Help- Mother Cat May Have Killed Her Kitten

I am completely confused, I have a mother cat who had 5 kittens. She has been taking great care of the kittens and will not leave them. I checked on them before I went to work and they all seemed fat and healthy, one was not nursing with the rest but that didn't set off any alarms with me because she was the biggest and fattest. Then when I got home the one who was not nursing was outside of the carrier and mom had been eating her. I'm not sure if she was sick and dying and I just didn't realize it, or if mom killed her. The other big kitten was at the edge of the carrier but she may have just crawled there. I know there was another thread not that long ago about a mom killing the runt, but I cant find it. I don't know if this is the same though because this was the biggest kitten, not the runt. Should I take the rest of the kittens away, or will they be safe left with mom?

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/240759/need-help-asap-mom-killed-her-runt

Hope this might help....

Yep, that was my thread! I still to this day have no idea what happened, if she killed him or if she was trying to "clean up the evidence" but it was heart breaking none the less. Thankfully the remaining babies were fine, thrived and have all been adopted into wonderful homes. I'm really sorry this happened hun. It's so hard to know what causes this.

Oh love, I am so sorry that is a terrible thing for you to have seen and you too Kailie.

Mother Nature can never be fully understood.

Thanks all. I dont think I will ever know what happened. I'm just hoping the kitten had died and since she is not 100% settled yet that she was just trying to get rid of the dead body. I did change the bedding and the one kitten who was away from the bunch had blood on it, I guess she pushed it away for that reason. But I washed it off and dried it with a towel I rubbed on mom first to put her sent back on it, and she welcomed it back no problem. She has been snuggling and nursing the kittens like normal since I cleaned up, and I have to hope that everyone else will be fine. I was really freaking out when I found it, the fact that she is being so good with them now I don't think I need to worry. Im just going to keep a super close eye on them.

Gabby was the same way, an incredible mother, although maybe a little nervous and protective. I know that either there must have been something wrong with the kitten and she knew it and killed him OR he died on his own and she was cleaning up. I really do hope it is the same with your mama, but it sounds like she is a good mother, so I wouldn't be too worried.