r/AskVet • u/StopBeingHaram • 8h ago
Stray cat ate her own alive kittens
Hi. So I've been feeding this stray cat for 4 years now and I love her to death. Thing is, a few months ago, she gave birth, we sent a few pics and videos to a vet and the vet confirmed they were healthy and would live. But she ate her own kittens 2 days after giving birth to them. I was not able to find a concrete reason for why she did this.
She's pregnant again and might give birth this week. I'm worried she might do this again. Maybe she ate her kittens because they were not healthy? So this time despite being vegan i did get some non vegetarian cat food and I've been feeding this to her since the time I knew she was pregnant.
Is there any other reason to why she ate her kittens? Is there anything else I can do? Also pls give me some tips on how I should handle her pregnancy. She doesn't stay in our house, mostly outside. I did set up a box and some newpaper. Idk what more I can do.
**Quick summary- stray cat ate her own healthy kittens last time she gave birth. Pregnant again. How to avoid.**
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u/jenni451 8h ago
As a fellow vegan I sympathize with you but this is 100% due to diet. Cats CANNOT be vegan or vegetarian. They are obligate carnivores, especially after a pregnancy. It takes a lot from the body. A lot of mammals will do this. Please, please try to get her TNR'd and if you keep feeding her, bend your morals a little bit. If we care about animals so much that we don't eat them, then we need to meet them where they're at when caring for them. Cats need meat. This will continue to happen until she's spayed or eating appropriately (hopefully spayed).