Postnatal Care of your Queen and her Newborns
The first two to three weeks are the most crucial for your mother cat and her newborn kittens. The kittens are developing rapidly, and the queen will usually show symptoms of any post-partum problems by this time.
Tracking Kittens' Development
The First Week
Kittens are truly helpless during the first week of life. They come into the world blind, deaf, and with underdeveloped nervous systems. They depend totally on their mother cat or you for sustenance.
The First Six Weeks
Kittens will probably never grow again at the remarkable rate they accomplish during this period, and seeing the changes in their development from week to week is an incredible experience. We'll start off by recapping the first week, and move on from there.
Kitten Care Email Class
If you've decided to keep all the kittens, you may benefit by enrolling in the Kitten Care Email Course. The Kitten Care Course is a weekly email tutorial consisting of eight lessons. Since you will have "ready-made" kittens, you can probably skip some of the first lessons. Just use the "missing lessons" link and start with the first one you think you'd like to read, and move on from there.
FAQ: How long should a kitten stay with its mother?
This reader is anxious to adopt a kitten from a friend's litter, but is wise enough to ask how long the kitten should remain with its mother.
If you have found this page through a search, you may want to go back and start the course from the beginning.
Care of a Pregnant Cat Course Navigation
- What to Expect From This Course
- Mating in Cats
- Is She Pregnant?
- Care During Pregnancy
- Delivery Day
- You are Here: Postnatal Care of the Queen and her Kittens
- Placing the Kittens
