in article , Calvin
Rice at wrote on 8/7/05 2:12 PM:

cathyxyz wrote:
As long as the mother has food and water within reach, she
should be fine.

What do you mean by "within reach"? Food and water are in bowls on
the bedroom floor. I assumed the mother would leave the kittens
briefly
to eat and drink and use the litter box in the places where the food
and
water and box have been for the past ten days.

I could put some small bowls of food and water in the closet area where
the cat and kittens are, but I would be very hesitant to do so for fear
that
the mother will be upset by that and move the kittens. Is it not
reasonable
to expect the mother to leave the kittens now and then? Surely the
mother has to leave the kittens now and then when they are born in the
wild.

I'm still open to advice, but I want to be exactly clear about what we
are
talking about, and I would want to err on the side of leaving the cat
and
kittens alone, with the mother not feeling threatened.

-cr

Nearby is good enough. And she may not get up to eat much at first. I
believe the placenta is nourishment for the first day. I'm not a big expert
though. Hopefully more experienced will respond. Hey, congrats! I know there
was a big brouhaha here, but quite honestly, that close to term, I just
don't see that it was even an option. I can't honestly see how that could
not be pretty dangerous.