lacating cat

Question
found a young cat approx 2 weeks ago, she is very skinny, noticed her lower nipples have slight amt of milk coming out , they r not swollen or pink. wondering if she is preg ,or just had litter or is it possible cats continue to have sm amts of milk all the time???? i dont have funds to get her looked at yet, found her in a parking lot of fast food place and she came running up , i couldnt leave her there but now im worried i may have taken her from babies, very upset.

Answer
Chris,

There is a possibility that this young mom's kittens were nearby or she may have lost a litter to starvation or the elements since it is getting colder at night. This momma may also be the victim of neglect and abuse - someone may have dropped her off to fend for herself simply because she got pregnant (which isn't her fault) and either turned the kittens in to a shelter or "disposed" of them some other not so humane way. The fact that mom's got milk very likely means that she has indeed given birth to a litter, but there is a slight chance that she's in the later stages of pregnancy and about to give birth as well. To ease your conscience you could check the local area where you found momma in bushes and under porches to see if there are any little kittens wandering around but given mom's condition I'd say the odds are against a happy ending for any kittens she's given birth to - usually momma cats won't leave their babies unless the little ones have already passed away. This mom's babies may even have been killed by a neighborhood tom cat which is normal behaviour - the toms know instinctively that if they kill unweaned kittens mom will come back into season fairly quickly and they can mate with her.

There are a few crucial things that you can do to help this little mom now:

1) This momma should be well fed, I can give you some great information on proper feline nutrition if you'd like it. I don't recommend the vast majority of commercially produced foods, but I can make some recommendations for foods that are of decent nutritional value and made from decent ingredients as well. If you're interested I can also provide you with extensive information about newer vaccine protocols that are likely to allow your new furry family member to live a longer, healthier life.

2) As soon as you possibly can this momma should be evaluated by a veterinarian for a couple of reasons. First and foremost you want to ensure that she's as healthy as possible - in the meantime try to keep her isolated from any other pets in your household because she could be sick with something contagious that could get passed on to other resident pets (mostly this is a concern for other cats).

3) Momma should be scanned for a microchip to see if she's someone's lost pet - her awful condition could be related to having gotten outside and gotten lost so if she does have a loving caregiver out there who is looking for her, will take proper care of her and wants her back she should be given the chance to go home. Most vet clinics and shelters will scan a stray kitty for a microchip free of charge. If you opt to take her to a shelter to have her scanned you'll likely need to leave your name and number in case someone calls looking for this baby girl where a private vet will simply scan and let you know if a chip is present - they may also contact the company to get the information for you to contact the owner on file.

4) Although it's likely mom's already given birth to kittens and either lost them to the elements, disease/starvation it's possible that she might be in the later stages of a pregnancy since she has started to leak small amounts of milk. A vet will be able to determine whether or not she's pregnant and whether or not her body is in good enough condition for her to safely sustain a pregnancy and nurse a litter. Unfortunately if mom is pregnant and she's in really bad shape the vet may recommend that you have her spayed and terminate her pregnancy if the kittens aren't viable (able to survive outside their mom's womb on their own) which isn't the ending that anyone wants, but it might be in her best interests.

5) You'll want to help her by preventing mastitis if you can. My recommendation at this point would be to gently apply wet faceclothes that have been moistened with warm to slightly hot water (depending on what mom will tolerate) 3-4 times daily. Mom's milk will likely let down and she'll be less likely to get a nasty infection caused by having her milk sit inside of her mammary glands for too long which could potentially be quite serious for her.

I wish that there were easy answers in this situation, but there really aren't. It sounds like this little girl has had a very tough go of it and she's very lucky that you found her and chose to rescue her from an awful situation. Who knows where she'd be right now without having run into a compassionate human who couldn't leave her to fend for herself. Right now, keep loving and feeding her and get her to see a vet as soon as you possibly can just to be sure that she's recovering from her ordeal as well as she can be expected to. By providing her a safe, loving home you're giving her what she never would have had and that's something to feel good about.

In all likelihood in her diminished condition if she was admitted to a high kill shelter when you found her she wouldn't still be here right now so you've saved her life. It's a sad fact that a new mom on the streets is at a serious disadvantage and their babies don't often make it. I don't think she would have allowed you to take her away from the area if she still had live babies - before you met her she'd already lost a lot and she asked you for help which you've given her. Love her with all your might and have her spayed so that she doesn't have anymore babies that might one day find themselves in that same position (because you can't control what happens once you place a kitten in a new home)...At least now this little girl has a fighting chance and a loving person to care for her - make sure that you honor the trust she's placed in you, it wasn't an easy decision for her to make. If you have any further cat related questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again - I'm happy to do absolutely anything that I can to help you and this brave little girl live together in harmony. If you're interested I keep an extensive catalog of organizations that offer financial assistance for pet parents who are on limited incomes for a variety of reasons so I may be able to recommend ways to get this baby girl seen to more quickly for less money if you'd like (these organizations are listed by area so a general idea of where you're writing from will save you loads of time as you won't have to sift through pages and pages of info that doesn't apply to you).