I'm a bit worried - is this normal..............

Hi all, well Dusty is acting very strange today, she is leaving the babes for quite long periods, she has made herself another cosy bed (in the same room) which she's taken to going to for a snooze while the babes are sleeping. She goes back to them every now and again and lets them feed and washes them but she doesn't seem to want to stay with them for long. I'm not sure that this is normal behaviour and I'm worried things may be starting to go wrong. I know that if she was in the wild she would have to leave them to hunt so maybe I'm panicking over nothing??? The kittens are all looking fine, they have most definitely grown and they aren't crying all the time or anything like that. One of them is quite a bit smaller than the others and when I can I put her near to a nipple to make sure she's getting her share, the others being bigger bully her quite a bit and easily knock her out of the way. Any feelings or advise about what may be happening here :?

My Biff dog is also poorly today, I think he may have to go to the vet tomorrow, it looks as if he might have hurt his leg or maybe been stung, he won't let me touch it to have a good look, he's looking very miserable

And on top of that my lovely white hen is hanging her head.............

they do say it never rains but it pours, sometimes its very hard keeping animals isn't it 8-[

Annie

 

I remember the really young foster family I had last year mom would take off for quite awhile while the kittens were sleeping. Was hard for her cause I had them all shut in the same room. I had the kittens in a cat tent and mom would go lay on the sofa until the kittens woke up.

Healing thoughts being sent out for your dog too

The director of Siamese Rescue won't do kittens....whenever they have kittens come into the program they go straight into foster homes. She doesn't have the time it takes to put into kittens and she's always so fearful cause if something is going to happen it'll probably happen quickly.

Your kittens sound fine though. The littlest foster I had, Rita, she was also very tiny but she could put down some food (reminded me of my son's 100 lb. girlfriend LOL took her to a breakfast buffet once and she went back for seconds)

 

If she isn't geting enough milk from her mom you might want to bottle feed her once in awhile or separate the other kittens from her and the mom and just let her nurse by herself

 

I'm really getting hot and bothered now, she just went back to the babes and laid right on top of the little one, totally squashed her (I'm convinced it's a girl!), she was squealing and Dusty made no effort to move. Is it because I'm interfering and putting her onto the nipple that Dusty has gone like this with her?? I did read to watch out for the underling and make sure it gets a go at the nipple, I hope I'm not doing the wrong thing here :? I think tomorrow I will go and get what I need to give her supplement feeds myself then if Dusty really does reject her I've got milk on hand - what do you think??

Annie

 

Annie, it wouldn't hurt to have a bottle on hand just in case. Keep the receipt and return the bottle if you end up not using it. Dusty needs her private time away from the babies to rest and repair. As long as all the babies are healthy and gaining weight I wouldn't worry about her time spent alone. You are doing a fine job looking out for the runt. And I'm sorry about your dog and your hen. Does she lay eggs for you?

 

I think the bottle and supplements sound like a good idea...just incase you end up needing them. Luna had a runt too and it seemed to always have difficulty finding a nipple. I moved the others out of the way and made sure she was able to nurse...I did that everyday and she was fine. I confined her and the babies to my bathroom because I had another cat and kitten in the house. A few days after she gave birth she would whine to come out of the bathroom so I would let her out of there for a little while when she did this. I think its pretty normal for them to want some alone time.

 

Hi folks, sorry for delay in responding to you, have been stupidly busy! Everything seems to be fine with Dusty now, the night I posted the above she got really weird!! Really clingy and she would not go to her kittens although she would go to the box and make that lovely little purring sound that she does just for them I brough a heater into the room because I was worried about the temparture with her not staying with them much and in the end I just shut the door and went to bed!! All was well next morning although we did have a funny incident - at some point in the morning when no one was about she took the tiny one out and left it in the middle of the room! I put it back in the box and she's been fine ever since, I wonder if all the problems were because she really did want to move them and eventually because instinct dictated she made an attempt with the one and then for some reason gave up - what do you think?

My dog is also fine, he spent that night wrapped in a blanket and next morning we were all relieved when he went out to go for a pee, he was a bit stiff at first but by the time I got in from work he was back to his old self, I think maybe it was a sting or perhaps he'd just given himself a knock.

My hen is still not quite right, she usually lays an egg a day for me but hasn't laid for the past three day's, I think she's been 'cast out' by the gang, this happens sometimes. It could also be that her time has come, she is quite old She is not in any obvious pain and rallies round sufficiently to run away if I go near her!! I'll keep an eye on her and see how it goes.

Annie