Newly done-nursing mum?

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Lol - dog person??? me???? NO way!!!! Cat's all the way! I guess i've just never dealt with any un-neutered females before lol!!!!

Ahh we'll just see how it goes and i'm sure that it will be fine!!

[Teresa Pawcats]

Coming into heat- So obvious you are a dog person 

Cats come into call, you ask what you can do to help get earplugs for yourself and a feather to tickle her fancy  sad but true, somewhere in the archives is a thread about me trying to stop a young female calling using rolled up kitchen roll as I didnt have a feather  think the cats were called Randy and Roo 

Stop worrying everuthing will be fine 

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Yes I can totally guarantee a tom won't get her (we have an un-neutered tom on our estate so I'm well aware of him being around! - he is owned and believe me, i've tried to talk sense into the owner!)

When Layla came to us, she had everything just done for us whereas this is a different branch and she's been de-fleaed, wormed, chipped and i've got a voucher for her innoculation to be done and a voucher for her spay to be done by us. I do worry as Layla is quite a dominant cat herself, although the new cat seems very happy around other cats when she's seen them in other pens at the rescue.

Hmm the crying and coming into heat - that should be fun! Is there anything we can do to help her when she's on heat as it's a totally new experience for us!

[Teresa Pawcats]

It is obvious from your first post that you take pride in doing things right 
I would give her about 10 days for her milk to go if you are certain you can avoid her finding a tom or a tom finding her,remember she will start calling soon after her kittens go and Tom cats can force their way in to her.
As an entire queen she will technically be dominant to your existing cat but certainly wont be giving off smells like a tom cat would providing you do proper introductions all should be fine so dont worry.

I dont want to speak out of turn but it sounds as if this rescue is giving a poor deal. Kittens should be vaccinated at 9 weeks by the rescue not rehomed a week before this. Mum cat should be vaccinated, spayed and microchip inserted before rehoming. That said if this rescue is cutting corners here I am certain your girl will be better cared for with you on Sunday as planned.
Dont forget to checkup what worm/flea treatment has beenused and when.

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Right, I can totally understand. I guess I am such a neutering queen that I wanted it done asap! I think I will then let her fully dry up and then get her spayed. Obviously she won't be going out for a number of weeks and so will be fine in that respect - will she smell more threatening to my resident cat if she's neutered?

I am a bit annoyed that they didn't give me any info on this as I pride myself in getting everything ready before a new cat comes to me and I just want what's best for her and for it to be as easy as possible for her to settle.

Should a week be enough for her?

PS: Sorry to ask all these questions - I really am an experienced cat owner, honest!!!

[Teresa Pawcats]

So wonderful that you are able to give mum cat a loving home.
Hope you dont mind me pointing out a couple of things, firstly it is only fair to take half the litter away from mum one week then the second half the next; this not only is kinder to mum but also gives time for her milk to reduce more naturally. I am concerned that you taking her on Sunday and then spaying on Monday means she will not have had time for milk to dry up.
If mum does have milk she will actually need her diet reducing for a day or two to allow her to re absorb the milk, it will be very painful for her otherwise.
Good Luck with her,she is going to be a very lucky lady.

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Oh dear - I knew that our own branch tends to keep kittens until 10 weeks but didn't know that 8 was too young.... I know that the first kitten is due to go on Sunday... we could wait a couple of weeks if it's going to be of benefit to her and her kittens.... i'll give them a call and find out!

[Rosella moggy]

Have to say 8 weeks is young  .  They learn so much between 8 and 12 weeks.  Don't mean to cause any upset  but is there no chance of her remaining with them a tad longer?

Our Dinah is a also a B&W Felix cat.  They are lovely.  Whilst she also has sparkling green eyes, her whiskers are to die for 

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

Nope, no pics (yet!!!!!!) She's black and white felix cat, but has the most huge green eyes ever which I just fell in love with!

Some of the kittens have been reserved and they're at an RSPCA branch up here in Durham. I particularly wanted an older kitten/cat and although the kittens were cute, we just loved the mum so much! Oh the kittens will be 8 weeks when we take her from them.

[Rosella moggy]

How old are the kittens?  Whether she will miss them will I assume depend on their age and her temperament.  We brought home Dinah (aged about 12 months) and her two girls (about 10 weeks).  Within a few weeks she'd had enough of them 

We let her eat as much as she wanted for a couple of months.

Are the kittens still in rescue then?  A little unusual for mom to be rehomed before kittens.  Lovely but unusual 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Oooh, how exciting  I know they say to feed nursing Mums kitten food for the extra fat in it. I know she's not nursing anymore but wonder if she could still do with the extra calories to build her up a bit after what must have been an exhausting few months for her!

Do you have pics? 

[wharfevalley catsprotection]

We're picking up our new cat on Sunday and taking her to be spayed on Monday. She's just raised 5 kittens wonderfully and she's only around 9 months herself!

I was just wondered whether we needed to think of anything else for her to settle? It's probably a silly question, but will she miss her kittens? Does she need any extra food supplements to help her build up some weight? I just want her to have the best start here!

I've got various foods in for her that our resident cat Layla has decided she doesn't like and have got various Dreamies flavours to help bribe both cats to like each other!