# Weaning Nursing Cat



## KittyKitty2 (Apr 23, 2011)

My sons cat had 9 kittens about 10 weeks ago. Three of them did not make it past 4 weeks and 3 week were able to find good homes for. The other 3 we are keeping. The kittens are still nursing and was wondering if we need to do something like seperate the kittens and the mother. The kittens have been on solid food for a few weeks now but they still go to mom to nurse. Will the mother cat stop the kittens from nursing on her own?

I hope this was the correct place for this thread.


----------



## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Six kittens to nurse is quite a lot and can be draining on the condition of momma cat. By 10-12 weeks they are ready to be weaned, but some momma cats will nurse as long as their kittens want, others may stop it themselves. If she's thin from nursing, you can lock her away in another room for a few hours away from the kitties. Over 2 weeks, keep her in the room longer and only let her nurse for a minute or so, to relieve any engorgement around the teats, and the short nursing time will help dry up the milk production. Longer they nurse at a time, the more milk. You don't want her to develop _mastitis _where teats become hot and hard. Good luck!


----------

