Newborn kitten with foul smelling urine and strange behavior.

I joined this forum about a week before my brother's cat gave birth to read up and get prepared.

Well Fishy went into labor and could not deliver them on her own so we took her to the vet where she was given meds

to strengthen her contractions.

The entire litter consisted of one live male, one live female and a stillborn of unknown gender.

The two living kittens are a pointed and, if they were mice I'd call the girl a pied black.

The first day they came home and did great.

The pointed baby was quiet and pink. The black and white girl  had a huge set of lungs and was twice his size.

The next day he seemed to catch up to his sister.

But today I walked in to check on mom and babies, and the little black one was in awful shape.

Lethargic, cold, unable to nurse, hardly responsive, with yellow diahrea and urine thick, yellow and reeking of dead fish.

When she mewed no noise came out. She was a sack of loose skin and bones.

So we rushed her back to the vet.

What we got was a loose diagnosis of a metabolic problem, a malformed mouth and...she mentioned something

like a cat version of downs syndrome. The difference between the two in weight was insane.

Sickly cat is 80 grams while the healthy one is 167.

So now I'm feeding her every hour, keeping her warm and close and stimulating her to go to the bathroom as I was instructed.

But this urine stinks so bad, I gag every time I make her go.

What on earth would make cat's urine smell that bad? It was the same way before I started her on formula too.

Even now it's difficult to get her fed because she can't seem to swallow properly.

I'm afraid this one isn't going to make it at this point.

To be honest I feel the kindest thing would be to have the little one euthanased if it's still alive.  It seems to have a whole list of problems and abnormalities and it's urine shouldn't smell.  I'm suspecting it was cold because the mother stopped looking after it. 

That smell is probable the metabolic fault. I dont remember much details, but there are several such with humans. So I guess cats can have it them too.  And yes, in some variations they have it including mental retardation. In other variations the faulty biproducts cause brain damage.

Prob that is  by the smell the wet KNOWS this is that metabolic fault. It is surely very typical.

Otherwise I would guess on a heavy bacteria infection inside, possibly even gangrene.

If she has several different faults, = a multi-handicapp, like the vet belives and it looks as...

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!     *vibes*

OrientalSlave said:

To be honest I feel the kindest thing would be to have the little one euthanased if it's still alive.  It seems to have a whole list of problems and abnormalities and it's urine shouldn't smell.  I'm suspecting it was cold because the mother stopped looking after it. 

Click to expand...

Agree, it sounds like it would be kinder to let this little one go.

Are you weighing everyday? It's essential to pick up the slightest weight loss early.

That's what I was thinking. She had perked up in the office so we decided to try it and see if she'd improve in a couple of days but even overnight she's gone down hill.

The vet asked me to call in the morning so I think I'm going to ask her what she thinks.

The little lady is trying, She's begun to mew louder but at the same time she's still loosing weight. (yes, I do weigh them daily. She's down to 75 grams now. 5 grams in one night with

feeding her every hour all day.

This isn't fair to her.

It's a shame but I think you guys are right.

*sigh*

Poor lady. I find it really bizarre.

I mean fishy isn't inbred. And since she got out around here after we moved there's no way the cat that got a hold of her was related.

To have such a small litter and have two thirds of it fail to thrive? I beefed up mom's diet as soon as we thought she was pregnant.

I breed mice, not cats. But I know people who intentionally and carefully line breed their mice and never have a problem.

The vet had said it could be anything, including genetic, but now I'm wondering if it's the surroundings instead.

I recently had to put down a mouse for brain cancer(same vet), and some of the newer babies are smaller,  so I wonder if it's something to do with the new house.

(My house burned down in march, so I had to find a rental pretty quickly.)

It's the only thing I can think of. Bad luck can't really go this far.

Well...  I can't offer any advice on what the cause is, but hopefully your cat will be getting spayed once her kitten is weaned at 8-10 weeks, and hopefully you won't let her out again until then as she can get pregnant again while still feeding her kitten. Hope all goes well with the remaining baby.

And so sorry about your house burning down.  That must be very traumatic.

The cat wasn't mine until just recently, so yes she's getting spayed as soon as it can be done.

I took the cat for my brother because he couldn't afford the vet bills. I'm keeping the kitten, and I had planned to keep both of them.

Thank you for the luck, believe me, I need it.

Honestly the worst things about the fire was the sound. it's this low, but loud rushing sound that just sort of touches your soul in a weird fashion.

That and digging through the wet insulation afterwards for the bodies of pets. I had 30 mice at that point and a cockatoo that had been with us for almost 40 years.

I took it as a learning period though, and honestly most of it was just stuff.

Stuff can always be replaced. But thanks <3

I just fed her again. And I'm off to call the vet and see what can be done.

Thanks for all of the replies.

Sometimes things just happen. But since you're not dealing with genetically tested cats you can't really pin point it either, inbreeding doesn't mean abnormalities either. (depending on how line bred of course). Environment is also a possibility. Always sad and some just can't be saved.

Just be careful with one kitten, it's often not enough to keep the mum interested and she may call very early during which time she'll have other things on her mind, not raising a kitten. 

So sorry to hear about your house, my dad and his family lost there's last xmas, loosing everything is very traumatic and to have pets involved too would be just awful.