Stray mother not eating

Question
This cat looked very young and I presumed fed because her belly was plump. We decided to adopt her since our two toms were neutered. I made an appointment for her to get spade and shots, then soon realized that she was pregnant. She had 5 kittens on 3/11/2010 they are plump and healthy, but Zoe has not eaten much in the last 2 days and is looking skinny. Zoe is indoor and outdoor. She does kill and eat her prey. If I take her to a Vet, her kittens would have go with; they are only 10 days old and need to nurse. What should we do? We are on a fixed income.

Answer
Hi Marcie,

It's always a good rule of thumb to take females who have recently given birth to see a vet.  The kittens are old enough to be away from their mother for a few hours, so schedule an appointment and take her in.  It is of the utmost importance that she continues to eat while nursing--nursing mothers have higher nutrient requirements to sustain both their own maintenance level as well as the kittens.  I would keep her strictly indoors immediately--you do not want her killing things and eating them, as if she catches any diseases, she can pass them to the kittens.  Feed her mostly dry with a little wet in the evenings.  Since she was a stray and therefore not used to dry food, you may need something more palatable to get her to eat it.  I highly recommend HALO on both counts, particularly the wet as it is wholesome quality ingredients and she will be more apt to eat it.  To my knowledge, you can currently only find HALO at Petco.  Visit the site here for more info: http://www.halopets.com  I can almost tell you with certainty that if she won't eat anything else, she will eat the Halo wet food.  

Once the kittens are 6 weeks old, you can have her spayed.  I would keep the kittens with her until they're 8 weeks old, get them their first FVRCP shot, and surrender them to your local shelter no sooner than 3 days after their shot so that they can find their new lifelong, forever homes.  This will ensure that the kittens have the full 48-72 hours that the vaccination requires to become fully effective.  Since you are on a fixed income, I assume you are not considering adopting Zoe as a permanent member of your family, so the best you can do is surrender them all to a shelter.  If you desire to do this before the kittens are 8 weeks old, they will need to find a foster home for them, as kittens younger than 8 weeks will not last in a shelter due to their immature immune systems.  Most shelters have a wonderful foster program, and I highly recommend calling around to some and letting them know of your situation.  Be sure to ask for either a manager or the foster coordinator.  Furthermore, most shelters have great low cost referrals for both spay/neuter surgeries and vaccinations.

I hope all this helps, and wish you the best of luck.  Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Best regards,
Holly Martin