Expert: Jessica - 7/11/2010

Question
QUESTION: Our cat gave birth to 4 kittens 12 days ago. she is great with taking care of the kittens and feeding them. but starting from the 6th day, she won't eat much at all. she seemed like she was hungry and she meows for food. but when i gave her kitten milk, kitten canned/dry food or adult canned/dry food, she only eats a little. I am guessing that she is hoping to get friskies canned food which i got 5 cans for her right after she gave birth since i didnt had time to go pet store yet. But i know it's not a good choice for her and the kittens, so im giving her blue buffalo kitten dry food now which was recommanded by the sale attendant at petsmart. I wanna feed her high quality food now since she was just given adult dry food the entire time when she was pregnent and she ate so much, her bowl was always empty no matter how much we fed her.

So far i think she's doing fine with producing milk. kittens are well fed and growing fast, hardly hearing them cry or whining. these two days, i tried give her whiskas cat milk and she started drinking all of it. also i tried to moisten the kitten dry food by adding hot water to release the flavor, and she will eat a little. but still way not enough for a nursing cat(3-4 times more).

I'm just worried that if there's anything wrong with the mother cat? what should i do to make sure she gets all the nutrients she needs to produce the milk for kittens? also, i dont wanna give in and spoil her to just buy her unhealthy canned food again.

please help me figuring this out! thank you so much!

-lavie

ANSWER: Hi Lavie,

I appreciate how much you love your cat and kittens, and you are willing to buy the best for them!  Blue Buffalo is a pretty good brand of food, and it's true that the ingredients in Friskies are of a lower quality.  There are lots of things to think about when making a decision about buying cat food.  Here are a few facts.

All cat foods available in the U.S. meet standards set forth by the Association of American Feed Control Officials to provide your cat with all the nourishment that she needs.  That means that Friskies will meet her nutritional requirements, as well as Blue Buffalo.  

The most important thing is that we need to keep our cats eating a healthy amount, and that's especially true if they're pregnant, nursing, growing, or recovering from an illness or injury.  So you are certainly right to be worried that she's not eating as much as you think she should.  Since both Friskies and Blue Buffalo will meet her needs, it would be okay to let her eat the Friskies, just to make sure she's getting plenty of food.  If you feel very strongly that you would like her to eat the Blue Buffalo, concentrate on cutting back on the Friskies and adding in more Blue Buffalo very slowly, but not until the kittens are eating food themselves, and mom is not nursing them so much.  I know you don't want to give in and spoil her, and there is a time to stand your ground, but unfortunately, since 4 little lives depend on it right now, you will have to let her win the battle for the moment.

Sometimes people put a lot of emphasis on a cat's diet for the wrong reasons.  I agree that a cat's diet is important.  A cat is a carnivore by nature, and therefore, their diet should consist of mostly meat with a high moisture content.  But beyond that, people feel if they refuse to buy something with byproducts and if the food contains items like blueberries and parsley, etc., it must be better for the cat than a food that DOES contain byproducts.  But today we are seeing a movement of cat foods that are intentionally adding byproducts such as bones back INTO them.  This is because if you have ever seen a cat eat anything in the wild, she eats the whole animal - bones, skin and all.  These are considered "byproducts" of human food.  Some premium pet food companies use the term in a derogatory manner to make us feel guilty, but some byproducts are a natural part of a cat's diet.  For this reason, I don't think that you should necessarily feel badly about feeding your cat a food that contains byproducts, like Friskies.  Unless your cat has an adverse reaction to the food, I think canned Friskies is fine to feed her while she is raising her babies (canned Friskies is a lot healthier than dry Friskies).  

I think the most likely problem is that mom doesn't like the new cat food since she was so eager to drink the Whiskas cat milk.  But medical problems can definitely occur that would make her not want to eat.  I would pick up a can of Friskies once you get this answer, and see if she eats it normally.  If not, get her right to the vet.  Cats are prone to uterine infections after delivery, and they can be deadly.  She'll need antibiotics if she has developed any kind of infection, and maybe even surgery if anything else is found, such as a placenta that she did not pass.

Good luck!

Jessica


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks a lot for the advice. what are some other symptoms of uterine infections? mommy cat looks prety down this couple of days. she's not very excited for things. i dont know if it is because of the food or anything else. i dont know what to do if she's sick. she's my friend's cat and my friend will not come back to states for another 5 months. if she has the symptoms, i'll have to tell my friend asap. thanks again for the wonderful info!!

-lavie

Answer
Cats hide most of the symptoms pretty well, and not eating well is the easiest one to spot.  Often the cat will become a little less active or less affectionate than usual.  Sometimes there's a bad odor from the vaginal area that's noticeable, or a vaginal discharge, but this is not always true.  Sometimes cats will be sensitive in the abdomen if the infection is severe, and won't want to have their belly pressed on, but cats are masters at hiding pain, so it's very difficult for most people to notice this sign.  It's also possible that she could have an infection elsewhere, in which case no vaginal discharge or odor would be produced, but the infection could be just as dangerous.  In general, if an appetite is suffering and the cat is less active than usual, the kitty needs to see a vet.