Kitten dying

I had a litter of 3 kittens born on sunday morning (Ragdolls) and all were gaining great. I weigh them every morning and this one weighed 3.8 ounces at birth and yesterday weighted 6.0 ounces. Last night when I checked before going to bed all was well. This morning when I went to weigh them this one was cool to the touch and listless. It has gone down to 4.8 ounces in a day. Any ideas what happened and how I can help this little one. I quickly gave him KMR by syringe but I have to go to work and can't be home until noon (3 hrs) Any one got any suggestions. I have had many litters before and have never lost one except shortly after birth.

Did you phoned your vet? It is priority nr 1 here, even before contacting your favorite forum!

Such healthy kittens suddenly going down, almost in hours, is often caused by pneumonia. They perhaps got some water down in lungs at birth...
That is why som breeders routinely slungs ALL their kittens at birth.

Fight on as long as possible, with your vets help.


Good luck!

I called my vet first thing. She suggested just giving her drops of KMR every hour and trying to get her strong enough. She never mentioned pheumonia. Would it take this long to manifest itself. She was gaing great beforehand.

First thing to do is keep this little one warm. Really warm (please look at this website www.kitten-rescue.com for ideas) If it is fading, mom will abandon it or ignore it, so you need to be the mom now. Feed every two hours round the clock (I know hard to do when you work) but perhaps you can create a snugglepack (I use a pillow case and whip stitch a cord around the opened side, put soft towels or rags inside, slip the little one in the pillow case, drape it around my arm and neck and the little one rests against my beating heart and gets the benefit of my body's warmth. I slip a long sleeve, baggy shirt on and go about my day.

You can also try giving the kitten just a small drop of Karo Syrup light colored not dark to see if that helps. If kitty starts to fade, have some room temperature coffee nearby and give him a few drops to see if that jump-starts his heart.

Raggdolls are susceptible to HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) perhaps that is what has your kitty right now, or perhaps it's FKS and sometimes, there isn't anything you can do but make the little one as comfortable as possible.

Good luck

He is fading fast. I keep wrapping him in warm dry washclothes but he is still fading. what is FKS. I have been breeding for 6 years now and have never had this happen, I feel so helpless!

I just went to check the box and he has died. I feel sick and need to go have a good cry. Thanks for all your suggestions.

I'm sorry you lost him. RIP, little one.

FKS is "Fading Kitten Syndrome." A real heartbreaker.

I'm sorry the little one has gone to the Bridge.

I'm so sorry you lost him

My heart breaks for you...one of the reasons why I could never be a breeder.

RIP baby boy

Thanks everyone for their kind thoughts. Hopefully the others continue to do well.

I am so sorry -
Have a good cry.
He is in Kitty Heaven...he is safe and healthy now.
You did your best.
Pure Love.

I'm so sorry, hopefully the kitten has found it's way across the Bridge safely, and l hope the others thrive

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So sad to hear you lost that kitten. . I pray the other's will be alright. Poor little darling RIP

Many prayers for you and for the other kittens