Is it safe for my pregnant cat to nurse kittens from another litter?

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.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Be sure that Liona is actually producing milk before putting the kittens with her. If she isn't making milk then you need to bottle feed the kittens every 2-3 hours with kitten milk replacer. Once she gives birth you can try to put the kittens on her. Just be sure they aren't pushing her kittens off. Track the weights of her kittens to be sure they are getting enough. I wish you the best!

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!

Yes, it can be completely normal. In fact, in feral cat colonies, it is common for another female to nurse other kittens if the mother cat is away for too long and the kittens are crying.

This is quite odd behavior, but she is likely taking care of them since her other kittens passed away. I don't know of any ill side effects except maybe becoming overweight or an upset tummy from the change in diet. I would try to separate them so that the 5 month old kittens don't get over weight from nursing and eating regular cat food. Also the kittens could cause some harm to the mothers mammary tissue since they have teeth now. Also I would recommend to spay or neuter the kittens and mom to prevent any additional litters if at all possible. If either of the kittens are male it could mate with the litter mate or mother causing some kittens to be born with some serious genetic defects. Plus if the mother isn't nursing her new kittens then she likely won't properly nurse her upcoming litters. If you are unable to fix all of them, you may want to start with any of the males. I hope this helps!

There is no real harm that can be caused here. Foster mommy cats exist all the time in the wild. However, if it concerns you can just separate them by placing them in different rooms or even having someone foster the other kitties until your pregnant cat has her set of kittens to love on. But again, there is no physical or medical concern here if she wants to show motherly affection to the other cats kittens. It gives her good practice for her own soon to be litter. : ) Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Take care.

I would move your heavily pregnant cat to her own room away from the kittens so she can focus exclusively on her kittens. I'd place her in her own room with her own food, water, litter box, and whelping box.