Expert: Ali - 8/22/2009

Question
Morning, I took in a stray cat a couple of months ago when I came home from work last night she had given birth to three kittens (I did not know she was pregnant). The mother does not use a litter tray as she prefers to go outside but she has not moved from the wardrobe and has not been to the toilet for 2 days. She has had some food but no water. I really need to know the best way to deal with them. Also I have a 5 day holiday booked in two weeks time and had arranged for someone to come in the morning and evening to feed the cat but know I am worried about leaving them alone.

Kindest Regards

Lisa

Answer
Lisa,

Congratulations on the new, if somewhat unexpected arrivals, it sounds like mom had probably just gotten pregnant fairly close to the time when you rescued her since the gestation period for cats is between 60-68 days with 63 days being about average. It's instinctive for new feline moms to stay close to their kittens, in fact some moms won't leave their babies for any reason until they're a few days old. Since you mentioned that your little mom was a stray kitty it's quite possible that she's had more than one litter of kittens prior to being taken into your home. Kittens born to stray or feral mothers tend to be more vulnerable to predators like intact tom cats, dogs and other assorted critters, this means that these queens are far more vigilant about closely supervising their kittens and protecting them at all costs, even if it's detrimental to their health. The best way to make sure that mom continues to eat, drink, urinate and defecate so that she stays healthy and continues to have the ability to provide the best possible care for her newborns is to provide her with the usual feline necessities including a litter box in the same room she's got her babies in. If mom's able to see her babies when she uses the toilet, eats and drinks she's more likely to do so on a regular basis which allows her to remain healthy which means that she'll continue to be able to provide adequate care for her kittens. In order to avoid a potential population explosion I would strongly suggest that you keep mom indoors until she can be spayed because queens may become pregnant as early as 24-48 hours after giving birth and any time after that point even while they're nursing kittens.

I am a bit concerned about the fact that mom hasn't had anything to drink since she's given birth, nursing moms of all species need lots of fluids to avoid becoming dehydrated or losing the ability to produce adequate amounts of milk for their babies. It's very important to get mom back on track ASAP. In situations like this I will generally offer some fairly high value foods from the cat's point of view, partly because I want to get mom interested in eating again, but I also want to provide her with very nutritious food that's got some extra calories so that she can continue nursing her babies without causing her own health to deteriorate. It's very common for a nursing mom's body to use up its own reserves leaving mom without any extras to fall back on - if the situation isn't corrected her body will continue to steal nutrients from mom's body to such an extent her own health and wellbeing could suffer in order to ensure that her babies will survive and continue to thrive.

Since I'm concerned that mom may be dehydrated, especially if she only receives dry cat food I've included information to help you determine whether or not she's adequately hydrated. An easy way to test whether or not a cat is properly hydrated is to gently pinch the skin between the shoulder blades and pull it gently upwards as if you're attempting to lift the cat by the scruff of her neck, then let it go. If the cat's skin snaps right back into place too quickly for you to count higher than 1 or 2 then she's probably well hydrated. If you perform this simple test and your cat's skin stays in a ridge like position along her back (referred to by veterinarians as 'tenting') or returns to normal very slowly then your cat is definitely dehydrated and in need of medical attention. Queens that have newborn kittens should be eating significantly higher amounts of food than before they gave birth since they require extra nutrition to provide for the needs of their rapidly growing family while they continue to adequately meet their own nutritional needs.

Depending on the type and quality of food your cat is getting she should be eating between 2-4 times more than she was eating before she had her babies. A nursing queen also needs to be well hydrated in order to produce high quality milk for their little ones without becoming dehydrated, this means that mom should be drinking at least the amount she was drinking before having her litter, but most moms do need more fluids to prevent dehydration while they're nursing their kittens. Ideally mom needs to be very well hydrated, eating a high quality diet so that she's well nourished to ensure that the kittens get the nutrients they need to thrive and grow normally. Mom should be kept as healthy, happy and comfortable as possible to ensure that her babies are well adjusted, happy and health in every way - this will help to ensure that they're highly adoptable. If mom is feeling anxious she's likely to pass anxiety on to her kittens which may reduce their likelihood of being adopted into a loving, responsible forever family.

