Kitten Help and Advice

Hi everyone, any help or advice you can give me would be great.

My cat had 9 kittens on Saturday, and so far mom and babies are doing well, but were missing one. I thought at first maybe she was moving them, but now I am beginning to think maybe one of them didn't make it b/c she hasn't moved any others yet. I have cleaned out the box to make sure it wasn't burried and no luck finding it.

Anyone have any suggestions on where to start looking for the missing kitty? I am really worried about it, and if by chance it didn't make it I would like to find it asap so it won't start to stink. I have never dealt with kittens before and we are leaving mom and babies alone for the most part but I do check on them a couple times a day to make sure they are all still alive.

It's possible that if it didn't make it, she ate it. As disgusting as it sounds to us humanes it's a fact of life for animals. It's a survival instinct so if you don't find it, most likely that's what's happened. Is this a feral cat?

I am not sure what a feral cat is, but her mom was an ally cat. I would say she is 50/50 on being an inside outside cat. We tried to move the kittens because she had them right at the bottom of our stairs (heavy traffic area) but she moved them back to where she had them.

I feel so aweful and want to help her w/ them b/c she does seem exhausted but I don't want her to kill her kitties b/c I touch them. I am getting really worried. Do you think it is possible she burried her kitten in her kitty litter?

It could have been ill and rather than risk the health of the litter, if this cat has outside access (and I hope she doesn't) she would have moved it out in an area where it can be found by predators. If she is only confined to the house, it is possible that she stashed the kitten somewhere. You would need to look in the smallest, darkest places you can find, inside vents, in cupboards, under furniture. Get a strong flashlight, systematically search every room on your hands and knees, look into recliner stools, under furniture. Lay on the floor and look around and see where you think she might have stashed it. If you have cold spots, look there first as the mom knows the quickest death for the baby is best and she won't stash him anywhere warm. If you have toms in the house or around the area, they may have already done the work for her. It is also possible she ate the kitten- this does happen from time to time. Inexperienced young moms eat their kittens, queens that can't figure out the movement of a kitten isn't prey will eat their kittens. If the kitten is genetically wrong, the queen will eat the kitten. If the birth process was long and involved, the queen will consume a kitten to help her deal with the rest of the kittens. Please get this cat spayed and until you do, keep her inside and safe and don't let toms near her. If she is outside with her kittens, get them indoors. It is highly likely she is already pregnant again.

Just in passing, your handling of the kittens won't harm them or the mother, although she may show signs of concern or alarm at the time, if they squeal loudly. They NEED to be handled by humans in order for them to be well-socialized.

Nine kittens is a lot. I suppose it's possible you miscounted, but in a group like that, you will almost always have at least one runt who is unlikely to survive.

She has been inside since she has had the babies and has shown no desire to go outside at all, I have also already made an appt. with the vet to get her fixed when she is done nursing. I just pray she doesn't somehow get outside before this time comes.

I do know I didn't miscount b/c I did move them all into the box the day after she had them and counted them individually. infact I even know which one is missing. I would have never guessed she could have eaten it (the mom is only a year old so this makes sense, and she also didn't eat much food yesterday)

The runt amazingly enough has made it thus far, I was very worred about that one b/c its so tiny.


I wll post some pics of the kitty's soon, its weird b/c there is such a mixture of cats 4 whiteish tan ones (was 5), 2 gray and white ones, and stripped one, and a black and white one. The mom is black and white. I am guessing multiple fathers>????

Yeah sounds like multiple fathers but who knows. Genetics is a funny thing and when you are talking about a domestic shorthair there are all kinds of things mixed up in there.