Why Won't My Cat Nurse Her Kittens?

Did your cat had a large litter (more than 5 kittens)?

Is the mother cat young and this is her first litter?

Are the nipples of mother cat swollen, hard, and hot to the touch?

Does your cat looks dehydrated or malnourished?

Are the kittens older than 2 months?

Large litters can lead to rejection. If there is not enough milk for all her kittens, mom may reject a few to save milk for the others. The mother may favor the stronger ones and reject the smaller, weaker ones. Do not put rejected kittens back in the nest. Mother and kittens should see the vet as soon as possible. Rejected kittens should be bottle-fed and kept warm in the meantime.

Very young cats often lack the maturity to be good mothers. They may also lack the energy reserves to produce milk since they are still growing themselves. A female cat may be able to get pregnant as young as four months of age. In most cases, this is much too young for her and her kittens to thrive. If you have a young cat who has rejected some or all of her kittens, you will need to step in and help. Take them to the vet to be examined and talk to your vet about how you can best help the mother and kittens.

Some nursing moms develop mastitis, an infection of the mammary gland. This can happen spontaneously or from kittens scratching the tissue during nursing. The nipple becomes swollen, hard, and hot to the touch. So it may look like mom is rejecting her babies when it's just too painful to let them suckle.

Dehydration and malnourishment will affect the milk supply. Any health issues that cause your cat to feel unwell can make her unwilling to nurse her kittens. Even if the mother cat appears healthy, it's best to take her and the kittens to the vet right away if she won't nurse.

Mother cats will typically start to wean their kittens off their milk at one month of age. The weaning process usually continues for about another month until the kittens are fully weaned between eight and 10 weeks of age. During this time, the kittens will still occasionally nurse on their mother but they will also start to eat liquid kitten food.

The mother cat may detect or suspect a health problem in one or more kittens and refuse to nurse that individual. She may put the sick kitten out of the nest in an instinctive attempt to protect the other kittens. The problem may be an obvious congenital disability or a major illness or something more subtle. However, this can happen even if there is nothing wrong with the rejected kitten. Do not attempt to put a rejected kitten back into the nest. Instead, bottle-feed and keep the rejected kitten warm as you make arrangements to take mother and all kittens to the vet as soon as you can.