My stray cat is lactating. Should I deworm and vaccinate her too?

It is possible that she has milk. Let mama tend to them but keep bottle feeding them. If they are not hungry because they got enough milk from mama, they will drink less or not at all. She is obviously a very good mama. Suckling is also an important comfort factor, even if there is no milk. It gives the kittens security and bonds. Leave them with their mama until they are 12 weeks old. She will teach them everything they need to know including how to use the litter box, what to eat and what not, hunting, etc., and you will get well adjusted kittens without behavioral problems. And thank you for taking such good care of them! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Talk to the veterinarian you would take her to for spay. Ask how long she would need to be there before she could be released back to any possible kittens. They may be able to guide you best about how soon to trap her. But if she isn't eating well or acts sick it could be possible she has retained, dead kittens still in her in which case the sooner the better for her to get surgery. If she is hanging around a lot and not eating well, I would err on the side of taking her in as soon as possible in case she didn't deliver all kittens. Good luck.

That is so lovely of you to want to help the mother and her kittens! I would definitely catch them as soon as possible, and bring them to a vet. The vet can do a health check on all of them, and can do blood tests and a urinalysis on the mother to check on her organ fuctions and to see if she has any diseases. Then the vet can schedule a spay for when the kittens are weaned, and vaccines as well. The vet can give you an idea of how old the kittens are, and can give you tips on how to help them wean. The first step is to catch them, however, and I would do that as soon as you can. So great of you to help them!

You can try to pet her if she will let you. She doesn't need milk, she needs water. The kittens should start to be handled more to socialize them, and I would do it slowly and carefully. Interact with them a little bit every day, and increase the time and contact you have with them. If their eyes are open and they are moving around, you can give them toys to play with, and you can interact with them using the toys. When they are around four weeks of age, they can start getting a kitten mush to help them wean. To help them wean and to get used to dry food, I would soak a high quality kitten formulated dry food in warm water until soft. Then mix that with kitten formula such as KMR to make a mush the consistency of oatmeal. Over the next two weeks, gradually increase the amount of dry kitten food and decrease the amount of water and KMR you use until they are eating the dry kitten food only.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If she is no longer near where the kittens would be then you will have to assume she is done. I would give her a month or so to dry out. It does take time after kittens are weaned for the milk to stop coming, so finding milk still present isn't abnormal. There is not real way to tell otherwise. She will go back in to heat soon so keep her indoors. I wish you the best!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your cats. I would start by taking the two 9 month old kittens to the vet. They can be started on vaccines, set up appointments for surgery to have them spayed/neutered and discussed deworming as well as flea and tick prevention. You can ask when to have the kittens seen. Deworming usually starts around two weeks of age. After they are weaned, the mama cat can be spayed. Then the kittens can be vaccinated starting at 6-8 weeks of age. I hope this information helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Be sure that Liona is actually producing milk before putting the kittens with her. If she isn't making milk then you need to bottle feed the kittens every 2-3 hours with kitten milk replacer. Once she gives birth you can try to put the kittens on her. Just be sure they aren't pushing her kittens off. Track the weights of her kittens to be sure they are getting enough. I wish you the best!