Newborn kitten help

I just received this from a friend looking for advice:

My friend has a 3-year-old Birman female who gave birth to two kittens about two days ago. She is worried a bit because one kitten is quite small. In the first litter from this same mom-cat, two of the three kittens died for no apparent reason, so that's another reason she's concerned. She really wants both these kittens to live long healthy lives.

She got some "milk" today at Pet Food Express (after Santa had left) so she can provide supplemental feeding to the littler kitten. But she hasn't done it before. I told her YOU had (with Smudge), and that I'd provide the introduction so that you might help her on this.

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I don't have any good advice for her except for get the kitten and maybe the mother to a vet to get checked out, and maybe keep trying the KMR with an eye dropper to help supplement the feeding in case it's not getting enough.

What do you guys think?

I think she should get that kitten to the vet and while she is there, set up an appointment to spay the momma. I don't understand why she was bred again if the kittens in her first litter "died for no apparent reason".

We aren't vets so we can't really tell you what is wrong. Obviously something is though. Try and get her to take the cat to the vet and to realize this cat should not be bred again.

Good point - I'll make sure she gets her spayed.

Some thoughts...

Litters die for many reasons:

1. Incompatible blood types between sire and dam
2. Insufficient time in the womb
3. It happens...breeders face this problem all the time, unfortunately.

The first thing to do with the kittens is to get them to the vet asap.

Meanwhile, check the following:

1. Is there any weight gain during the first couple of days
2. Is the mother ignoring the runt? If so, that kitten is slated to die anyway
3. In the first 24-72 hours of the kittens life, did they manage to feed from the mom? The kittens need the colostrum.
4. Supplemental feeding is a good idea. If mom is ignoring the kittens, then every two hours.

What your friend should do is check with the Dam's breeder to see if there is something wrong with the bloodlines. And if the dam was mated to the same male for the first litter...the mating should not be repeated since there were problems with the first litter.

Here's a link that might have some links to help her with the supplemental feedings and the spay:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74659

I hope they do alright .

Thanks so much guys, I've just emailed her all of that advice, and links, so hopefully it will help the kittens and she'll get the mother spayed!

I'll let you know how it goes.