3-week-old litter of 6: is supplemental feeding advised?

Question
Hello,

I have a few questions about how to properly care for a stray cat and her litter of 6 kittens that my partner and I took in about a week ago.

Background (kind of long, sorry):

The mother is a very small, skinny, undoubtedly young stray cat that was hanging around our backyard. Our neighbors were feeding her before we moved here, and she had a litter of 3 kittens this spring which she successfully mothered until they adopted them out (much too early -- 4-5 weeks old). This summer, we saw that the little cat was pregnant again. Our neighbors said they were going to catch and spay her, but never got around to it. Grrr.

I couldn't help myself, and started leaving out a bowl of IAMS dry food for her every morning and evening, along with fresh water. Up until then, I hadn't considered her my problem, but I felt sorry for her. Twenty-two days ago, she had her litter in a hollowed out nest of grass under a utility trailer in the yard. Six kittens! All black, like her. I realized she must need extra nutrition, so I started leaving out wet food along with the IAMS. My partner and I tried to relocate the kittens to a cardboard box on the porch, but the mother would have none of it and carried her kittens back.

I hadn't intended to do any more than that, but about a week and a half after the kittens were born, a big tomcat came around (probably the father, also all black), and tried to approach the kittens. The mother obviously felt threatened, because she didn't leave her kittens all day, not even to get food. Eventually, she moved them to a terrible location: the bed of an old pickup truck, underneath some scrap metal and wood. It seemed like not only would the male be able to get to them for sure the minute mom left them alone, but they were also bound to dehydrate and die in a hot truck bed under the sweltering summer sun.

So, we bit the bullet and brought the kittens inside. The mom willingly followed us in. We put the kittens in a cardboard box, but the mom moved them to a dark sort of cubby space along the side of our bed. So, we let them be there, even though the cubby space was deep enough that we couldn't reach the kittens, or even see them without a flashlight. We figured it beat the heck out of the truck bed!

The mom has adjusted well to this situation. She has grown more and more at ease in our company, lets us pet her, and doesn't seem to mind our presence. The routine for the past week or so has been for her to come and go, nursing the kittens every 3-4 hours or so, and sleeping with them on and off.

I know it would be better to keep her inside, but we live in a travel trailer, so space is very tight, and we don't have much way to cope with that (no good place for a grownup-size litter box, for one thing). She never goes much past our and the neighbor's yard anyway, so we decided it was a reasonable risk. She has learned to meow to be let in and out.

Since we brought her kittens inside, I've been feeding the mother a combo of IAMS dry kitten food and a high-quality canned food (Avoderm and Trader Joe's, mostly). Her coat has gotten much shinier, and although she is still very small and skinny, her condition seems to actually have improved some despite the demands of lactation -- her bones don't poke out as sharply!

So the kittens are now 22 days old. They have started to poke their heads out of their cubby some, and mom has started to nurse them right outside the cubby entrance. They are standing and walking a bit (very wobbily). However, they are still not terribly active, spending most of their time sleeping quietly in a heap.

For the past 5 days, I have been weighing the kittens on a postal scale. They have gained weight every day, usually on the order of 10-15 grams. The smallest is now 362 grams, and the largest is 409 grams.

Okay, after that lengthy preamble, here are my problems/questions:

Since the mom has started bringing the babies out to nurse, I have had a chance to observe the process for the first time. It seems as though the smallest two kittens have a very hard time getting enough milk. They cry some during and after feeding (though they pretty quickly go back to sleep). They also tend to stay apart from the other 4 bigger kittens pretty often, and hang back while the nursing frenzy is going on. This past 24 hours, they both gained some weight -- 7 and 9 grams -- but less than they have the previous 4 days. The mom doesn't seem to have rejected them, because she continues to groom them and let them attempt to nurse, so I guess it's a classic "runt" situation.

At what point should I consider trying to give them some supplemental bottle feeding?

Should I be doing supplemental feeding anyway, since the mom is small and has 6 kittens?

If I do supplemental bottle feeding, when is the best time to do it? While the other kittens are nursing on mom? A couple hours after mom has stopped nursing and gone out for a break? Or something else?

If I can't get them to suck from a bottle, what are my other options for getting some formula into them? Are they old enough to try lapping it? Or would I need to try a syringe or medicine dropper?

Finally, is it normal for the kittens to still be mostly sleeping and not terribly interested in exploring the world outside their nest at 22 days old? Should I take them out to play with them, or hold off until they start going out more on the own? They have come out a few times when mom encouraged them, but they all retreated back into the cubby fairly soon after nursing. Their space is very dark and quiet -- could this unstimulating environment be delaying their behavioral development?

Sorry for the super long post and many, many questions. I have never dealt with kittens before, and would appreciate any advice you can offer me.

Oh, by the way -- we will be spaying the mama after she weans these kittens (provided the vet gives her a clean bill of health). We have found good homes for 3 of the kittens (people we know and trust), and are working on placing the other 3.

So okay, my problems/qu

Answer
Nina,

Overall, you and the mama have done very well. The kittens appear to be developing as well as can be expected with all the hardships mama has had to overcome.  As for the the two "runts", at this point, after 3 weeks, if they are still doing OK, they will be fine.  Activity levels sound about right.  Once the kittens hit 4-5 weeks, they will get more coordination and be more active and will drive mama nuts, since she will want to keep them corralled and they will have none of that!

At 4 weeks, I would introduce them to solid food.  We use meat baby food (only ingredients should be strained meat and meat broth) to start to wean.  You may have to put in in their little mouths at first until they get the idea.  There is usually one kitten that is stubborn and will take longer than the others to get the idea.  In time (usually in one more weeks time, they are all eating baby food).  We then mix some of the regular canned with the babyfood until they get the idea that the canned food is also good.  So, after a couple of more days, the baby food can be dispensed with altogether.  By 6 weeks, they should be eating dry food mixed with the canned.  Another good effect of all this interaction is they will get more used to be handled by humans. One trick we have learned over the years is to pick up little kittens, talk softly to them, and stroke them.  If they begin typical kitten biting/scratching behavior, we put them down and walk away.  Kittens love the "game" and quickly figure out that humans are not to be bitten or scratched.  This helps socialize them to people.

I would remove mama from the kittens at 6 weeks, if they are all eating well, so she can dry up and get her weight back.  She will not like it at first, but in time, she will adjust.  Be careful, as females often come back in season when the kittens are 4-5 weeks old and she will try to get outside to get bred once again.  It will take a couple of weeks for her milk to dry up.  And she will "pack up" and harden in the mammaries.  However, it will all get absorbed.  While the kittens are away from mama, their socialization can continue.  They will all make much better pets this way!

Once the kittens are 8 or 9 weeks, you can take them to your vet for their first 3-1 shot (panleukopenia, calici, rhinotracheitis) modified live injectable.  I would ask that they be injected in the thigh of a hind leg.  At 12 weeks they can have the booster.  If they are to have any other vaccinations, I would always wait at least 3 weeks between vaccinations and always have it done in a hind leg thigh.

Even though you may have to keep the kittens until they are about 13 - 16 weeks, they will do better if they go to their new homes a little older.  They will be more social,
more self assured, and will adjust to their new homes better.

A good reference for taking care of orphaned kittens (although these are not orphaned), but has great information and a good bibliography.

http://www.catvet.homestead.com/orphan1.html


Please feel free to come back to me with follow up questions.

Best regards... Norm.