Did supplements cause my cat's kittens to be too big at birth?

I wouldn't advise on giving Calcium supplements to your kittens unless they have a known calcium deficiency, or you risk overdosing their system with Calcium, which can have adverse effects such as weakness, exercise intolerance, muscle wasting, listlessness, muscle twitching, and lethargy. It is best just to give your kitties a high quality kitten food, which has all the nutrients and supplements they need for an overall healthy diet. I hope this helps! Best wishes with your new kitties and don't forget to get them fully vaccinated soon to protect them from common viruses and diseases (i.e. Feline herpesvirus, Rabies). Take care!

Blu should be getting a high quality cat food during her pregnancy, which will provide her with all the vitamins she and her kittens need to be healthy. It's typically not recommend to give a cat a vitamin supplement during pregnancy. That's because an overdose of vitamins can cause ill effects in Blu and her kittens. Too much vitamin A, for example, lead to the develop of cleft palates in the kittens. You can speak to your vet to see if they think it's safe to give her a vitamin supplement, and they can recommend one. Leave food out for her all the time, and you can supplement her diet with canned cat food. Make sure she always has access to plenty of fresh water. Get her up to date on her deworming treatments, and make sure she is flea treated. It's safe to use Revolution on pregnant cats. I would have her brother neutered to prevent him from mating with her again.

Most cats are close enough in size that it shouldn't be an issue and you should not have to do anything to assist in a normal pregnancy. I would NOT recommend trying to cut open your cat as you will likely injure her and endanger both her and the kittens and this is considered animal cruelty. If she is showing signs of dystocia (difficult birth) and goes into labor for several hours without producing a kitten, seeking emergency care from your vet is needed.

Congratulations on your new additions! She should be able to nurse all of them. You should get a gram scale and monitor the weights. You may need to rotate the kittens, especially, smaller ones to allow them to nurse better. Bottle feeding to supplement may also be necessary. Transition Nancy to a high quality kitten food until she weans the litter. You shouldn't need to give her any calcium supplements. Consider an exam with your veterinarian to confirm mom and kittens are healthy.

Hello. It appears based on the label that you can give kittens 1 to 2 per day. That being said, if he is on a good, balanced diet he should not need a vitamin supplement. You can surely over-supplement a kitten and cause more harm than good. I would recommend a good balanced diet and no supplements. However, if you wanted to give 1 tablet per day I doubt that would cause any harm. I hope this helps. Best wishes to you and Felix!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Many vitamins can be toxic to cats or kittens if given in the wrong dose. I would instead make sure the kitten is on a good quality kitten food or milk replacer if not nursing the mother.

Your best bet would be to bring the kitten into your vet. They can check for any issues such as congenital problems causing the weird back arching, cleft palate that affects nursing, etc that you may need to treat differently or take particular care for. If the kitten is otherwise healthy, adding in supplemental feeding may also help with weight gain if it can't nurse enough from mom.