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My spayed feral cat is nursing kittens. Is she producing milk?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Female | spayed | 0 lbs

I took a feral mama cat to the vet. She has 2-3 week old kittens. The vet said she’s not producing milk and I need to bottle feed the kittens. We had the feral cat fixed and I’ve been bottle feeding them. A day or so after the mama was fixed she’s tending to the kittens and they are at her teets. Is it possible the vet was wrong and feral mama cat has milk after all? The mama cat won’t let me near her to squeeze her nipple To check. Oh no, it looks like she stole one of the kittens And hid it!

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 28th, 2018

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!

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