My cat's nipples have no milk. Are her 5-day-old kittens getting enough milk?

The best way to determine if your cat is producing milk is by observing the kittens. Newborns spend long hours nursing - up to 8 hours per day - with sessions lasting up to 45 minutes. When the mother's milk is being let down, the kittens will each latch onto a preferred nipple and stay there. If you observe closely you will be able to see their little mouths and tongues moving from the suckling action. Often their ears may move as well. Nursing kittens will knead the mother's abdomen which is an important stimulus to milk let down. After a feeding session, the kittens will have round, full bellies and will fall asleep. Ideally, healthy kittens who are nursing well will gain 7-10 grams every day. They can, and should, be weighed every few days to confirm gains.

Even though Cleo's nipples don't feel like they have milk, there will be milk present. I would weigh the kittens daily. Gaining 1/4 to half an ounce daily until they are weaned is considered healthy. Healthy kittens weight between 2.8-6 ounces when they are born. If you notice the kittens aren't gaining weight, then you may have to bottle feed them with kitten formula such as KMR to make sure they get enough nutrition.

If by fighting you mean they are pushing each other out of the way this is normal behavior. A cat has 8 mammary glands so there should be enough room for everyone but sometimes the mother doesn’t make enough milk. The best way to determine whether or not the kittens are getting enough milk is to weigh them each daily using a gram scale. They should gain about 100 grams per week and should be gaining every day.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Great job Icy!! I wouldn't get concerned, that mammary gland may be preferred due to a higher milk production or other reasons. Just make sure that each kitten is getting enough milk and is growing each and every day. You should be feeding the queen kitten food also to boost her nutrition during this stressful time. As the kittens get a little bigger, they may migrate to other nipples because they will be feeding for longer periods of time to account for growth. Remember also that kittens can be dewormed at 2 weeks of age and every two weeks after that with pyrantel pamoate. And don't forget to deworm the queen also. She is cleaning up the kittens poop and will get infected via a fecal oral route. The kittens will start passing parasite eggs when they are about 2-3 weeks old so deworm the queen then. Normally kittens are dewormed 3-4 times (every 3 weeks) after they have been weaned from the queen. Some parasites are transmitted in utero before the kittens are born and some are passed through the milk of the queen to the kittens. Monitor the queen's mammary glands, watch for heat, redness, pain, and a pus like discharge which would all be indicative of mastitis. Good luck with Icy and the kittens.

once the kitten will start suckling milk production should start to occur, you should wait at least a couple days, if you do not see any change and it seems like the kitten are not getting milk from her, you will have to buy kitten replacer milk at the pet shop and feed them with a bottle.

Bella may not be producing enough milk, and you are doing exactly the right thing by giving them KMR. One way to see if Bella is producing enough milk is to weigh the kittens daily to see if they are gaining weight. If they aren't gaining weight, keep supplementing them with the KMR. Keep up the great work!

Hello. Yes, if the bond is strong. If you are not sure Lily is producing enough milk ( the kittens will be restless, crying, producing less urine & feces ), you may need to supplement them with a kitten milk replacer. But if the kittens seem to be latching on & fall asleep after nursing, then she may be producing enough milk for them. If you are not sure, you can purchase a postal scale & weigh them every day. If there are tiny gains, they are nursing well. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.