CARE OF THE PREGNANT CAT & KITTENS

ECLAMPSIA

Eclampsia is a serious condition that often

follows the birth of kittens. It is brought

about by depletion of the blood calcium.

The symptoms include excessive

panting, restlessness, loss of appetite, a

temperature above 103 degrees F, a

stilted

walk and convulsions, eventually followed by

collapse and coma. There is nothing you can

do for the cat Call the vet IMMEDIATELY or

rush the cat over to him. He can revive the cat

quickly by injecting calcium gluconate

into her bloodstream.

POSTNATAL PERIOD

The cat will have discharge for a week or

ten days. This discharge should be red or

dark red in colour. If it is green or

greenish-yellow there is something wrong.

A placenta may have been retained despite

your vigilance and serious infection may

result. Such an infection may cause the

cat's milk to dry up and eventually lead

to her death, and that od her kittens.

DO NOT DELAY when you see a green

or greenish yellow discharge. Get the

cat to a vet IMMEDIATELY

CARE OF THE NEW-BORN KITTENS

The mother and kittens should be left strictly

alone for the first two or three days.

Nursing kittens are very delicate, so avoid unnecessary handling.

Caution children not to

pick up the baby cats. During the first ten

days of life, the physical activities of

the new-born kittens are very limited.

They cannot see or hear; their legs are

too weak to support their bodies and they

must get around by crawling on their

abdomens with a swimming motion. Baby

cats will cry when they are hungry and

sometimes stray from the warmth of

their mother's body. Provide some

barricade to prevent the kittens from

getting too far from the mother.

Watch the kittens closely for the first week

to make certain they are getting enough

to eat. The mother's rear breasts contain

the most milk and the more vigorous

kittens will monopolise them. Keep rotating,

you can tie different coloured ribbons to

one leg of each kitten as identification

markers to help you keep track of which

kitten have been fed on the rear

breasts.

Excessive leanness weakness and constant

crying are signs that a kitten is not getting

enough milk. Such kittens quickly become

dehydrated. You can check for dehydration

by pinching the skin at the back of the

kittens neck with your thumb and forefinger

and quickly releasing it. If the kitten is

dehydrated, the skin will not snap back to its

former position, but will remain pinched.

In spite of good prenatal care the mother

may not have enough milk to feed all her

kittens, especially when the litter is

very large. Occasionally a mother cat

dies while the kittens are still nursing.

If either of these situations arises, you

will have to bottle-feed the kittens. I must

stress that this is rare when the mother

cat passes away.

BOTTLE FEEDING

You should have little difficulty in getting the

kittens to feed from a bottle or eyedropper.

Kittens have a natural urge to suck. Use

an eyedropper or baby doll bottle for the

first few days, and later switch to a larger bottle.

Two or three day old kittens do not consume

much milk at feeding, even though they seem

to be eating all the time. The actual quantity

that an average new-born kitten drinks at a

feeding is from about five to twenty five

drops. New-born kittens should be fed five

times a day. Your best gauge as whether

the kittens are getting enough to eat is to

apply the dehydration test already described.

If the kittens are dehydrated, increase the

amount of food for each kitten. You may

make your own recipe or use one of the

commercial preparations. Here is a recipe

that has proved successful:

1/2 cup of evaporated milk

1/2 cup of water

1/10 cup of single cream

2 drops of water soluble vitamins

This is a stock supply and should be kept in

the refrigerator; warm any portion you feed

to the kittens. If you use a commercial

preparation, follow the directions of

the manufacturer. Clean and sterilise all

utensils and bottles after each

feeding.

WEANING THE KITTENS

The mother will begin to wean the kittens

somewhere around the fourth or fifth week.

First she will reduce the number of feedings

each day by spending more time away from

the kittens. Then she will bring food to the

kittens and teach them how to eat it.

When she begins weaning the kitten,

take up the feeding yourself. Remember

to introduce the new foods gradually

and avoid overfeeding. Finely chopped

beef, baby cereals with milk, and

strained baby vegetables are all

excellent weaning foods. Feed the meat

raw and serve all food at room temperature.

By the time the kittens are six weeks old

they should be weaned from the mother.

Put them on a feeding schedule. Once the

kittens are weaned, they should not be

allowed to nurse on the mother. She will

usually get away from them when they try.

You can help to dry up her milk supply by

eliminating some meals from her diet or

cutting down on the number of her meals.

If the milk supply persists, consult the vet.

He can give the cat a hormone injection

which will dry up the milk?