Post Delivery of Kittens

Summary

Post-delivery monitoring is essential to be sure that the queen is producing milk and caring for her kittens, the kittens are gaining weight, and any problems are spotted as soon as possible so that veterinary advice and/or care can be sought.

Post Delivery of Kittens

Immediate Post-Birth Activities (the first hours)

Wash your hands and/or wear clean gloves to prevent introducing potential infectious pathogens and/or contaminants to the queen or kittens whenever you interact with them or their space.
Remove soiled linens and any birthing debris.
Make sure the queen has all the fresh food and water she wants. Keep the water dish in a safe place so it does not tip or fall onto a kitten or the kittens cannot accidentally fall or crawl into the dish.
Keep the queen’s litter box ultra-clean, just in case she chooses to move her kittens there or so that she does not track dirty litter into the nest. Remove urine and feces from the box as soon as observed.
Weigh each kitten and record the weight as soon as possible, but at least within the first 12 hours. Do this as close to the queen as possible so she can watch and is less stressed that you are separating her from her kittens. During this time, you should also do a quick, 30-second or less exam on the kitten, checking especially for a cleft palate and imperforate anus, as these conditions can be life-threatening.
Monitor the queen closely for changes in attitude or behavior, signs of pain, or discharge from the vulva. The queen should be relaxed with her kittens, allowing them to nurse and snuggle.
Do not handle kittens other than to weigh them. This will minimize stress on the queen or the potential introduction of pathogens to kittens.
Record all measurements and observations.

Post-Birth Daily Activities

From this point until the kittens are weaned, the queen should do all the work of feeding the kittens and keeping them clean. She also stimulates them to urinate and defecate by licking their genital and anal areas and ingesting the urine and feces. It’s nature’s way of keeping the kittens and the nest clean and not attracting predators.

But there is important work for you to do:

Continue to weigh kittens daily and record the weights. Kittens should gain weight every day. Weighing in grams is more accurate because smaller increments of weight change can be detected better. If the kittens are not gaining weight at the proper pace (see weight chart for neonates), immediately contact a veterinary professional or foster contact, as something may be wrong.

Healthy Neonatal Kitten Weight Chart

Age	Weight in Grams	Weight in Ounces
0–1 week	50–150 grams	1.8–5.3
1-2 weeks	150–250 grams	5.3–8.8
2-3 weeks	250–350 grams	8.8–12.3
3–4 weeks	350–450 grams	12.3–15.9

Weigh the queen and record her weight at least twice a week to be sure she is getting enough nutrition. She will require a lot of calories and water to produce sufficient milk for her kittens.
Monitor the queen for changes in behavior, activity level, appetite or discharge from the vulva and record your observations. Check every day or two for about two weeks for discharge. The best chance of seeing discharge is often just after the queen wakes but before she has had an opportunity to lick and clean that area.
Keep the litter box clean. Remove feces and urine as soon as they are observed.
Each time you visit, if you use a warming device in the nest, ensure it is at an appropriate temperature (not too hot or too cold) and that the queen and kittens can move towards or away from it as they need.
Check on the queen and kittens at least twice a day, and every time you check on them count the kittens to be sure the queen has not moved a kitten away from the nest. During this time, kittens sleep most of the time, waking only to nurse. They may also move around to find a nipple or push a sibling away from a favorite nipple. It is normal to see them push their siblings aside to get to a nipple, which they do within minutes of birth. Kittens quickly develop a preference for a particular nipple, pushing siblings aside to get to it. This can be detrimental for the smallest kitten, so watch that all kittens have access to a nipple and can latch on. Again, this danger reinforces the need to weigh kittens daily. They may look like they are suckling from a nipple, but the only way to be certain a kitten is getting enough—or any—milk is to weigh each kitten daily!
Record all measurements and observations.