Can my pregnant cat nurse adopted kittens without harming her own?

Nursing can take a lot of energy, so making sure your pregnant cat is receiving enough nutrition for herself, the growing kittens and the kitten she is nursing is key. Be sure to provide her with a high-quality kitten food that will offer extra protein and fat to provide enough for everyone. Many cats will adopt kittens from other litters, and some cats have even been known to adopt babies from other species! If this is her first litter, she may want to push away or attack the kitten when her own litter comes, so be sure to have supplemental milk ready if it is needed or if the kittens own mother is not nursing it already. If your pregnant cat does become aggressive, be sure to keep the kitten separated so both mom and kitten can be stress-free. Otherwise, as long as mom and kitten are both happy, she should be fine nursing one more!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Pregnancy can be a very stressful time for animals, and it may be hard for your cat to be separate from her previous offspring. However, my recommendation would be to separate him from her so that he cannot suckle/breastfeed from her before her kittens are born. The milk produced at the beginning of lactation is very antibody-rich and important for the brand new kittens to ingest. There is also the possibility that the previous offspring could out-compete the brand new kittens for nipples if they are left together. The new kittens will need the most care and nutrition from the very beginning, and if he is allowed to suckle from the mom, the newest kittens may not get all of the nutrition they need. I hope this is helpful!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! She is likely confused. I would confine the new mama in a room with her kittens so they are taken care of appropriately. That way she can bond in peace and quiet and not get confused by the other kittens. I wish you the best!

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Sorry to hear about the kitten. Yes you can take the kitten and put it with her sister and see if that cat will be a surrogate mother for her if Annebelle is not producing milk or is not letting her nurse for some reason. If that doesn't work you will have to bottle feed her. I will post some links here to help you care for her if you need to take over the mother role. alleycat.org/community-cat-care/neonatal-kittens/ https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/caring-for-neonatal-kittens/ https://4fi8v2446i0sw2rpq2a3fg51-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Kitten-Feeding-Chart-Guidelines.pdf https://www.alleycat.org/resources/kitten-progression/ https://4fi8v2446i0sw2rpq2a3fg51-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Reasons-Kittens-May-Not-Nurse-Well.pdf https://www.alleycat.org/resources/kitten-care-webinars/ https://4fi8v2446i0sw2rpq2a3fg51-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/BasicKittenMed_ReferencesResources.pdf vin.com/members/cms/project/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=21&catId=69&id=6718303&ind=54&objTypeID=10 Good luck with the kitten. Our local shelter has a mother cat who raised her litter and was then used to raise multiple litters of kittens who were abandoned. Remember feed the mother kitten food, she needs extra nutrition for nursing.

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.

Yes she can still nurse the kittens, if she still has milk. Sometimes a queen can also restart making milk. This is great as she will take care of them emotionally, hygienically and teach them everything they need to know, especially if you do not take them away before they are 12 weeks old. If she does not have milk (the kittens will get grouchy and whine ) you will need to feed them with kitten formula. You can find out their age by weighing them. For each week of age they are 3.5 oz , so if they are three weeks old they would weigh about 10.5 oz. If you are not sure that mama has milk, take her to your vet who can check that for you. Thank you for taking in those kittens.

If her mama cat is pregnant, she is not likely producing much milk at this point and it will not take away from the kittens until after they are born. Once the kittens are born, you may need to keep Dot away from her mama cat initially so that she does not accidentally injury the kittens in her attempts to nurse. However, odds are good that the mama cat will stop Dot from trying to nurse before the kittens are born.