Since mom hasn't returned to her usual daily routines at this point I'm a bit worried that she may be sick or suffering from complications related to the labor and delivery of her kittens. Changes in appetite, fluid intake and bathroom habits can be an indicator that something's not right - in the case of a queen who has just delivered kittens recently I'd be concerned that mom's delivery was rougher than normal, she may have a post partum uterine infection or she may be sick with something completely unrelated to her recent delivery of kittens. At this point I think that it's time to keep a close eye on mom for the next day or so - if things don't improve in a hurry by that point I'd recommend taking the queen and her kittens to a veterinarian to be properly assessed. My recommendations over the next day or so are as follows:

1) Provide mom with a dish filled with a fresh serving of her regular food, placed close to where she's caring for her kittens. Making sure mom has plenty of fresh water near her food dish is important. If mom can still see her kittens well while she's eating or drinking she's more likely to go ahead and take care of her needs since she's not having to focus 100% of her attention on protecting her babies.

2) In order to ensure that mom's nursery is as clean as possible for her and the kittens I'd suggest removing all of the soiled bedding - if she's given birth where she's staying with her kittens then you'll find that the bedding will be stained with fluid and a small amount of blood, the bedding may actually still be damp. If mom's comfortable with you handling the kittens I'd suggest removing any items you don't want to become soiled and anything items that were soiled with amniotic fluid and/or blood while the kittens were coming into the world. Sometimes cats choose odd places to have their kittens, if your kitty's raising her family in a pile of laundry the clothing, bedding or towels in her nest may still be damp, a damp, warm, dimly lit environment dramatically increases the risk that mom or her kittens may develop a bacterial infection. Kittens are born with incredibly immature immune systems which means they're more vulnerable to viral/bacterial infections than older cats, your queen has just given birth which is a stressful process that may decrease her ability to fight infections.

3) Once you've removed any damp, soiled or dirty cloth items in your queen's nursery I'd suggest that you clean the area well using a few drops of liquid dish soap mixed into a small bucket of hot water and a clean rag. It's very important to rinse any soapy water away by using a clean rag soaked in plain hot water. Once the kitten nursery is clean and dry then it's time to provide mom and her family with some bedding, I usually use a couple of large, thick towels or an old blanket so that the young family will be able to settle back into their nursery and enjoy cuddling up in their clean, soft and warm bedding. Now that mom has a clean, comfortable, warm place to care for her babies you can gently place the babies back into their nursery.

4) There's a good chance that mom isn't going to want to leave her newborn family to go outside. Providing mom with a minimum of two appropriately sized litter boxes filled with UNscented, clumping cat litter located close to her nest but as far away from the food/water bowls as possible will likely help to get her toilet habits back to normal without increasing her stress level by forcing her to leave her kittens unattended. Cats have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, this means that scented products that smell strongly of perfume are absolutely overwhelming and offensive to them. There is no substitute for regular litter box maintenance when it comes to preventing litter box odor - this means that all litter boxes must be scooped a minimum of 1-2 times daily. I strongly discourage the use of scented kitty litter, litter box additives containing perfume, air freshener in any form or any other products marketed to reduce litter box odor. Cats who are forced to relieve themselves in an area that smells strongly of perfumed products will often experience discomfort so severe that they will look for other places to use the toilet where they won't be forced to deal with strong scents that are overpowering for their noses.

5) It's possible that your queen is somewhat stressed out when it comes to protecting her babies, a way to minimize her stress is to make sure that mom's food/water, litter boxes, toys and scratch posts are located close enough to her nest that she can maintain a watchful eye on the little ones while she eats, drinks, uses the toilet and stretches. It's very important to give a stressed queen an environment with minimal stress, activity and overall stimulation. I generally recommend that you provide mom with a room of her own, that room should be quiet, dimly lit and private - the best way to meet these needs is to close the bedroom door and keep the lights low. Once mom has had a few hours to settle she may start getting back into her usual routines, eating, drinking and using the toilet normally.

