My Cat Does Not Have Milk For Her Cats, What Do I Do?

It may happen that after giving birth, the mother cat does not have milk or a few days later you notice that suddenly her milk no longer comes down but nevertheless the first day it did. Do not be too alarmed as it is something that happens and normally it is not serious or excessively harms the health of your cat. The most frequent causes of a cat not having milk for her baby cats are the following:

• She is a new mother: this usually happens in many cases and is totally normal in first-time kittens. If it does not have any associated health problems, it is most likely that in the next birth it will produce milk, however it is best to go to a veterinarian to make sure.
• A bad diet: If your cat does not ingest enough nutrients, vitamins and minerals necessary to carry the pregnancy correctly, it can also happen that at the time of delivery she has not produced or produces milk. To avoid this, feed your cat with food indicated for her (I think for lactating cats) and of good quality.
• Health problems: If your kitten has a health problem that can affect milk production, you will find a lack of it when feeding the puppies.
• She has been a mother very soon: Normally, cats reach sexual maturity and have their first heat at 6 or 10 months of life, especially in spring and autumn. It can happen that a kitten is born in January and around April or May she becomes pregnant. As their reproductive system begins to function but is not yet able to have puppies, an abortion may occur or they may be born but have no milk.
• She has had too many puppies: It usually happens sometimes that many puppies are born and the mother runs out of milk to feed everyone, here the importance of eating enough and drinking plenty of fluids, which will help milk production. You may be interested in reading this other article on HOW TO know how many cats a cat can have, to find out the usual average.
• Mastitis: is an inflammation of the mammary glands, which can prevent milk production.

If you notice that every time the puppies go to suckle they do not stop crying, it is because the cat is not producing milk. In this situation, it is recommended to go to a vet to examine her and assess any associated health problem or give her an appropriate treatment to help stimulate milk or, in the case of mastitis, give her an anti-inflammatory.

Thus, depending on the case, the veterinarian will be able to tell you the different options you have to help your pets.

• Treat the health problem that affects the cat. In this case, while it recovers, you will have to bottle milk the puppies.
• Stimulate milk production of your cat in the way that the specialist recommends.
• Give formula milk bottle-feed kittens until they can eat solid food on their own.

If it has happened to your kitten that she does not have milk, here we explain the ways to stimulate milk production in cats so that yours can feed their babies:

• A proper diet. This is the most important because if you don’t eat enough while breastfeeding you could run out of milk. You will always need to feed your feline lactating cat food and she may even eat up to four times the amount of food she was given before delivery. You should always have food and fresh water at your disposal. Check out this other oneHOWTO article on How to feed my cat after giving birth.
• You can try placing cloths moistened with warm water on your cat’s breasts. This will help stimulate your milk to come down faster and in larger quantities.
• Giving malt to a lactating cat helps stimulate the mammary glands.
• Galactogogue herbs. These types of herbs help the milk come down while also helping to produce more. Among these we can find several options among which we recommend milk thistle, which is used by crushing a teaspoon of milk thistle or milk thistle seed and mixed with wet feed for the lactating kitten and can be given three times a day. Another option is The goat’s rue, goat’s rue or Galician rue stimulates the production of milk from the mammary glands. Mix it with your cat’s food and offer it twice a day. Lastly, fennel will also be very useful because it helps your milk let down, allowing you to produce milk faster. You can give this herb to your cat by grinding it up and mixing it with food.
• There are also veterinary drugs, such as Domperidone, which are used to help the cat to produce milk. Do not, under any circumstances, administer medications like these to your feline without a veterinarian’s prescription.

If you can’t get your cat’s milk to come out in any way or if the vet has told you that she has to take a medication treatment for some associated health problem and kittens can’t suck Until the mother finishes the treatment, the baby cats will be your responsibility until the mother can feed them or until they eat on their own. For this, there are bottles and powdered milk formula for lactating kittens that they sell in veterinary clinics. The box tells you all the steps to follow to prepare this powdered milk with the right amount of water.

It is not recommended to use a syringe to feed the puppies, since the milk could go to their lungs because they do not give them enough time to swallow or they simply do not want to and you do not notice it and you continue to give them. Thus, always use a bottle since it is the closest thing to the cat’s breasts and you will be able to control when it stops sucking because it is already full.

If for some reason you don’t want to buy infant formula, there are homemade milk formula recipes for newborn cats, but keep in mind that it will not have the same nutrients as the original. Some of the recipes are as follows:

• 250 ml of lactose-free milk, an egg yolk and the tip of a sugar knife. It is very important that the milk is not cow’s milk and is lactose-free since the intestines of babies do not tolerate this type of milk with lactose and diarrhea and more health problems could appear.
• 850 ml of goat’s milk and 150 gr of mascarpone cream cheese.
• 250 ml of lactose-free milk, 150 ml of heavy cream (40% fat), 1 egg yolk, a tablespoon of honey (so that blood glucose does not drop).

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