Four numbers do most of the work in a queening room: a box floor of 40 by 50 cm, a nest zone held at 29 to 32 °C for the first 14 days, at least 5 absorbent pads in rotation, and a scale that reads to 1 g. Everything else on the shopping list supports those four. Get them wrong and the kittens chill, the bedding stays wet, and you cannot tell a kitten that is losing weight from one that is fine.
The box: 40 by 50 cm is the floor, not the ceiling
A 40 by 50 cm interior fits a queen up to about 4 kg with 3 to 4 kittens. For litters of 5 or more, or a queen over 5 kg, add 10 cm to each side, because a queen who cannot stretch out will lie on a kitten. Walls should be 25 to 30 cm high with an entry lip of 8 to 10 cm: high enough that a newborn cannot crawl out, low enough that a queen can step in while carrying a kitten. A removable lid helps for the first 3 days, when you are looking in every 30 minutes.
Place the box in a room held at 24 to 26 °C, away from a door, a radiator, and any window that gets direct sun. Put it in a corner so 2 sides are against a wall, which cuts draft and gives the queen a sense of cover. Line the floor with 1 waterproof layer and 2 pads before the queen goes in. Keep the room dim for the first 3 days and cut foot traffic to 1 or 2 people; a queen who is being watched by 4 visitors holds stage two labor longer and tires faster.
Heat: 29 to 32 °C for the first 14 days
Newborns cannot regulate their own body temperature for the first 2 to 3 weeks, so the nest does the work. Hold 29 to 32 °C at litter level for days 1 to 14, measured with a thermometer lying where the kittens lie, not hanging on the wall. From day 15 to 21 drop to 26 to 27 °C, and by day 28 aim for 24 °C, which is room temperature in most homes.
Heat only half the box. A queen needs an escape from 32 °C, and a kitten that is too hot will spread out and pant rather than pile up. A heating pad goes under the box floor or under half the bedding, always wrapped, never in direct contact with skin, and always with a 10 cm unheated margin. Check the reading 3 times a day for the first week; a pad that fails at 3 a.m. is the most common cause of a chilled litter.
Pads: 5 in rotation is the working minimum
Five pads means 1 in the box, 2 in the wash, and 2 dry and ready, which is what a litter of 5 uses in 48 hours. Buy 10 if you work outside the home, because the laundry cycle and the delivery cycle will not line up on a 12-hour shift. Change the pad twice a day in week 1 and any time it is wet to the touch, because damp bedding at 30 °C grows bacteria fast and chills kittens faster. Puppy training pads work; avoid towels with loops that catch claws and avoid newspaper, which slides and holds moisture against the skin.
The scale: 1 g resolution, twice a day
A kitchen scale that reads to 1 g is the single most useful item in the kit, and a 5 g postal scale is not good enough. Weigh each kitten at the same time twice a day for the first 14 days, before the first feed in the morning and at the same hour in the evening, and write the numbers in a table with columns for date, time, and kitten ID.
Reference points: a newborn weighs 90 to 120 g, gains 7 to 14 g a day, and should be back at birth weight by day 10 to 14 after the normal 5 to 10 percent dip in the first 48 hours. A kitten that loses more than 10 percent of birth weight, or holds the same number for 2 consecutive days, is a call to the vet. A kitten gaining 20 g a day in a litter of 3 is usually the one hogging the back teats.
The rest of the kit, with quantities
| Item | Quantity | Specification | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whelping box | 1 | 40 x 50 cm interior, 25-30 cm walls | $60-$150 |
| Absorbent pads | 10 | 60 x 60 cm, 5 in rotation | $15-$30 |
| Kitchen scale | 1 | 1 g resolution, 5 kg capacity | $20-$40 |
| Digital thermometer | 2 | 1 for the nest, 1 for the queen | $15-$30 |
| Heating pad | 1 | Under half the floor, wrapped | $25-$50 |
| Hand towels | 6 | For drying kittens at birth | $10-$20 |
Set-up timeline: day 58, not day 63
Move the box into place on day 58 and let the queen investigate for 3 to 4 days before her due date. Put a familiar blanket in it and feed her next to it once a day, so the box reads as part of the room rather than a trap. On day 62, run the full check: thermometer reading at litter level, scale batteries, pad count, and the clinic number on the wall. A queen that has never seen the box will often deliver on your bed instead, at 2 a.m., on a mattress you cannot wash.
First 24 hours, in order
- Dry each kitten with a warm towel before it goes back to the queen.
- Check the nest reads 29 to 32 °C within 10 minutes of the first birth.
- Weigh every kitten within 30 minutes of birth and again at 12 hours.
- Change the pad after each kitten if it is wet, not once at the end.
- Take the queen temperature at 12 and 24 hours; above 39.5 °C means a call.
Box dimensions, lid options, and placement get a fuller treatment in whelping box setup, and the running cost of a litter across 8 weeks sits in the cost tables. Buy the scale before the box; it is the item you will use twice a day for a month.
Frequently asked
How warm should the whelping box be?
Hold 29 to 32 °C at litter level for the first 14 days, measured with the thermometer lying where the kittens lie rather than on the wall. Drop to 26 to 27 °C from day 15 to 21 and toward 24 °C by day 28. Heat only half the box so the queen can move away, and check the reading 3 times a day, because a heating pad that fails overnight is the commonest cause of a chilled litter.
Is a 40 by 50 cm box big enough?
For a queen up to about 4 kg with 3 to 4 kittens, yes. Add 10 cm to each side for litters of 5 or more, or for a queen over 5 kg, because a queen who cannot stretch out lies on her kittens. Walls of 25 to 30 cm with an 8 to 10 cm entry lip keep newborns in without blocking the queen, and a removable lid makes the first 3 days of checking far easier.
Why does the scale need 1 g resolution?
Because the signal you are reading is a gain of 7 to 14 g a day on a 90 to 120 g kitten. A 5 g scale turns that into a guess and hides a slow starter until it is weak. Weigh twice a day at the same times, write the numbers down, and treat a loss over 10 percent of birth weight or 2 flat days as a reason to call the vet rather than to top up with a bottle.