Fostering a mum and 3 tiny kittens

[Roomarmoset]

Hi!

So we’ve done fostering for a while and have older cats and some kittens but they’ve been over 4 weeks old. We were asked to take in 3 kittens and mom today which we’ve done (they said they were 4 weeks old). It now appears that mum gave birth on bank holiday Monday which makes them less than 2 weeks old!

Mum, who my daughter has named Betsy is in the kitchen with her babies. I’m a bit daunted by the kittens being so young! I have tried to contact the lady who had them but haven’t been able to make contact so I’m asking on here if there’s anything I should be doing?

I know mum will do the biggest job but with regards to going to the toilet do I need to be getting them out and cleaning them until they use the litter tray in a couple of weeks? I’ve added a photo of Betsy and her babies 😻

Bumping for you. Mum and kittens are gorgeous. You’re doing a great thing.

Thank you 🩷

Mum cat should be stimulating them to pee and poo at that age. Once their eyes are open and they’re steady on their feet they can start using a litter tray, probably around 5-6 weeks, once they can control their bladder/bowel. Again, mum should show them what to do - I have hand reared many abandoned kittens and they have all known instinctively what to do even without a mum

Good luck!

Thank you, do I need to clean the kittens? They’ve only been here 12 hours but mum seems comfortable and settled.

No, I would expect mum to take care of that. I would just keep an eye to make sure the kittens are all getting enough milk and look as though they’re thriving.

I don’t know if you’ve been given food for mum, but I think she should be on good quality kitten food as it is more nutritious, and will likely drink a lot of water as she feeds her babies

Do you have a large dog crate or similar so she can’t take the kittens and hide them somewhere, it will also be useful when the kittens get a bit better and start moving around

Most important thing is to feed Mum plenty of food. She will be very hungry as feeding kittens. Also plenty of water for Mum too. Mum cat will likely be licking kittens bottoms to stimulate them to pee and poop. She will clean them at this age. You need to weigh each kitten every 2 days to check they are putting on and not losing weight. If one kitten looks like it's not gaining weight put it to the cats teat that looks fullest.

Thank you. They’ve all had a good night, Betsy is a hungry girl so making sure she has plenty. I’ve checked the kittens, pretty sure it’s two boys and a girl although I’ve never had to sex a kitten it looks pretty obvious!

I’ll make sure they are weighed. They’re confined to the kitchen at the moment and seem happy, Betsy sometimes pops into the lounge to have a fuss then goes back to her babies.

There's a lovely youtuber called the kitten lady who fosters tiny kittens, might be worth a look?

..and I'm both grateful to you and very jealous! 😀

I fostered a couple of sets of mum and kittens. She will do everything and litter train them for you. Just make sure she has ample (more than you can imagine a cat can eat) kitten food and water. Once they start eating they will eat a lot more than you expect, they have a lot of growing to do in a short space of time. Be prepared for chaos once they get mobile. Make sure they have a litter tray they can get into and out of easily and some soft under the paw litter. I would recommend confining them to one safe room, at least when you are not available to supervise. There is nothing in the world more entertaining than a bunch of kittens.

We had two boys last week who were 9 weeks old and they were both carnage and cute! I can only imagine what these 3 will get up to!

😻

Squee! Those are cute kittens. More pics needed.

All doing well, I’ve got a crate coming tomorrow as the kittens keep trying to roll 😂

Mint op!

And speaking of tiny kittens, it's also worth looking up Tiny Kittens on FB (they currently have adorable kittens on a live stream) as an excellent resource.

Lovely mum and kittens, good luck with them. 🙂

A quick update, we have survived and the kittens are 6 weeks old tomorrow. Two boys and a girl 😻

They are gorgeous. Well done! 😻

They are lovely, well done!

Oh, my goodness - they're adorable! Well done, OP!

Oh look at them, how adorable. Well done OP. How's the chaos level?

Chaos level is okay at the moment, litter training is fun 🙈 mom is pretty good with them though, she’s always watching them. They’re unbelievably cute!

Mom Betsy loves fuss bless her 😻

I’d be struggling to let any of them go to their new homes (including Betsy)
All beautiful 😻

So gorgeous 😻 and look at them in the litter tray. Thank you for fostering Room and well done Betsy and babies