unrelated questions: Merrick cat food and Cats adopting other kittens

[Lisa0825]

1) I bought some Merrick brand canned cat food, and I emailed them with this question, but have not heard back yet, so maybe someone here knows the answer... On the can it says it is for cats OR kittens. I thought kitten food needed to be more calorically dense for kittens, pregnant moms, and nursing moms, so can one type of cat food really be appropriate for all? I know it is excellent quality-wise, but is it appropriate to feed to my momma cat and her impending furballs?

2) Three itty bitty kitties were abandoned at Whiskerville today, with their umbilical cords still attached. What do you think the chances are that if momma cat gives birth very soon, she'd nurse the other babies?

gracias para cualquier informacion :-)

[Beaverhausen]

1. I'm not sure

but for your first question, I would trust Merrick. But I always fed kittens baby food when they first started eating...then moved to canned.

As far as the abandoned kittens...not sure. I will be curious to see what other people say. If you are going to try it you might want to take a towel or blanket that she has been sleeping on to the kittens and have them get some of her scent on them so she doesn't reject them right off.

Good luck! please keep us posted! :hi:

[Lisa0825]

2. Here's the abandoned babies....

we lost one tortie already :cry:

[Suziq]

5. What Precious Little Babies!

I really hope they make it.

[Lorien]

3. Merrick is high in protein, so it's a good choice for kittens

and yes, so cats will nurse kittens that don't belong to them-not all, but some.

[Lisa0825]

4. Thanks for the info.... no new babies yet!

I wish she'd have them already! Anyone got some pitocin?LOL

[Lisa0825]

6. Update: Reply from Merrick

"Our food is an excellent quality that provides the proper nourishment for both kittens and cats. The feeding instructions will vary; if you will notice on the can….Feed an adult cat one can (5.5 oz) per 6 lb body weight daily. Kittens need up to 2 times and pregnant/nursing cats 3 times the adult requirement."

[IndyOp]

7. No kitties from your foster mom yet?!?!?

:shrug:

[Lisa0825]

8. NO! She must not have been as far along as we thought!

She is not eating voraciously as she was before, just nibbles. Her tummy seems to have dropped a bit. I don't know if these are signs or not. She's still waddling around!

[japple]

9. From the pictures, she looks like a small cat (petite?).

It's amazing how large they can get and still walk around. I was hoping to hear that she had already delivered and seeing pics of the newborns. Oh well. Is she still howling at the window?

[Lisa0825]

10. She seemed to get bigger for the first week...

but now it has been another 5 days, and she doesn't seem to have gotten any bigger. She's also not eating much. What amazes me is that she can still jump and climb!LOL!

I will definitely post pics of newborns as soon as I get some!:-)

She is still howling and scratching at the window. Not as much as the first few days, though. She seemed to be really settling down, but then got really agitated the night before last, but was OK last night. I guess, just like pregnant women, she has her good nights and bad nights!

[Beaverhausen]

11. We had a small cat when I was young who had 8 kittens

Her belly was HUGE by the time she delivered them.

I think maybe yours has lots of babies in there.

Good luck!