Nursing ?'s
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| Sat, 09-11-2004 - 4:17pm |
I've returned with another question...(I'm Jake's "mom", and "grandma" to the three adorable new kittens.)
Everything is going well. The kittens are doing good and thanks to all of the wonderful advice I've received, we've overcome the minor difficulties we've had. The kittens are a few days short of 1 month old, and are growing and changing so quickly, I can hardly believe it.
My question is regarding Jake (the mom). She is nursing and has developed one very sore nipple. It cracked, a bit, but seems to be healing. Unfortunately, the milk duct behind it has become swollen and is not being drained. (I assume Jake is not letting the kittens drink from this nipple, b/c it is so painful.)
I have been massaging it, since I first noticed, but that doesn't seem to be helping. I am wondering if there is another way to help the duct drain? (From my own experiences with breast feeding, I know how painful this can be and the dangers of infection.) With people it is sometimes recomended that you apply a warm, damp washcloth to help the milk drain a bit, would this work for a cat? Any other suggestions?
Kim

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In case you are interested, (to all of you who posted in response to my many questions), we got the kittens moved to a large "fenced off" area, in the porch. The seem to enjoy having more room to romp around, and Jake (the mom) didn't seem to mind the move too much! Also, they have begun trying some moistened kitten food. The "runt" (my personal favorite, but I'd never let on to the other two! LOL) took to the food and is becoming quite the little pig. Maybe he was the kitten mostly nursing off the sore nipple, but he is now nursing from another, so he's doing great.
Thanks, again.
Kim