6) If mom still hasn't started to eat/drink and use the toilet normally within 8 hours or so after you've cleaned mom's nest, provided her with basic resources in close proximity to her nest and given her time to settle in a quiet, private, dimly lit room then it's time to make a last ditch effort to see if you can turn this new mom around. Offering some special treats may help to increase mom's interest in eating and drinking sufficient quantities to provide adequate nutrition to meet her own needs and those of her rapidly growing family. Here are few things you can try to help mom consume enough food and water to ensure that she's well hydrated and able to provide her babies with the nutrition they need to stay healthy:

    - If mom's diet consists mainly of dry cat food then I'd suggest offering her a high quality canned cat food, preferably one made from high quality, human grade ingredients such as Wellness or Spot's Stew which have never been recalled for any reason as far as I know.

    - Most cats absolutely love fish, you could certainly try offering mom some canned tuna or salmon packed in water with a low sodium content. Mixing a few spoonfuls of canned fish with the water from the can is a good way to help your kitty get some much needed water.

    - My secret weapon with cats who aren't eating or drinking normally is strained meat/broth baby food in jars. It's important that the meat based baby food does not contain onions or onion powder since onions aren't okay for cats to ingest. You could add a small amount of liquid kitten milk replacer or organic, full fat goat's milk to the baby food to increase the nutritional value and fluid content.

    - Some cats really enjoy plain, unsweetened yogurt and it's okay for them to have in moderation since yogurt contains very little lactose compared to most other dairy products. Your kitty may also be interested in eating a small amount of old cheddar cheese, this is also okay in moderation. Yogurt and cheese contain beneficial bacteria that are typically found in the health digestive tracts of mammals like cats, dogs and people.

    - If necessary you can resort to offering mom kitten milk replacer, it's nutritious and kitten formula can be given to nursing queens as a supplement to their regular diet so that they're able to provide their kittens with the best possible nutrition. It is important to slowly start adding a high quality canned food gradually as soon as possible so that your queen will be getting a properly balanced diet that will allow her to provide for her offspring.

    - If your kitty is feeling under the weather it's best to offer her small amounts of food frequently, I usually stick with a tablespoon or so every 2 hours at a time since large servings can be overwhelming when a cat's feeling rotten.

* I've always found that gently warming any food that I'm presenting to a cat that's not eating/drinking properly to body temperature increases the palatability for the cat. It's best to avoid microwaving these foods if at all possible because microwaved foods can have hot spots that could burn your kitty's mouth and food does lose a bit of nutrition when heated in a microwave oven. I usually put the food into a small glass or plastic container, seal it with a lid then float the container in hot tap water for a few minutes.

* Even if your kitty doesn't eat the food in front of you I'd suggest leaving it with her, closing the door and checking up on her in an hour or so. If kitty eats/drinks what you're offering then you can start offering larger amounts less frequently.

If mom's quiet, dimly lit, private nursery and the suggestions I've made don't result in some drastic changes in mom's food and water intake as well as her urine/feces output within 24 hours then I really think she needs to be evaluated by a qualified vet to ensure that there isn't something more serious going on here. It's important to bring the kittens along to the vet with their mother to avoid accidentally severing the maternal bond which would leave you to raise these newborns by hand (very time and labor intensive). It's quite possible that mom has become ill with a postpartum injury or infection after delivering her kittens, mom may be sick with something completely unrelated to the fact that she's recently given birth and it's also possible that mom has retained one or more kittens and needs a caesarian section to relieve her discomfort, especially if she's only had 1-2 kittens. I'm assuming that your queen was eating, drinking and relieving herself normally prior to giving birth to her kittens, if this is the case then it's quite possible that there's some medical issue that's causing her not to eat/drink or relieve herself normally. The longer that a cat goes on without eating/drinking/eliminating properly the more difficult it is to nurse them back to health so prompt veterinary attention is vital in a situation like this.