My cat's stopped looking after her kittens

Definitely not @toutouta! You shouldn't just give cats any old milk; that’s a sure-fire way to give the little ones a nasty case of diarrhoea.

Head straight to the vet or a chemist to pick up some special kitten milk replacer.

Getting your cat spayed – @DELLYS is right, there are major health risks with the pill and it has its costs –

Then people moan that the vet is expensive –

BUT THE THING IS, SHE DOESN'T EVEN LIVE WITH ME AND JUST FEEDING HER IS MORE THAN ENOUGH AS IT IS !!!

Anyway, back to the subject of Reg-n-lef !!

Hi :)

Reg-n-lef I had a cat who did exactly the same as yours, except she stayed indoors, but she just stopped looking at them and stopped feeding them. She only had three, and it was her second litter!! She actually let one die while it was still in its sac... we gave the others to a lady whose cat was nursing, but the next day both of them died :'( I never even got to see them. But now, we think my current cat is going to have some – it’s her first litter. Since I don't know how she'll react, I’m going to buy some kitten milk formula.

Anyway, I really hope everything goes well for you and that you enjoy those kittens!! Also, I'm not a fan of people who say we should’ve had her spayed earlier and that it’s our fault she’s pregnant – they don't know if people can afford it or what the situation is. Bye! And good luck ;)

Reg, what Sevv and Axco are trying to explain about the dangers of the pill (specifically for female cats) is very real.

Giving it to cats is absolute poison!

It causes cancers, metritis, and pyometra, putting their lives at serious risk.

Did you know a pyometra can kill your girl in less than 24 hours?

Right, now to answer your question: kittens ABSOLUTELY MUST eat every 3 hours MAXIMUM, including through the night!

So now you have two options: either you ABSOLUTELY MUST keep your cat indoors (day and night) to force her to stay with her kittens until they are at least 4 weeks old (that’s when weaning starts, though they still need their mum after that for proper socialisation), or you have to take on the bottle-feeding yourself, and that means every 3 hours max, INCLUDING during the night.

You need to weigh each kitten every day at the same time and write it down (keep track of them individually to see who’s gaining weight and who isn’t). They should be putting on about 0.02 lbs (10g) a day.

If they aren't, you can either give them a bit more kitten milk, but I’d recommend feeding them every two and a half hours instead of every three.

To do this, you’ll need to buy some kitten formula from the vet or the chemist—make sure you specify it’s for kittens.

Buy a syringe too (take the needle off, obviously!) just in case they struggle with the bottle.

If the mum isn't looking after them, you must keep the kittens lovely and warm next to a hot water bottle (wrap it up to make sure you don't burn them) until they’re at least 3 weeks old (they can’t regulate their own temperature before then).

Something else, and this is VITAL—if you don’t do this, the kittens won’t poo and they won't survive: after EVERY feed, you need to take a piece of cotton wool soaked in warm water and massage their bottom and genital area to get them to wee and poo.

The wee is easy enough, you’ll see, but getting them to poo is tough, really hard work.

It is CRITICAL, I repeat, that they poo.

If you can’t get them to do it, come back and tell us and I’ll give you some more tips.

And please, I’m begging you: get this cat SPAYED in about 3 or 4 weeks so she doesn’t have another litter in two months.

And just so you know, even if she’s already been with a tom, the vet can still perform the spay.