lactating queen

Question
Hi Jessica,
How soon after weaning does a queens milk dry up?
Her kittens are 9 weeks old and she was spayed 1 week ago. I kept one of the kittens for myself, and have kept her away from him, but she's going crazy outside, wanting in with baby! How long will she be wanting to nurse? Her bags have gone down quite a lot, but there's still milk there.  

Answer
Hi Linda!  I'm glad you had this kitty spayed right away!

Personally, I'd allow the mama and baby to be together as soon as the mama's stitches are removed or have degraded.  The kitten may nurse intermittently.  This is perfectly normal and healthy for a nine-week-old kitten, and it's perfectly healthy for the mama, too.  There is a reason that she's wanting to nurse - it's natural at this age.

I find some vets and animal shelters are in a huge rush to force kittens to stop nursing.  They separate kittens from their mothers too young because the kittens are so tiny and cute at that age that they are adopted quickly.  However, breeders and cat-only vets usually realize the value of allowing the kitten to nurse at times, up to 12 weeks old, and allow the mother to wean the baby on her own time.  The benefits are not only emotional, but physical, as well.

It's rare that a mother would allow her kitten to nurse at all past 12 weeks.  If you find this to be true, THEN I would separate them.  At 12 weeks, a kitten begins to lose the ability to digest breast milk and may get diarrhea.  This is further proof that nature intended kittens to nurse until about 12 weeks, not just 8.  While the kittens should be eating food for nourishment, they will still nurse sometimes for bonding.  The nursing will naturally taper, and this will also help to prevent the mama's breasts from becoming engorged.

Typically, it takes about 10 days for the milk to dry up completely if she's separated from her kittens.  However, I have seen it take 3 weeks.