Fostering a nursing cat

My job as a kitten foster of a nursing mom… keep her happy!

Safe and sound in a drawer in the Sophia L’Orange Kitten Rescue nursery. Born 16SEP2023, these gorgeous kittens are all nursing and growing strong. Mama is a sweetheart and doesn’t appear stressed at all. Our job now is to take care of mom so she can take care of her 6 kittens. With a litter this big she’ll be getting wet mama and babycat food 4-5 times a day, she’ll have access to Queen/lactating mother cat dry any time, and fresh water. They need her for everything. The first 4 days of milk have colostrum, which provides them support for their immune systems. They can’t process any food for at least 3 weeks so keeping her milk flowing is the best support. They can’t eliminate themselves so she’ll be doing that for them too. And they can’t regulate their temperature so they need her and each others warmth. If it doesn’t stress her we’ll be weighing them every day to make sure they are gaining weight and changing out linens. Key is not stressing her. Stressed moms can stop nursing or worse. Right now as a foster everything is about taking care of mom, making sure she’s calm and comfortable and well feed. For now it’s all about mom.

Once they are fully weaned, everyone including mom will be spayed/neutered and available for adoption. So expect for them to be available in late November. Until then we get to enjoy them.Until then we’ll allow ourselves the joy of these new lives and the fact that they weren’t born outside like so many others. Mom popped immediately once in rescue.