A friend of mine found a teenage cat nursing her litter of four healthy looking kittens in the garage. We thought the mother might be hungry so we gave her a large can of cat food, dry food, milk and water. The mother was famished. My friend set up a place for her and her kittens in her bathroom away from her three cats, a week ago. This mother has a non-stop appetite which seems very abnormal even for a nursing mother. She can devour a whole can without stopping for a second and is ready for a second. She is a very good mother but I'm afraid she is ill and will pass it on to the kittens. She is on the thin side and seems very restless and nervous. If you enter her area she hisses to protect her off spring yet wants to be petted at the same time. Her appetite is non-stop and will even bite you when you try to put the food in her bowl as though your going to take it from her. Her stool is large, firm and med to dark brown. There doesn't seem to be anything abnormal with it, at least to the maked eye. My friend can't afford to take the cat or a stool sample into the vet for examination, so I was hoping you could help? I have never, ever seen a cat devour so much food non stop before. She lives in Van Nuys CA. If you could reccomend a place for free she could get help it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Michele