Nursing cat stopped eating

I rescued a stray pregnant cat, seems quite young. It is probably her first litter. I found a foster home for her and the day after she arrived there she had 5 kittens. One was very small and died after a couple of days. The remaining four seem fine and are a good size. The mom is so so skinny. She was eating really well, several times a day up until about a week after the kittens were born. Now she is barely eating at all. Meanwhile she is nursing 4 hungry kits. Her coat is lovely, she seems all right otherwise. She's drinking lots of water. Any ideas, anyone? Thanks. Sonja

See if you can get her to eat kitten food. She needs the extra calories. You
might want to pick up some NutriCal and mix it with canned food and see if
she'll eat that. You could also pick up some KMR and bottle feed the kittens
to supplement what they are getting from Mom. Might take some of the
pressure off of her. Check to make sure mom isn't running a fever. She could
have a uterine infection or some other problem. If she doesn't start eating
soon, I'd get her checked out at the vet. It's still pretty early in the
game for Mom to be this skinny.

Good luck with your kitties.

W



"sonja" wrote in message
...

I rescued a stray pregnant cat, seems quite young. It is probably her
first litter. I found a foster home for her and the day after she
arrived there she had 5 kittens. One was very small and died after a
couple of days. The remaining four seem fine and are a good size. The
mom is so so skinny. She was eating really well, several times a day up
until about a week after the kittens were born. Now she is barely
eating at all. Meanwhile she is nursing 4 hungry kits. Her coat is
lovely, she seems all right otherwise. She's drinking lots of water.
Any ideas, anyone? Thanks. Sonja




--
sonja

sonja wrote:
I rescued a stray pregnant cat, seems quite young. It is probably her
first litter. I found a foster home for her and the day after she
arrived there she had 5 kittens. One was very small and died after a
couple of days. The remaining four seem fine and are a good size. The
mom is so so skinny. She was eating really well, several times a day up
until about a week after the kittens were born. Now she is barely
eating at all. Meanwhile she is nursing 4 hungry kits. Her coat is
lovely, she seems all right otherwise. She's drinking lots of water.
Any ideas, anyone? Thanks. Sonja




--
sonja

how is the mom doing now? Did you try any suggestions? All cats,dogs
etc. should be started on kitten or puppy food 3 weeks before due date
and on it the entire time they are nursing.

Good Luck

Originally Posted by

sonja wrote:
I rescued a stray pregnant cat, seems quite young. It is probably her
first litter. I found a foster home for her and the day after she
arrived there she had 5 kittens. One was very small and died after a
couple of days. The remaining four seem fine and are a good size. The
mom is so so skinny. She was eating really well, several times a day up
until about a week after the kittens were born. Now she is barely
eating at all. Meanwhile she is nursing 4 hungry kits. Her coat is
lovely, she seems all right otherwise. She's drinking lots of water.
Any ideas, anyone? Thanks. Sonja




--
sonja

how is the mom doing now? Did you try any suggestions? All cats,dogs
etc. should be started on kitten or puppy food 3 weeks before due date
and on it the entire time they are nursing.

Good Luck

She has been on kitten food since I first took her in, and the best, holistic, no bi-products, available at that. The foster home that has her now tried a few different kinds when she stopped eating. I just took her a few more kinds and apparently there is one that she has taken to. So, since yesterday she has eaten 1 full can. It's encouraging. When I went to visit her I got the feeling that she was feeling a little dejected. She's a first time mom. She's in a very small bathroom with her kittens. This is a cat rescue home, so there are a number of other cats that have to be kept away from her. She's very affectionate and doesn't like to be alone. It's hard to say. Especially with a stray who hasn't had a chance, because of giving birth so quickly, to see the vet. She was painfully thin when I found her. Living on bugs I expect. It's curious that she isn't eating everthing in sight, as she was at first.

Originally Posted by

sonja wrote:
I rescued a stray pregnant cat, seems quite young. It is probably her
first litter. I found a foster home for her and the day after she
arrived there she had 5 kittens. One was very small and died after a
couple of days. The remaining four seem fine and are a good size. The
mom is so so skinny. She was eating really well, several times a day up
until about a week after the kittens were born. Now she is barely
eating at all. Meanwhile she is nursing 4 hungry kits. Her coat is
lovely, she seems all right otherwise. She's drinking lots of water.
Any ideas, anyone? Thanks. Sonja




--
sonja

how is the mom doing now? Did you try any suggestions? All cats,dogs
etc. should be started on kitten or puppy food 3 weeks before due date
and on it the entire time they are nursing.

Good Luck

She has been on kitten food since I first took her in, and the best, holistic, no bi-products, available at that. The foster home that has her now tried a few different kinds when she stopped eating. I just took her a few more kinds and apparently there is one that she has taken to. So, since yesterday she has eaten 1 full can. It's encouraging. When I went to visit her I got the feeling that she was feeling a little dejected. She's a first time mom. She's in a very small bathroom with her kittens. This is a cat rescue home, so there are a number of other cats that have to be kept away from her. She's very affectionate and doesn't like to be alone. It's hard to say. Especially with a stray who hasn't had a chance, because of giving birth so quickly, to see the vet. She was painfully thin when I found her. Living on bugs I expect. It's curious that she isn't eating everthing in sight, as she was at first.

"sonja" wrote in message
...

Wrote:
sonja wrote:-
I rescued a stray pregnant cat, seems quite young. It is probably
her
first litter. I found a foster home for her and the day after she
arrived there she had 5 kittens. One was very small and died after a
couple of days. The remaining four seem fine and are a good size.
The
mom is so so skinny. She was eating really well, several times a day
up
until about a week after the kittens were born. Now she is barely
eating at all. Meanwhile she is nursing 4 hungry kits. Her coat is
lovely, she seems all right otherwise. She's drinking lots of water.
Any ideas, anyone? Thanks. Sonja




--
sonja-

how is the mom doing now? Did you try any suggestions? All cats,dogs
etc. should be started on kitten or puppy food 3 weeks before due date
and on it the entire time they are nursing.

Good Luck


She has been on kitten food since I first took her in, and the best,
holistic, no bi-products, available at that. The foster home that has
her now tried a few different kinds when she stopped eating. I just
took her a few more kinds and apparently there is one that she has
taken to. So, since yesterday she has eaten 1 full can. It's
encouraging. When I went to visit her I got the feeling that she was
feeling a little dejected. She's a first time mom. She's in a very
small bathroom with her kittens. This is a cat rescue home, so there
are a number of other cats that have to be kept away from her. She's
very affectionate and doesn't like to be alone. It's hard to say.
Especially with a stray who hasn't had a chance, because of giving
birth so quickly, to see the vet. She was painfully thin when I found
her. Living on bugs I expect. It's curious that she isn't eating
everthing in sight, as she was at first.




--
sonja

I just get a really bad feeling when a nursing mom isn't eating well. I've
fostered a number of moms the last few years and the only time they've not
eaten well is when there has been a problem. I realize there aren't
unlimited funds for the vet when you are doing rescue work but paying the
regular vet to check out the cat is better than paying the emergency vet to
deal with a crisis.

Have you checked to see if she's running a fever? Checked her gums to see if
she's anemic or dehydrating?

W