behavior after giving birth

Question
Dear Jana,
I took in a feral cat several weeks ago, and I don't know her history. It became apparent that she was pregnant. I took her to get vaccinations, but the Humane Society would not do so until after the birth. Although she is very small and I thought she was a kitten, they told me she was about 4 years old. She is gentle, and I suspect had a home at sometime in the past.

She gave birth on Saturday night. I am concerned about the fact that she doesn't seem to be using the litter I put next to her safe spot. There doesn't seem to be any evidence of urination or defecation from any of the litter or the mother.

She's a bit antsy, but generally trusting. I can handle both her and the kittens, and she doesn't seem to mind. In the last day, she has taken to sitting just outside the kitten box. She'll jump in to protect, if I approach too quickly.

I have been feeding her a ton! About 2 of the small cans of wet food a day. (She isn't eating the dry food that is there at all times.) But she isn't drinking a great deal water, as far as I can tell.

Is this a problem?

Thanks,
Meg

Answer
Bless you for taking in this little waif. What she is doing sounds very typical for a first time mother cat, and especially one so young.
Are you sure they said 4 yrs or 4 months because a cat can give birth at 4 or 5 months old. It's hard to believe but we have seen 4 month old cats in heat.

She will eat a lot and needs to be put on a HIGH quality Kitten food right now.We recommend Science Diet Kitten Growth for her while she is lactating and for the kittens once they reach 5 weeks old. She can just be left a bowl of it out nearby with her water.

Don't feed her Purina Cat or Kitten chow because it has milk on it and cats are lactose intolerant after they are weaned. This will cause her to have diarrhea and you don't want that.

While it is not uncommon for a cat to withhold using the litter box for 48 hours after birthing, if she isn't using it after 48 hours you might want to give her a little spoonful of mineral or olive oil.

Please get her vaccinated as soon as you can, so that she be protected. If she had been given a 4 way before she gave birth she could have passed on some of that immunity to the kittens. Be careful about coming home and handling the kittens before you change clothes. You can carry these viruses on your clothes so change them and wash up before you handle them. They really don't have any immunities right now.

Have fun with them and make sure you keep the mom in and get her spayed when these kittens are 5 weeks old. She will come into heat not long after they are 3 weeks old so make sure she stays inside.

I had 5 kittens and the mom back in 1980 and I kept all of the kittens. I lost the last one at the age of 19 back in 1999. They are wonderful family members!!