Expert: Ali - 8/13/2009

Question
HI there

My cat gave birth yesterday (planned birth).  Mum and kittens are all looking good, kittens are feeding and mom is being very loving, purring alot and happy for me to handle the kittens so I am not concerned in that respect.

However, she's not left them at all since giving birthday yesterday except when i took her out of the box to feed her (right next to the box) she ate a bit then jumped back into the box and indicated that she wanted her food in there instead.  She is eating fine but just didnt want to be away from her babies i guess.

My concern is that she has not yet been to the toilet.  She went yesterday morning (in my bath!) before she went into labour but has not been since. Should I be concerned? (she is usually as regular as clockwork - the cat litter tray is in the bathroom so she goes in there at the same time as me in the morning but as she hasnt wanted to leave the kittens she hasnt got up with me)

Any advice gratefully received.  We have a vets appt for tomorrow but i wanted some advice before then just in case."


Answer
Michelle,

Since mom last went to the toilet in your bathtub yesterday I'm guessing that her irregularity is happening now for a couple of reasons, first it's important to remember that mom has just given birth, she's gone through labor, used up significant energy and resources and her system may be a bit off as a result of the energy and work involved in giving birth. Mom may also be a bit insecure about her kittens being handled more than she might like - some queens will stay with their kittens in an effort to keep a constant eye on them that's perfectly reasonable for any mother who has just given birth and beyond that it's really not that uncommon for mom to stay with her kittens and not to let them out of her sight, especially in the first couple of weeks of life. My recommendation would be to provide mom with a safe room in the form of a large bathroom or spare bedroom that's equipped with her necessities. If mom's behind a closed door she may relax somewhat and let her guard down enough to use the toilet, leave the nest to eat and drink. My recommendation would be to place the food close to mom's bed and the litter as far as possible away from the food since cats are quite fastidious and will generally not eat where they use the toilet. I would also recommend cutting down a bit on handling the kittens if you're doing so more than a few times a day, if mom's worried about her babies being handled she may be reluctant to leave her kittens. At this stage in the game the kittens really shouldn't be handled excessively, 2-4 times daily for 1-2 minutes at a time is plenty for socialization purposes. Newborn kittens spend their time eating and sleeping, handling them too frequently can result in mom rejecting the kittens or one or more of the kittens falling behind in growth and development. As the kittens get older you shouldn't have any trouble increasing the frequency and amount of time you handle them daily.

I'm not entirely sure how much experience you have rearing kittens so I've taken the liberty of including some vital information about their development, the weaning process and the best possible nutrition for mom and her babies. Newborn kittens are born with a very immature immune system, this is why it's important to isolate mom and her newborns from other pets within the household and make sure that strict hygiene standards are met. As the kittens grow older and become more self sufficient it's important to socialize them with people of different ages, genders, mannerisms and personalities as this makes the babies more comfortable around change which increases their adoptability when they're ready to leave mom's care. Contrary to popular belief moms with average sized litters (2-5 kittens) do not normally need help to wean their kittens, in fact allowing mom to wean her kittens as she sees fit will be much more effective than trying to keep mom and babies separated when they're not ready to be weaned. Kittens are exceptionally curious and when kittens reach 5-7 weeks old they're usually starting to sample solid food as well as nursing on mom. Copy cat really is an accurate term to describe how young kittens learn basic skills from their mother and being patient with the process makes for happier, healthier and better adjusted kittens than separating the kittens from mom before they're ready and adopting them out. Kittens weaned too early often develop self soothing behaviors like nursing on blankets, clothing, fingers, ears, lips, their own fur and on other pets in the household. These behaviors are often not something that you can change once the kittens start doing them. It's important to provide mom with as much high quality food as she wants, while she's nursing she has to meet her own nutritional needs as well as those of her rapidly growing family. For information on the best possible nutrition for cats and growing kittens I'd recommend checking out catinfo.org and catnutrition.org. 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.