Newly born Kitten's care, advise needed.?

Dear Jericho,

I have had cat's for over 60 years and I was privileged to raise 3 abandoned newborns that a stray had in my backyard. I kept one and that was 16 years ago and since she's made it thus far I guess I did pretty good.

Most important thing KEEP PAPA AWAY from the kittens. Males will kill newborns to put mom back into heat so they can mate again.

Kittens eyes usually open around the ninth day. If they seem to be a bit stuck, gently and I mean gently stroke their eyes with a cotton ball soaked in warm water, usually nature will take it's course. Remember 9 days is an average.

You have nothing to worry about other than making sure MaMa has extra food since she will need extra calories needed for nursing.

I know this will be very hard, but try not to handle or touch the babies, unless mom abandons them, which I doubt she will do.

The vein you are talking about is the dried umbilical cord that will naturally fall off in time. Don't mess with it.

Usually mom cleans herself naturally, but with 7 hungry babies she may not have had time. If she lets you just take a damp cloth and wipe her legs. This will cause her to wash since most cats hate getting wet, don't give her a bath.

Last but not least Jericho, kittens can b re-homed after weaning. Usually at 6 weeks. Mama will wean them by refusing to nurse at their demand, but she may be a bit woosey and let the babies take advantage of her and let them nurse for however long. At 6 weeks the kittens should be eating solid food. I introduced to my babies a mixture of Purina Kitten Chow softened with bottled water so they could start to learn how to lap up the thick soup like mixture and then it was on to canned food.

I hope this is of some help to you and CONGRATS Granpa. Mama will handle all this very well I'm sure, since it's natural to them. If you have any questions that a layperson as myself cannot answer then by all means call a vet and ask all the questions you need to do, I'm sure they will be happy to help and guide you. Best of luck to you and your new additions.

Set a box with some cloth and put all of them and mommy cat inside. place the box in a dry, quiet and a little bit dark place. avoid to touch the babies too often because they are still very young. give mommy cat enough food. breastfeeding mommy will eat quiet a lot. let mommy to clean her kittens, she knows best.

my friend's siamese mommy cat has inverted nipple that the kittens cannot breastfeed. please check if the kittens are feeding comfortably. if there are too many cries from the kittens whereas the mom is with them, probably they cannot get the milk. then bring them all to the vet.

do not bath mommy cat yet. let her clean herself. give her few days rest. sometimes it takes a week or so before they can open their eyes.

wait until 3-4 months before you can give them for adoption. let them wean from the mom, and the mom has lots to teach her kittens about the cats' lives. yes keep them away from the dad until they are a bit bigger.

Answers:

1. No, you mustn't because it will retard their growth.

2. It's probably the placenta. The mother should eat it. But if not, better to remove it.

3. Definitely not a good idea. Leave her at rest for at least 2 days.

4. 2-3 weeks

5. At least 2 months

6. YES! Keep him away because there would be a 60% - 90% chance that the dad would eat them.

1.Many cats are fine with kittens being handled at moments old,but do it slowly try touch first if she reacts by looking worried then don't attempt until they are a little older,but if she is close to you she wont mind,cats don't reject them the worst they do is move to elsewhere if not happy about humans touching or looking all the time.

2.What your seeing is the placenta attached to the kittens navel,the mother cat will eat it and its full of vitamins and very good for her it helps with milk production,if she wont do it herself the only safe way is tie thread to the vein bit before cutting this prevents bleeding,but the best thing is for her to chew it so place the kitten to her to get her to do it.

3.No don't give her a bath she will clean herself up,if she wont then wipe her with a damp cloth using warm water only but mostly they do clean them selves up,her being a first time mother she may be slow on doing all the things she should and not eating her placenta is open of them.

4.Kittens eyes open at around 9-14 days they being opening at the corners,one eye opens one day the other the next,and some kittens eyes will open a day or two apart all normal, some will start to open the eyes at 7 days but all will be open by day 14 kittens are often crossed eyed at first this is normal its them learning to focus,its best they are kept in the dark nest as the eyes are sensitive when first opened,the ears open at 3 weeks old they start to get up on their paws at around 3-4 weeks old and teeth at 4 weeks old.

5.Kittens need to be around 12 weeks old to be given to homes,they need to be weaned that starts at 5 weeks old and they will nurse of her until at least 8-9 weeks or longer but wait until they are 12 weeks.

6.Best keep the male cat away from kittens as they can be unpredictable and can turn on kittens,no point in me saying let him as its risky so keep him away for safety,he will be curious but wait until they are older and only then supervised its important never leave him alone in the room with kittens,he may be only playing but not realise his own strength but as for now keep them apart.

i have raised over 500 kittens from birth due to foster work so have done it so many times,i always done what is said above and all kittens were healthy and happy so was the mother cat,hope i have been of some help to you.

Keep the kittens away from dad he will kill them . Set up a cardboard box with warm bedding in it and leave mum and bubbas in there mum will not what to do and will not really need your help and she will clean herslf up but if you like you can wipe her down but do not wash her the babys need to be kept warm and they need mum for that so she needs to be dry.

Make sure mum is feeding babies ,leave the cord mum will deal with that as well.There eyes usually open around 8-10 days old , and they will need supplement feeding at around 4 weeks old. make sure mum has freah water and food available to her at all times . As far as handling the babies i would leave that for a few days unless changing bedding. you don't want to stress mum.

you will desire to feed them a formulation or stumble on a offering cat, goat milk does not have the main ideas-blowing foodstuff, feed them 5 cases an afternoon until eventually they commence eatting solids then purely 2 or thrice an afternoon.