Can my spayed cat nurse abandoned kittens after an abortion?

It is possible that she has milk. Let mama tend to them but keep bottle feeding them. If they are not hungry because they got enough milk from mama, they will drink less or not at all. She is obviously a very good mama. Suckling is also an important comfort factor, even if there is no milk. It gives the kittens security and bonds. Leave them with their mama until they are 12 weeks old. She will teach them everything they need to know including how to use the litter box, what to eat and what not, hunting, etc., and you will get well adjusted kittens without behavioral problems. And thank you for taking such good care of them! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

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!

I would not recommend transferring kittens over and back between mothers. I recommend a full health check by your vet to assess your own cat to determine if there is any medical reason such as an infection which is reducing her ability to make milk. If this is not reversible then transferring them to the other cat to foster until weaned is a possibility but not all mothers will take to new kittens and she may reject or attack them in which case you would need to bottle feed them.

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!

Yes, Bella should be able to produce plenty of milk for everyone, but it is very abnormal for a 5 month old kitten to want to keep nursing. I would recommend removing the older kitten and keeping them separate. Occasionally, older kittens will continue to try to nurse, and if there is no milk present, the nursing can lead to mastitis (an infection in the mammary gland). I would also recommend getting Bella and the kittens spayed to prevent further pregnancies. Cats will mate with any male present, including their own kittens.

Poor Kittens. You can try to clean them up and take them to her with the rest of the kittens. If she still rejects them then I would try to start bottle feeding them with KMR kitten formula. You would need to feed them every 2-3 hours. You can use a syringe or a kitten bottle. You will also need to stimulate their rear ends using a damp warm cloths after each feeding to help the pee and poop. Just be forewarned that kittens that are bottle fed from day 1 take a lot of nurturing and sometimes do not survive. I hope this helps!

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.