I have four baby kittens here. Exactly one week old. And some questions.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1) How long must I wait before I can spay the mother?

2) How long must I wait before I can spay/neuter the kittens themselves?

3) How long must I wait before I give the kittens something other than their mother's milk?

4) Will you beat me up because my camera is out of batteries?

[mhr]

1. Question 4 - Answer - YES!

eom

[diddlysquat]

2. The kittens need to be 6 mos. old before spaying

[Dookus]

14. No, not anymore

my last two cats were already neutered when I adopted them - one male, one female - both at about 10-12 weeks old.

[Jamastiene]

16. Depends on who your vet is.

I know my vet tried to argue with me over my boy cat because he said he needed to be older. I told my vet I didn't want him to learn about spraying the furniture. After a short argument he finally gave in. My aunt had a cat once that had been neuterest at a very very young age and she said he was the best cat she ever had.

[Dookus]

17. I guess it's the vet at the shelter

around here. I was surprised, too, that they were neutered so young. They're both very sweet cats with no noticeable problems.

[Jamastiene]

18. My aunt

told me that the one she had that was neutered so young was like no other cat ever as far as being really sweet. I don't think it hurts them to get spayed/neutered very young, within reason. Honestly, I am glad I won the debate with my vet, because my Yogi is an absolute sweetheart. He's mischievous enough for me to call him my little hellion, but very loving nonetheless.

[Arugula Latte]

26. When I got two kittens 12 years ago

I thought you had to wait until they were six months. Well, the brother knocked up his sister when they were maybe four or five months old. (Shhh, it's the family scandal!)

My most recent kitten was neutered at 8 or 9 weeks by the animal shelter.

[Arugula Latte]

28. Oh my god -- toooooo cute!

I can't stand it! I love the little baby tabby's pink tummy!

[yellowdogintexas]

3. spay the mom after she weans the kittens

they will start to explore as they get stronger and can see. Once they get out of the box and start snooping around, they will eventually follow her to the kitty food. They will sample it when they become interested in it. At that time, start them on kitten chow!! They need the calories and protein and it is much smaller kibble.

Mom usually will start the weaning process about the time they find the other food. For about 10 days, the mom cat doesn't leave them for very long at at time.


Be sure MOm is getting lots of good food. It is actually a good thing to give the Mom kitten chow while she is nursing babies. She also needs more water than she would normally drink.

Handle the kittens as much as she will allow. This makes them very accustomed to people before they can even see. If she won'tlet you pick them up, touch and stroke them while she watches you, to get her trust.

This is how we raised our babies and they are just the sweetest cats.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. NO problem whatsoever on the touching thing - get this:

At EVERY possible opportunity, Mom grabs the kittens from the box (a very nice cardboard box paved with lots of warm, soft clothing) and drops them on my daughter's bed. I resorted to leaving the kitchen door (the box is in the kitchen) closed at all times.

I must have grabbed the kittens some 29,837,652 times by now.

[barb162]

11. sounds like mommy wants the kittens in that bedroom... any reason

why you're not putting the box in there? She probably wants the kittens where she feels it's quieter and more protected. Is it quieter there? Or maybe put the box in your daughter's closet floor where mommy feels she can keep them safe

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. If I do that

She gets them from the box to the bed. Grrr.

[barb162]

13. I had a mom cat once and she was very definite about the kittens

and where she wanted them. They are very persistent and good mothers. Are you saying you tried putting the box in the bedroom and she still wants them on the bed. I wonder what she sees as safe ON that bed? Under the bed I could understand too (safe).

[China_cat]

19. And you will keep doing it

until you let her move them. It's instinct for a queen to move her litter every 2 to 3 days to keep them hidden from roaming toms that might find them. I know you don't have any toms roaming around but she's still unlikely to find that box acceptable for the full time it'll take to wean them. Is there another room where they can be put that won't interfere with anyone's sleeping place but can be shut off? That way she can move them as she needs to.

We had a queen once who moved her litter around our bedroom even when places weren't really 'hidden', like under a chair. You might want to provide her with several other 'dens' like an empty (except for bedding) covered litter box, an upside down cardboard box with a hole in it or a pet carrier with the door removed.

[Zuni]

20. 29,837,652!!! That is a lot!

You have been quite the busy bee! :)

[sybylla]

4. Depends

1) my vet will spay the mother when she is done nursing. Problems is that she is usually in heat before that and pregnant again unless you can keep her in seclusion from males.

2) age for spaying and neutering is different but I don't know too many vets who will do it for any animal before they are six months old. Boy are usually younger than the girls to prevent the bad boy habits from developing.

3) judging by barn cats, kittens can probably start eating other things when they start venturing away from the "nest." That's usually the age when she starts bringing them dinner even if all they do is play with it at first. Seems to me that is about 4-6 weeks. Vets might recommend a different age.

4) no, not as long as you rush right out to the gas station and get some more. We'll wait here.

[Dover]

5. I just went through this and found out a lot!

1) The vet told me he much preferred to spay the mother AFTER she finished nursing (allow a minimum of 3 weeks for nursing). Then I waited 10 days AFTER she stopped nursing to have her spayed to allow her time to dry up. That meant keeping her separated from the kittens (quite a chore!).

