>>Hi all,

>> Well it's kitten central here now. Patty and her litter are almost all adopted except for Patty. The last kitten will be picked up by his new family on Saturday. Meanwhile since Patty is still producing milk I offered to take in two orphaned newborns. The only trouble is that Patty has no interest in nursing them! Argh.

>> I also have another litter about a week or so older than the newborns and they came with their mom. I would put the little ones in with them except that the little ones are sneezing and don't want to get the mom and her kittens sick. Although I have noticed some congestion in the other kittens.

>>

>>So in total I have two mother cats, 4 two week old kittens, 1 eight week old kitten, and 2 five day old kittens. Aaaaaagh. It's great though, I love doing it.

>>

>>Any suggestions on getting the newborns in with Patty or the other mom kitty? (I've named her Lily, she is all white)

>>I'll post pics soon!



Try rubbing the new kittens on the mother cat's other kittens so they have the right smell. They would be better in with the younger kittens because the mother cat's milk is at a better stage for them. Sneak them in the middle of the other nursing babies and get them on a nipple. Hopfully they will suckle. Once the mother cat has nursed them, they should be okay with her because they will also have her smell plus she should clean them which will show real acceptance. Be sure they are sucking, however, because if they can't suck you'll have to feed them KMR with a syringe (Kitten Milk Replacer).

Sometimes it just won't work fur a mom cat to take other kittens on, but usually it does. If either of them simply won't nurse the tiny babies, you'll have to do it. Be sure to watch them carefully when you put them in with the mom to make sure everything is all right.

Good luck!

Norma
-----
The Wiscats: Every life should have (at least) 9 cats!

Monsieur Gervais le Blanc

Beau

Simba

Minette

Henri le Chanceux

Andre-Guillaume

Annie-Claire

The Excellent Lady Sophie-Marie

Poucette-Noelle

Sylvie-Chantal la Joie

~~and varying numbers of foster kitties coming and going, including right now: Stevie, Flame, Cocoa~~

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