How can I tell if this cat had kittens?
Hi! I am new here and I have been trying to find out some information about mother cats. I have recently started feeding a stray cat that seems to live in the woods behind my apartment building.She looks like she may have recently had kittens, but I have not seen them yet. I am not sure if she is feral or stray. She looks wild yet after a few days she started acting less frightened of me and will let me touch her. She acts like she may have once lived with people & is very affectionate now, she comes to the door and meows for us and wants to be cuddly.I want to take her to be spayed etc but I think she had some kittens because of the way her tummy looks really saggy & her nipples look very big (like my former dog's when she was nursing) she is also eating amazing amounts of food! I know if she is a stray she would be hungry, but she has been eating tons! Are there any other ways I can figure out if she does have kittens? Because if she does indeed have kittens I don't want to take her to the vet yet because the babies would be alone. Should I wait for a few weeks and just see what happens? How would you handle it?
Ps. I'm also not sure if I'm feeding her the rights things. I've been giving her hard food, fancy feast & milk. Does she need kitten chow?
Re: How can I tell if this cat had kittens?
Hi,
It seems like this cat may have kittens... but it's hard to tell. Believe it or not, this is one of the busiest times of the year for kittens to be born... it's not just the spring! Many shelters are experiencing a "second wave" of kitten arrivals. If there's any way you could feel her stomach to see if she's lactating (it will feel like she has water balloons hanging from her stomach... kind of gross, I know), and if the areas around her nipples have the hair worn away from kittens nursing, it is likely she has babies around. Mother cats also usually appear gaunt from the stress of preganacy and nursing on their bodies, and, as you know, will eat and drink a LOT.
If she does in fact have kittens, it's doubtful you will be able to find them... mother cats usually do the best they can to hide their babies. But if you think you could follow her or take a look around to try to find them, you should. The nights are getting colder, and predators are fattening up for the winter... and it would be such a shame to lose the kittens. Do the best you can to try to find them, since she seems to trust you, but if you're not having much luck, I would call your local animal control to see if they would be willing to help. They may be too busy, and tell you to call if the kittens turn up, but if they are willing to help or have any advice on finding them, great! The kittens should begin to follow their mother around at about 5 or 6 weeks, if not earlier, so she may bring them to visit, if you continue to feed her. It would be preferable to find them earlier, though, as early socialization will make them better pets for someone in the future. If they grow up without having any contact with people, they will almost certainly be too feral to ever live happily in a home. You could also try inviting the mother into your house, always while giving her free accesss to the outdoors so she can go feed them, and she may find your house safe enough to move her babies there... but that's kind of a long shot.
If you do find the babies, it's best to try to capture them all along with the mother and keep the family indoors. I don't know if you want to keep the mother or any of the kittens, or take on the responsibility of caring for them until they're old enough to go to homes of their own, but if you don't, it's better to take them into a local humane society, where they will most likely be put into foster care until the kittens are old enough to be adopted at 8 weeks. Don't leave them in the woods to fend for themselves! They will be MUCH better off being adopted out by a shelter... they will receive any necessary medical attention, be vaccinated and spayed or neutered, and given good homes. Mom can also be spayed so she doesn't have to go through the stress of another litter, and won't give birth to any more unwanted kittens. But you definitely shouldn't take her to be spayed if you think she has kittens. I would suggest that you wait at least two or three months, and if no kittens ever appear, her milk dries up and she appears to be in heat, then take her.
In terms of feeding her... don't give her any milk! Contrary to popular belief, cats can't digest it. If she's nursing, she needs all the calories she can get, so dry and canned kitten food is best. If you can't get kitten food, adult cat food will be OK... it's just important that she gets as much as she wants.
Good luck!
How can I tell if this cat had kittens?
Thank You so much for your help! I've been having a hard time finding out about this.
I would love to follow her back to her kittens and find them but she lives in the woods behind my apartment building in a sort of wetlands area. There is a huge fence that she crawls under but I don't know if I could get back there to follow her.I'll look into that though, it's a good idea.
She comes around once a day usually, eats a ton and then leaves.I will stop giving her milk. She has not wanted the water I leave out for her. The last few days she has been coming back in the afternoon and really wants to come inside! She must have belonged to someone once because she is very comfortable with us now that she has been around a couple weeks. I am hoping she'll trust us enough to bring her kittens up here and then we can take them all to a no kill shelter. I set up a pet carrier on the patio and covered it with plastic & a blanket so it is water proof and relatively hidden, I thought she would maybe use that for shelter. Hopefully she'll move in with her family. I don't want her to be vulnerable outside though, I'm not sure what to do.
I am thinking I should invite her and her kittens in if she comes back with them but I am wondering if there is any potential for worms, etc. She looks very clean and I haven't seen fleas on her but I don't want to expose the family to anything, know what I mean?
Thank you SO much again, I really appreciate your help!