She probably won't go into heat again while she's nursing. But you shouldn't wait more than a month to 6 weeks after her having the kittens to spay her.

2) 6 months is ideal for spaying and neutering although it can be done a little earlier if necessary. Otherwise just wait.

3) The kittens can be introduced to solid foods after about 3 weeks and they should take to it easily. Soft food at first followed by small hard food for kittens. I also gave mine some bloody chicken livers and fresh fish which they LOVED.

4)I assume you will get batteries IMMEDIATELY!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. Wah. It's 2 AM here, everything's closed, and I don't have a car.

The pics will have to wait for tomorrow. But I'll get them tomorrow, I PROMISE! :scared:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Where are you? We can have camera batteries delivered...

[1monster]

8. I have four kittens less than a day old...

First question: The babies should be weaned (at least six weeks old) and for the faster recovery for the mother, her milk glands should be back to normal size.

There are various thoughts on how old the kittens should be before neutering. Conventional wisdom is that they should be six months old. However, cats can become pregnant before six months. So, if you have both males and females, get it done sooner. Consult with your vet. Have the males done sooner than the females. It is a noninvasive procedure for the males. It is a very invasive procedure for the females.

When the kittens are about four weeks old, you can start showing them some dry kitten food and keeping a shallow bowl of water next to it. Watch them though. I've seen kittens fall into those shallow bowls. It's cute as long as they don't fall in face first.

No, I won't beat you up because your camera is out of batteries... I haven't even bought a digital camera yet.

(BTW, I have seven cats, two neutered males, four spayed females, and one female who will be spayed in about seven or so weeks. She never went out of heat after weaning the last litter until she sneaked out and got pregnant again. The vet was booked up for more than a month after we realized she was pregnant. By the time her spay date came around, she was two weeks away from giving birth (today) and we decided to have her kitten from the first litter spayed instead.)

[mopinko]

10. lots of shelters these days

are neutering at 6-8 weeks, before they let them go. people just wouldn't bring them back for it. don't think it is causing a lot of trouble, but i don't know. i'm sure they could bury their mistakes pretty easy.

[Lex]

15. Once the kitties are spayed or neutered at 6 months

.
my vet said to take them off the kitten chow and introduce adult formula. The kitten chow is high calorie and the vet said after spaying or neutering, they don't need all those calories.

We once had a mama cat and 3 baby kittens in the house (downstairs in the quiet corner of the livingroom), she almost immediately moved them to an upstairs bedroom at the back of the closet. It was secure and safe there, she felt. We then moved the blanket and box up there where she was with the kittens.

Without any interference from us, she taught the kittens to eat regular food when they were ready and how to use the little box--we did get a small litter box and sat it beside the big one, so the little kittens could get into the box better.

Also, our vet encouraged us to feed high quality dry food to the kittens (when they were ready) and not start them out eating canned food. He said once they start on canned food, they don't like to eat dry food and dry food is better for them nution-wise and also for their teeth and gums.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

21. OK, here are the PICS!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

22. The Mom is beautiful

and the little ones are so cute! :loveya:

[yellowdogintexas]

27. AWWWWW aren't they sweet???

I miss my babies, even though they are wonderful big cats too.

Mom looks like she is doing a really good job too

[Bertha Venation]

23. JC, what a beautiful little family.

I know you've had other answers, but fwiw here are mine:

1. Wait until the kittens are weaned before spaying the mother; to be sure after that point, ask the vet. Don't let her out again until she's spayed!

2. Spay/neuter the kittens no earlier than 12 weeks.

3. The kittens can start to eat soft food at 5-6 weeks but will continue to nurse. You can introduce them to crunchy food a little after that but they won't really eat it until they can crunch it. Either way, make it KITTEN FOOD, as it has a lot more calories than adult food. Finally, the mother will turn them away when they're too old to nurse.

Thanks for the photos. :hug:

[KyndCulture]

24. How gorgeous!! Wish you were close, I'd apopt one!

No baby kitties are ever born up here in the cold of winter.... hopefully I'll see the spring babies soon. Partner promised me a new baby for christmas...


20 years of raising baby kitties here, all the answers you got are spot on! The earlier you spay or nueter the better it is for the cats personality. If you wait too long, female cats will become overly lazy and lethargic and not play anymore.

And the post about her moving the babies, that's exactly what she's doing, she's protecting them from noise and possible pretators. My siamese female dragged her last litter to the very top shelf of the bedroom closet, over and over again. After 2 weeks I gave up and let her stay up there. I had made her a wonderful birthing nest with plenty of baby blankets and little cubbie holes to hide the babies, she slept in the box til she went into labor, somehow got my daughters bedroom door open, wiggled her foot into the bottom dresser drawer and had 3 kittens on my daughters clothes... that was one helluva a mess. But then again, I've always known that cat owned the house, not me.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

25. MORE PICS

The four of them, one at a time. Two blackies and two tabbys (tabbies?)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

29. SEX: Three males, one female

The one female is one of the tabbies (tabbys?) Damned if I know which, though.