My cats milk supply

Question
My cat had kitten yesterday and I'm a little worried because her last litter died. I'm pretty sure it was because she had a low milk supply because when the kittens where trying to feed off her it seemed like they kept looking for different nipples. They all got weak one by one (there where 4 of them) and after 3 days they all died. When each of them started getting sick or weak, the mother would kinda disclude them from the rest of the litter, she went as far as taking one out of the box and putting it beside the box. I don't know why she did that. With this new litter they seem like their getting enough milk, I don't know if it was because my cat was under a year old the last time or what? How can I tell if my cat has a good supply of milk, or if the kittens are getting enough before its too late.

Answer
There are many things that can cause low milk or kittens dying. One of the first things that comes to mind is leukemia in the mother. When they have undiagnosed leukemia the kittens rarely survive long.

My questions to you would be the following:
Has she ever been tested for leulemia, FIV or FIP?
Is she vaccinated for leukemia and distemper, as well as calicivirus?
If she is a purebred cat (which I would think she is if you are breeding her)then make sure the toms you breed her to are also tested and vaccinated.


Ok, in light of all of that, what you can do now to help her is get her tested for leukemia now and you can start her on some kitten food like Science Diet Kitten growth. This will help her milk supply. Queens that are bred all the time need to be on kitten food throughout the last two trimesters of their pregnancies and while nursing. This ensures adequate nutrition for the queen and the kittens.
One of the reasons your cat picked up her kitten and put it outside of the box is because they can sense if a kitten is sick and thus will be a drain on her when she has others to nurse and care for.
That is natures way of survival of the fittest.


Things you should know:
Cats shouldn't be bred until they are at least a year old, two is better.
If your cat is not a purebred you should get her spayed and not let her breed-breeding her or letting her get pregnant can expose her to getting leukemia, FIV, FIP and/or herpes and other fatal illnesses.
She will pass these on to future litters until she gets ill from them herself.
There are plenty of cats in the world without homes now. Please don't let her be a contributor to more homeless cats of the future.
I know you will do the right thing after this litter is weaned and gone because you are a caring pet owner or you wouldn't have written to me for advice.

Please let me know how they do.