So at 3ish this morning our cat gave birth to five little furry balls of trouble. Now neither me or anyone else in the house has any idea at all how to look after kittens, we've been keeping them warm and everything and they all seem to be feeding and moving around...at what stage do they normally start feeding by themselves (rather than off the mother)? Any tips for looking after them? When should we give them toys and stuff? Help out a pet noob please...ta
i was only little myself when our cat had kittens. But from what i remeber its pretty much a case of warmth, plenty of food for mummy and no bright lights. I would take em to the vets tho..
Just leave them be for the first few weeks - the mother can handle it herself. Just make sure she gets plenty of food and water. I was always told as a young child that the mother would abandon / kill the kittens if they smelled like humans - but this is completely a myth. I think they tell little kids that so that they don't abuse the baby kittens. Buy kitten food now and start feeding it to the mother - it has more protein and is good for milk production. The babies will be nursing for at least 3 or 4 weeks. DO NOT give them away until at the very least 6 weeks, but 8 or 10 is better. They should be completely weaned before they leave their mother. I'm sure there's a wiki article somewhere that goes over all of this - If I find something like that, I'll post it for you. In the meantime, get us some pictures. (Don't worry about the flash, there eyes aren't open yet anyway.)
Add a small knob of butter to a slightly warm pan, braze lightly for 15 minutes, add the vegetables and sauce, simmer off the excess liquid, and you're done! sorry :-( I'd agree with DTE, just make sure the mother is well fed and watered and she should look after them well for the first few weeks.
It's way too long since I've been around kittens, but have a look here for a little info on how to care for them. I can't find any decent sites with info on what to do in the first 6-8 weeks though. According to everything out there, kittens aren't actually born, they just appear in pet shops at that age. meh.
Perhaps while your cat was pregnant for X amount of time you may have thought about what to do before the kittens fell out its bum.
Just leave them and the mother alone for a while. I don't think you really need special food for the mother ( i know a bunch of farmcats that give birth 1~2 a year and still live partially of mice ). make an apointment with a vet. P.S. dom_ has a point
Ditto. And when you are ready to find good homes for them, please, for their sake, DO NOT take out an ad in the paper that says, "Free kittens to a good home..." You're just asking for trouble there! Good luck and bring on the pics!
Why is "Free kittens to a good home..." asking for trouble? I can understand charging a nominal fee for the things, just in order that people don't do it in too silly a fashion, but is giving them away really that bad an idea?
Yup. This is how labs get the animals that they stuff into cages so that they can pour Draino and the like down their throats or into their eyes, so they know what to tell the stupid humans who let their children get into such things.
Oh? Mmm...I'll have some links by tomorrow for ya, then! Better that idiotic humans who would let such things happen to their children not reproduce. Too many stupid people in the world, anyway. Like the saying goes, "the more people I meet, the more I love my dogs". Nothing more true was ever said...
I'm inclined to agree that less stupid people would be a wonderfull thing. However if the saying were to say "The more people I meet, the more I hate hippies", I'd be much more content with it
i have a hoard of cats multipying at my grandpa's farm. what they do to take care of them is give them a dish of water and cat food and some place to live (if they can't find one themselves) and leave the rest to moma cat
Two tips for kittens. 1- Don't tread on them 2- The mother does the rest You'll probably notice when they start requiring attention elsewhere and need feeding. still pick 'em up and stroke em for a bit when cuteness permits and try to keep them close to the mother so she doesn't panic. Make sure she has somewhere fairly comfy to put them and most of all, look after her as well. <A88>
Pics of the wee ones for those intrested: it's a week and a bit on now, a few of them have started to open their eyes, one of the toms has one open and one shut so we shall call him popeye.
