Mary Allen
If the mother cat dies after the birth or does not take care of the offspring for other reasons, the owner often has no choice but to take on the role of mother. It is not uncommon for care to be rewarded with aggression.
Cats are born blind, deaf, hungry, and weighing only about 60 to 110 grams. They are not yet able to regulate their body temperature themselves and need a gentle abdominal massage to empty their intestines and bladder. The helpless little ones can only survive thanks to mom’s all-around care, who hardly leaves her offspring’s side in the first weeks of life.
In most cases, this works without any problems, but occasionally human effort is required. Sometimes mom cats only need temporary help with feeding, for example when their mammary glands are inflamed or when they don’t have enough milk for a particularly large litter. “If a cat refuses a puppy, you should show it to the vet. Even if the young animal looks completely normal, there is a high probability that it is suffering from a deformity that does not allow an active and fulfilling life,” says veterinarian Theo Dürig, who runs the Animalino small animal practice in Bern. Sometimes in such cases, it is better to put the kitten out of its misery.
Sleepless Nights
The vet is also a good contact if you are looking for a foster cat. Nurse cats themselves have either lost their kittens or have only given birth to one or two kittens. Especially shortly after the birth, the maternal instinct is often so strong that the cat accepts foster children without any problems. As a precaution, you should rub the kittens extensively with blankets from the wet nurse’s whelping box, for example, so that they don’t smell strange. If the wet nurse also has her own offspring, they should be about the same age as the adoptive siblings. If you find a four-legged surrogate mother who not only takes care of feeding but also care and socialization, that is the best solution for everyone involved.
Otherwise, the holder has to go. While this is certainly a fulfilling task, it is not exactly an easy one. The little ones’ chances of survival are relatively good, especially if they didn’t lose their biological mother immediately after birth, but only later. However, especially in the first few weeks, rearing a baby is just as time-consuming as caring for a human baby.
Anyone who has to work at the same time or wants to sleep in occasionally should share the large-scale “nurse rearing” project with family members and other volunteers. Because for the first three weeks, the puppies should drink every few hours, at least five to six times in 24 hours. Depending on the age, around 3 to 10 milliliters are served per meal. You can take a six-hour break at night.
Special Bottle for Cats
To ensure kittens are getting enough food and growing properly, it is best to discuss the exact diet with your vet and check their weight daily. After about a week, the birth weight should have roughly doubled, after three weeks the little ones already weigh three to four times as much as after birth.
At the vet, you can get the formula for cats and special feeding bottles. The hole in the teat should be large enough so that about a drop of milk flows out every second when you turn the bottle upside down. If it’s too small, sucking is so tiring that the puppies often don’t drink enough. If it is too big, the kittens choke quickly, milk gets into the lungs and pneumonia develops. “This danger also exists if you feed with a spoon, a pipette, or a syringe,” warns Dürig.
After each drink, the region around the anus is gently massaged with a warm, damp cotton ball. The cotton ball massage replaces the mother cat’s tongue and stimulates digestion. Without this support, the kittens would not be able to defecate or urinate. Normal poop is yellowish and has the consistency of toothpaste. “If a kitten does not defecate for more than 24 hours or has diarrhea, you should consult the vet immediately, as such problems can quickly lead to death,” says Dürig.
There is also an acute danger to life if it gets too cold or too warm. The ideal temperature of 29 to 32 degrees is best achieved in a dry, well-padded box or whelping box using an infrared lamp, a heating pad, or, in an emergency, a hot water bottle. By the time the kittens are six weeks old, the ambient temperature can be gradually lowered to 21 degrees. By this time, the offspring should also be weaned. You can usually start switching to solid food at the age of three to four weeks. Serve some milk on a saucer or the tip of your finger. Once the four-legged friend has understood that he can lick up the milk, you gradually mix in more and more solid food.