Question
kitty
Hello,
Back in September of 2008 we adopted a neighborhood stray kitty. We can only guess she was approximately 6 months-ish old. She's always been a fairly small/scrawny cat. Last year she got pregnant and again can only assume she was around a year old. It didn't go so well. She gave birth to 5 kitties, one was stillborn. She seemed to have cleaned the remaining ones and was laying by them, I couldn't tell if they were nursing or getting any milk when attempting to nurse. The next day she kept leaving the box to go sleep on the recliner so I'd have to put her back in the box. I ended up sleeping on the couch to help monitor things. I woke up in the middle of the night to find her on the back of the couch. I go and touch her babies and they were ice cold. I got a warm towel to put on them and put mommy back in there. She ended up sleeping on top of one suffocating it. I kept trying to prop the babies up by her tits to feed. I even tried to bottle feed some after realizing mommy cat had no milk or wasn't trying. Needless to say none of the babies survived.
I was told by friends that she was a bad mother because she was too young and also had such a traumatic experience that some believed she would never get pregnant again.
I am giving this back story because our cat is getting wide bellied again and I know she is pregnant. A year as past so she is over 2 years old now. I am wondering if she will be a better mother this time around because she's older? Or is she still too young? Or if she was so bad at it the first time there is no hope. I wonder if I intervened too soon or too often by keeping her in the box (except to stretch, eat, bathroom, etc) or by helping with nursing.
I attached a picture of the first day the cat came into our lives, not sure if it will help tell how old she was/is.
AnswerHi Tabitha. As you have found out, your friends weren't right! A cat doesn't have the ability to connect the action of mating with the consequence of having kittens. So no matter how traumatic any motherhood experiences may be for her, she will continue to mate as long as her body tells her to. And cats never hit menopause - that means a lot of kittens! It would be great to have her spayed right after this litter has finished nursing.
As for this litter, it's hard to say how mom will react. It's true - there are some cats who just AREN'T cut out for motherhood. They never get mothering down right. On the other hand, some cats are just confused with their first litter and do a much better job with their second. Further, there is always the possibility that the first litter was sick or too premature to survive to maturity, and she sensed this. Mothers will neglect kittens that are not viable. It's very sad for us, but in nature, there is no need to "waste" energy and put a strain on mom's body trying to raise a sick litter when she could just become pregnant again, instead. Very young mothers are less likely to do well with a first litter, but near a year old, she should not have had so much of a problem. At around two years, she should be well ready for babies. But for this litter, you will have to wait and see how she reacts. Keep your fingers crossed! I would also keep a can of formula and a bottle handy, just in case.
As for the last litter, I don't think you intervened too soon at all, or that your fussing caused her to neglect the babies. Stress can cause a cat to neglect their kittens - too much traffic in the room, too much noise, or feeling threatened - but I'm not getting the idea that you stressed her out first and THEN she neglected the babies. It sounds like she was beginning to neglect the babies before you stepped in at all. There is no harm in helping with nursing any time you suspect the babies might not be getting enough milk. If mom hasn't fed them within an hour after birth, feed them formula with an eye dropper. If mom has more than 5 kittens, supplement their nursing with a bottle feeding or two every day. Bottle feeding will never cause an otherwise good mother to hit the road. Just be sure to keep stress levels to a minimum If you have big dogs, loud friends, young children, etc., try to keep her in a separate room with some privacy, and this will encourage her to concentrate on her little ones. Beyond this, nature just has to work itself out.
Best of luck!
Jessica
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