Mean big sister! Poor babies. But you know Polly is thinking “But but but I’M the baby!”
Little ones are cute!! Can’t wait to see what Polly has.
Another vote for letting the fourth be with you.
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Does that orange kitten have an extra toe? They are all so cute! I like their names.
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I was trying to figure that out. It almost looks like he has thumbs! 
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I’m pretty sure I remember doing the same sort of thing to my little brother when my parents brought him home from the hospital! 
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I wouldn’t be sure the orange ones are male. I’ve known several orange females and note Polly.
So cute, probably a good thing you aren’t close by, haha
Years ago I adopted sisters, a feral tom got to them before I could get them spayed, they had their kittens a within hours of each other and put them together. It was just a big pile of kittens, the moms would lay down together, I used to wonder if they could tell the kittens apart after awhile.
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That’s true.
Oh boy, so here’s where it gets more complicated. I am not a cat breeder by choice, so I prolly need some advice on this…
Those were Polly’s kittens. I figured it out because Polly has an empty belly and she has swollen nipples. She apparently rejected them and mama Louisa took over. That’s why we saw her frantically pushing the kittens away from Louisa and taking their place next to mama last night. Polly pushed them from the nest to snuggle with her mama. Mama Louisa still has a belly full of kittens but she’s feeding these little ones adequately. They seem to have full bellies and they are going between nursing and and sleeping, so they seem to be getting enough.
What happens when Louisa has her kittens? I suppose we’ll need to supplement these babies, but could she reject her own, or will she just not be able to feed these kittens while in labor?
It’s been over 24 hours, should I try Polly with just her kittens to see if she’ll take them? Polly was not showing any interest in them before. She just wanted to lay next to her mother.
This explains why two are orange and why they have thumbs.
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Polly is lonely and crying in the silo alone. I feel terrible for her. Not sure we can fix it.
The good news is that she’ll dry up in two weeks and we can spay her so she can be a nice barn kitty, along with Ralph. In fact, I’m hoping she and Ralph can share the workshop as soon as she heals up
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I’d put kittens back with Polly, definitely. Might try adding one kitten at a time, but Louisa will get her own kittens soon enough.
ETA: She may have seemed to reject them because of being confused, especially with Louisa the experienced mom trying to take over; she could well work it out alone. But supervise.
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Okay. I’ll try that and let you know how it goes.
With swollen teats from not allowing the kittens to nurse, I’m sure she is hurting as well. And if the kittens now tried to nurse, that would hurt even more. Is there a way you could try to express her milk a little to help her not hurt so much? Or is she not that friendly?
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I’m not sure if Polly will take the kittens now that it’s been so long since they were born - seems like they maybe never had a chance to bond. You could try it, but don’t be surprised if she rejects them. When Maximus and Tiny were born, their mother rejected them straight away, and never did want them back.
If she doesn’t take them, can you take her to the vet for a shot to dry her up?
And yes, in that case, the other kitty will probably need some help! If you can supplement, that would be great.
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Milking cats? I really hope we don’t have to do that. I keep remembering the scene from Meet the Parents. 
Polly took them back happily. The other kitty isn’t too upset. I guess she knew she was the surrogate even if the dumb humans messed that up.
I’ll check for full bellies and no complaining. We’ll supplement if we need to.
We got a load of trouble from not-our-cats. The seller said he would take them when we first asked about the barn cats. Then, he told us at closing that “the cats would just come running back to this farm anyway”. Oh, yeah, and he made should to ask for two kittens. That’s abandonment in my book. Poor unwanted mothers.
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I’d supplement mom as well.
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I love the kitten’s little ears, so tiny and cute!
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How do I know if the babies are gaining enough? I have a letter scale. How much should they gain per day?
The cats were being fed the cheapest food when we got here. I switched the mama cats to Iams kitten.
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Polly is so sweet. She was kneading her paws in the air while the kittens were settling in to nurse.
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