death and post surgical complications. The emergency spay is more complicated and time consuming so it tends to be quite a bit more expensive than a routine spay.

The leading cause of death in cats living in North America is euthanasia secondary to behavioral issues. This statistic is heart breaking because many behavioral issues can be prevented or minimized by spaying/neutering our cats. Common behavioral problems including inappropriate elimination (urinating or defecating outside of the litter box), fighting with other cats (the resulting injuries from cat fights often require medical care because bite wounds tend to get badly infected forming abscesses which must be drained under anesthetic, flushed with sterile saline and treated with antibiotics), queens howling to advertise their availability to mate, tom cats caterwauling and fighting to win the right to mate with receptive queens and wandering over a large area are all issues which can be prevented by having the cat spayed/neutered before they reach sexual maturity. Behaviors like house soiling or fighting can sometimes occur with cats that have been spayed/neutered however these behaviors are often related to things like improper introductions to new cats in the household, poor litter box hygiene, scented litter, and other issues which can be easily solved.

Ultimately spaying and neutering our cats is a responsible and ethical choice which saves countless lives each year. For pet parents that are having difficulty getting the money together for routine vet care I may be able to help find a solution to those issues. I keep an ever growing list of resources that may be willing to cover part or all of the cost of routine care like kitten vaccines and spay/neuter procedures. The only information that I ask for in these cases is that the pet parent provide the general area they are writing from - in Canada or the US the province or state is fine. Spaying and neutering helps cats to live longer, healthier lives and as kitty caregivers that love our pets we all want to have as much quality time as possible with our furry friends.