My cat gave birth to two kittens yesterday. She is a very young mother, and we are proud of her cause she is being very good. My question has to do with her hygiene. She has white fur on her back legs and it became very stained with red throughout the birthing process. We cleaned the blanket and thought that she would clean herself, but she hasn't yet. I was wondering if it's OK to bathe her while she is nursing. I had heard that the soap could poison the nursing kittens. Is this true? If so, how can we get her clean?

Your best bet would be to take a clean warm wash cloth and just trying to wipe her clean as best you can. It's quick, painless, and will help a lot. She's probably just worn out from giving birth-even after a day or two. Give her a little bit of time to recooperate. You can then try and bathe her if it won't stress her out too much. But use only a small amount of soap. The soap won't poison the kittens, but if not thouroughly rinsed it could make them sick or just taste gross, and it also could dry out her teats and make nursing uncomfortable for her.

If you go to speciality pet store you can find a soapless gentle puppy/kitty shampoo that does not hurt the cat. Giving it a warm bath will not hurt the nursing process.

I have 9 week old kittens with some fleas, how do I wash them without hurting their skin? What can I use?