Post-partum cat care

Question
I have a few questions about taking care of a queen with a litter of four kittens.  The kittens were born on Tuesday night and the mother is not our cat, but she adopted our house to have the kittens.  Is it smart to move her and the kittens back to their original home (she was a stray adopted by my neighbor five days before she had kittens)?  I also have questions about what to feed her because she is not litter trained and is having trouble going to the bathroom, especially in the litter box.  Tonight she pooped in the box with the kittens in it.  Is it safe to move the towel that the kittens were born on and replace it with something clean?  I don't know how to keep the kittens safe, but also make my house smell better.  Right now it smells like old blood and poop in the room with the cats.  Please help me because I don't know what to do.

Thank you,
Jamie

Answer
First, it is absolutely fine to move the towel. I suggest getting some of the chair size or bed size incontinent pads at the drugstore and using those. You can replace them daily and that should help with the smell.

How far away is the litter box and what kind of litter is in it? If she is not litter trained the best thing to do is to use clumping litter, ideally a natural brand such as Worlds Best Cat Litter or Sweat Scoop. It feels more like dirt to a cat.
She may just be so exhausted and confused from dealing with the birthing and the babies that she didn't know what she was doing. It is usually a natural instinct to keep the nest as clean as possible.

Keep the box close to the nest. Try clumping litter and use the pads for the nest. If she soils again, see if you can get some of Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter. It is a special litter with herbs that attract cats to boxes, and is used for problems such as this. It is rather expensive but you should just need one bag of it because after you get her using the box you can cut it half and half with regular scooping litter and gradually stop using it altogether.

As to feeding, feed a good quality kitten food such as Iams, Eukanuba, Hills or Nutra Max. Nursing mothers need the extra calcium that is in kitten formula food. It is also a good idea to give her canned food (any brand) and mix some sour cream, yogurt or cottage cheese into it for extra calcium.

Re moving them -- I would not do anything for at least a week. Wait until the kittens' eyes are open and everyone has settled down.  If you are going to move them, probably the best time would be when the kittens are two weeks old. If that isn't a good time for you and your friend, I would wait until they are weaned. Kittens start to lose maternal immunity at about 3 weeks are more vulnerable to stress and disease. That's why you want to give them their first shots between 4 and 5 weeks.

I hope this helps. Please drop a line back and let me know how they are doing.

iris