Expert: Ali - 8/10/2009

Question
my cat gave birth to a litter of 3, 6 weeks ago. is it possible for her to get pregnant again while she is still feeding her litter, and can a cat get spayed while she is feeding?

Answer
Michelle,

A queen can become pregnant as early as 24-48 hours after giving birth to her litter if she's allowed access to an intact tom. In order to avoid further pregnancies it's best to keep mom indoors, I usually recommend placing mom into a spare bedroom or large bathroom with her kittens and the usual necessities so that she doesn't pull off an escape that would make Houdini proud. Most veterinarians will not spay mom while she's still lactating if there isn't a medical reason to do the surgery. Usually the rule of thumb when it comes to spaying a queen after she's had kittens is that mom's milk supply must be dried up completely which usually happens about 2 weeks or so after the kittens are completely weaned. At 6 weeks old her babies are still too young to be completely weaned yet, at this point in their live it's perfectly normal for their diet to be made up of roughly 60-70% solid food and 30-40% mom's milk. In the next 2-3 weeks these babies should start nursing less and less as their intake of solid food replaces mom's milk completely.

To minimize the possibility that these kittens will develop potentially serious behavioral issues it really is best for them if they stay with mom until they're 10-12 weeks old. Most kittens are completely weaned around 8-9 weeks of age although on occasion a kitten comes along that's more insecure and timid than his/her siblings, sometimes these babies will nurse a few times during the day or night strictly for comfort, somewhat like a child who sucks their thumb - these babies can be distracted by encouraging them to play and build their confidence. By allowing mom to wean the kittens and teach them skills they're more likely to be happy, healthy and well adjusted cats later in life. Contrary to popular belief mom absolutely does not need help to wean her babies, she can do this just fine on her own provided that she's getting enough nutritious food, fat and calories to maintain her own body and provide her babies with the best milk possible. At this point mom should be allowed to eat as much as she wants as often as she'd like - if you'd like more information about feline nutrition I'd recommend checking out catinfo.org, catnutrition.org and http://www.felinespride.com For information about some potentially harmful things that end up in many commercially produced pet foods I'd recommend that you check out http://www.halopets.com/pet-education/pet-articles/pet_food_what_you_need_to_kno...

If you have any questions, concerns or you'd like me to clarify anything in this answer please feel free to contact me again, I'd be happy to help you out to the best of my ability.