Worried about new kittens

Hi everyone it's nice to find such a lovely forum, and I wondered if anyone could give me any advice to my problem. I mated my Persian cat (Kitty Poosie - don't laugh at the name)! with a Norwegian Forest and she gave birth 2 weeks ago to 5 kittens. She didnt break them out of their sacks or nibble off the umbilical cords/placenta which I had to do, but is otherwise is a great mum. The problem is that the 2 black girls were growing incredibly well whilst the 3 black and white boys were 1/2 the size of the girls and just not putting on weight so I took to assisting feeding them. I use lactol and have read not to have the teat too fast flowing for fear of giving them pnuemonia and have abided by this. Unfortunately 1 of the little boys died last Wednesday as he had lost weight even though I had been feeding him. I was very upset but was told that this sometimes happens. What was a shock though was yeasterday I went to weigh the babies and 1 of the girls whose weight was great was dead when I went to pick her up. This was so unexpected as she was fine that morning. I wondered if kitty had suffocated her because I couldn't imagine what else could have caused it. My problem is that I'm obsessed now and worry all the time that when I go to look at them another one will be dead.
I'm still assisting feeding the little boys they each weigh 5 1/2oz and the girl weighs 10 oz. The little boys are very strong and don't appear to be ill, the big girl is much more calm.
I have bonded with them so much and would be mortified if another one were to die.

There are a lot of reasons why a kitten that young could die. The most common cause of kitten death is chilling--if they're younger than three weeks, then heat is essential to their survival. Other things could be the presence of FIV, FIP, or FeLV. Did you have your cat checked prior to the mating?

Mod should move this to the pregnancy and kittens forum, I'm sure they'll have better answers.

Make sure they keep warm. As long as they're actively nursing and steadily gaining weight, for the most part they should be okay as long as they don't have any of the aformentioned diseases. Good luck! After about three and a half to four weeks of age, you can begin to breathe a little easier. A lot of the danger by then has passed, at least, from chilling/being smothered accidentally by mom(which also could have happened). Keep an eye for anything out of the ordinary.

"biting tongue" - Its possible that unless you've checked out mom and dad for genetic problems, that could be on reason for losing kittens. I'm assuming she's a first time mother - sometimes they just don't take to motherhood.

I do hope you are planning on spaying and neutering your two cats - neither one of them should have been bred - especially together. All you did was create more mixed breed cats. WHY did you breed them?

im leaning towards FKS fading kitten syndrom SP? there are a few reasons why this can happen, one of them being blood typing i dont know how to explain it correctly so i wont try, but if one of the blood types of the male/female is wrong then this can lead to FKS. i know there young but maybe take them all to see a vet they may be able to help.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

"biting tongue" - Its possible that unless you've checked out mom and dad for genetic problems, that could be on reason for losing kittens. I'm assuming she's a first time mother - sometimes they just don't take to motherhood.

I do hope you are planning on spaying and neutering your two cats - neither one of them should have been bred - especially together. All you did was create more mixed breed cats. WHY did you breed them?

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I thought you were biting your tongue?? *wink*
At this stage, the reason why these cats were bred is a moot point. The deed is done, water over the dam, no turning back. It doesn't matter why now.

Let's just stick to answering the questions.

Thanks for that Gayef - crikey Goldenkitty45 I said lovely forum, but I hear what you are saying even if it was a little curt!
Kitty is a house cat, even though we live in the countryside she goes as far as the patio door and back into the comfort of our home (probably all the love and cuddles that she gets inside). She was bought from a reputable breeder and has had her Felv injections and is up to date on all her other ones. I have every intention of having her nuetered but wanted to have a litter of kittens 1st and we were going to pay for a stud Persian to give her a cuddle (ahem). Unfortunately she snook outside whilst on heat and that is when she lost her vaginity to the Norwegian Forest - I can't blame her for liking him he's such a handsome chap!
I'd never seen him before, but as our village is very small I've located the owners and he too is a pedigree from a good home and they are going to have him spayed, it was a case of Romeo and Juiliette!
Because of her being quite young and a house cat I'm hoping it isn't FIV. The larger kitten who died didn't appear to lose her appetite of have any swellings so I'm still at a loss as to her death, although reading the suggestion of FKS for the 1st little kitten I'm vearing towards that as the most likely reason.
I am taking extra care with the warmth of the kitties now, however I did have tham in a large house moving sized box and have a blanket over the entrance to keep out drafts I was going to move them into a cage but am not as keen to do so just yet as the box is cosier.
The 2 smaller boys have put on 1 oz overnight so I am very pleased this morning.
I hope to be posting cute kitten pictures sometime soon - God willing.

Ok so it was an accidental breeding. I thought you did it on purpose - I apoligize. Friends?

The only real way of telling why the kittens died is to do autopsy on them; but since she will be spayed, it doesn't matter that much. I'm surprised that the NFC owners are allowing him to run the neighborhood - most pedigree cats are kept under lock and key

If the rest of the kittens live, we'd like to see some pictures.

Friends (one of my favourite sitcoms ever!) - of course Goldenkitty45, us Brits like to keep you Americans as allies.
Yes I'm also surprised because he roams all over our village, it is very small quite and countrysidey (if thats such a word), so they probably think that he is safe but I worry if Kitty has gone further than 2 yards out of my back door. I also wonder how many other little love-kittens he has produced! I may sue for maintenance - tehe.
Once the children have taught me how to down load photo's I will definately show you some, they seem to look like their mummy, quite flat faced, huge eyes and little noses but are as cute as a button.
I do so hope that they all make it.

I'm almost afraid to find out how many he's produced! Can you talk to the owner of him and convince them to get him neutered (do it as a health risk to her cat). He can pick up FELV, FIP and who knows what else. As a responsible person who has a pedigreed cat - they should not be letting him roam.

I just wonder if the breeder of the wegie KNOWS about this????? Or is she a breeder herself of wegies?

I wondered that as well Goldenkitty as all the breeders of Persians that I spoke to are very strict and don't produce your cats pedigree certificate until you prove that you have got them neutered with a vets certificate. I don't know how true this is with breeders of other cats but I suppose it is the same.
Kittys breeder was going to let me use one of her studs (£150 a cuddle) but then Kitty was enjoying gazing at the sun on the patio one minute and having rudies the next. We live in a barn conversion in the middle of a field, no other houses close by (apart from two other barns adjoining us, next door has a female persian too - neutered and next door to that has a moggy also neutered) I never see any other cats on my land other than those 2 - so be warned anyone reading as a male cat must smell the scent of a female on heat and will travel and it dosnt take very long, I turned my back for 2 minutes and caught him humping her when I went to fetch her in!!!
I couldnt ask for cuter babies, though I just hope that alls well that ends well.

Update on the kitties.

Teddy (she really is a living, breathing teddybear) the female kitten weighs in this morning at 12 oz - 340g.

Junior one of the little boy kittens weighed in at 8oz - 225g

Little Joe the other little boy kitten weighed 6oz - 170g

Junior and Little Joe started the week weighing exactly the same at 5oz - 145g! I'm giving Little Joe plenty of extra milk which he wolfs down, he is very sharp and lively compared to Teddy who is very calm, but I can't help but be worried still as to him not putting on much weight over the last 5 days, what do you all think. Does anyone out there have the weights of their kitties at 2 weeks and 3 days old???

at 2 weeks our first litter of kittens which is the only book i can find at the moment went like this.
biggest.midnight 11oz
middle. tigerlilly 10.5oz
smallest forest 10oz.