Signs of neglect by mother?

Hello all! This is a long story, but I need help with newborn kittens! I included as much detail as possible so that someone can better help me!!! If you would like to just read the questions, I have the paragraph marked with ***. 

I recently moved my horse to a new barn, and there are several barn cats there. The majority are semi-feral and fixed, but there is one pregnant mom who is fully feral and cannot be caught. I walked into work today to hear little squeaks. My barn owner (and boss) said that the feral cat had had her kittens on Sunday (yesterday) in one of the horse's stalls in the hay. Luckily the horse was not inside at the time. Anyway, as soon as the owner looked into the stall, the mom took off and left her babies. The owner quickly put together a large multi-level cage and set out a very thick blanket, food, water and a litter box on the bottom floor. She moved the kittens inside and hid, waiting for the mother to come back. The mother came back a little while later and tried to carry one of the babies into the hayloft. She did not have a grip and kept 'chomping' on the babies neck to get a better hold on it. She ended up dropped it down a ramp, and the owner caught the baby before it hit the floor. There are no signs that the baby is hurt. She then put the baby back in the cage, and the mother slowly went inside and the owner shut the door. They are now all locked in the cage, and the bottom level is rather small so she has to stay near her babies at all times. 

Today, the owner told me all of this. This is what I observed myself... She has them in one of the aisles of the barn not used by horses, and keeps a thick blanket over the entire cage to keep the warmth in. The days here are in the 50's and 60's, and nights hover around freezing. The wind picks up sometimes, but lately it hasn't been bad and the area where they are is not terribly drafty. However, it is a busy thru-way for foot traffic, as it is by the bathroom, utility room, hose, feed bin and steps to the hayloft. It is a wire cage, and I noticed that the bars were cold to the touch this morning. The mom is less than a year old, and this is her second litter. She aborted her first litter, but they were unable to catch her before she got pregnant again. Now that she is in a cage, she will be spayed before being released back onto the property. I was at the barn for about 3 hours this morning, and the babies cried a lot while I was there. The owner checked them out when she arrived; she held all four of the babies and put them next to the mom so they could nurse. The babies would often roll onto their backs, but the mom would not help them back to her nipples. She was very nervous and skittish, and pretty much ignored all of the kittens. The owner covered the cage after placing all the kittens back next to the mom, and my mom saw that the mama cat was kneading the blanket. We did not check on them before we left because we didn't want to disturb them, but I am sure that the barn owner checked on them before leaving the barn tonight. 

I have raised nearly every animal you can think of from a few days old to geriatrics. I recently rescued a sick and skinny four-week-old kitten at the end of June from a nasty man, and raised him to be a happy and healthy little boy. I already have three cats, and am not looking to add anymore to my little family. However, something about the way the mama treated her kittens bothered me greatly. She does not seem to be paying much, if any, attention to them and I am greatly concerned for their health. 

***What signs should I be looking for that point to her rejecting the kittens or not caring for them properly? Are they okay out in this cold being just 24 hours old? Is the mom not caring for them properly already? With my experience, I am completely confident that I am more than capable of raising these kittens myself for eventual homes. When is 'enough, enough' in regards to raising them myself? The barn is half hour away, and I am there 5 days a week for a maximum of 3 hours in the morning. It would be difficult to supplement their feed because I am only there for a short time, and that time is almost completed dedicated to the horses. Another concern is the fact that they will not be socialized properly. What are your opinions on this? Anything is very much appreciated!!! Thank you!!! 

It can take 24 hours for mums to fully settle and since she's been moved it could take a little longer, she is also young

The best way to tell is by weighing daily, if that's an option, or even just on the days you are there will help to see if they're gaining or loosing

Is the intent to keep them as barn cats or socialised and adopt out?

They will be adopted out as indoor cats. The barn owner has good intentions, but she knows a lot more about horses than cats. The only other litter to go through that barn was sent out semi-feral because they had not been socialized. Having experience with kittens, my concern is that these kittens were taken to a shelter because they were 'too wild'. 

I'll try to do that as best I can. What signs should I look out for in regards to the mom neglecting the babies? 

Moms do wash them, and ates their "left overs".  So if there is visible "left overs" on them, this is a strong signal.

Their squeling sounds not good, hinting they dont have enough with food as yet. But as MissyMotus says, the instincts often kick in after some time.  And here the mom was prob stressed by the situation, hopefully will soon calm down with that blanket over the cage...

Tricky situation. As you say, the safest may be if you take over. But the best is if mom does it...

I dont have a really good answer, I can just send my vibes.

Good luck!    *vibes*

ps.

  Welcome to our Forums!

Thank you so much!!! I have a bit of an update, as I just got home from work. My mom and I were the first ones at the barn, and we sincerely hoped that the barn owner had moved the cage into the secluded office. We turned all the lights on and said good morning to everyone, and went right to check out the kitties. Unfortunately, they were still in the aisle. My mom and I moved the blanket a little, and saw that mama was curled up tightly in a ball with the babies struggling to find a nipple. We took each one out to check on them, and this is what we found: 

Kitten #1 - biggest, hydrated, wiggly, closest to mama, little squeaking

Kitten #2 - average size, not completely hydrated but not bad, little squeaking 

Kitten #3 - on the small size, rather dehydrated, sqeaking a fair amount

Kitten #4 - tiny (obvious runt), dehydrated, constantly squeaking, wiggling a lot, located farthest from mom next to her rump; later identified as the kitten who fell down the stairs 

We were immediately concerned about the last three kittens. We put them back and let them be until the barn owner came a few hours later. The squeaking was constant from the kittens, and mama was observed laying on them, pushing them away, guarding her nipples and walking across the cage away from them. She would tolerate them for a few minutes and they would quiet down, but that would last only ten minutes at the most. The barn owner has agreed to let us take them home, but we have nothing ready today so we will be taking at least Kitten #4 home in the morning. We thought they would be best left with mama until tomorrow until we can prepare for them completely. We are hoping that we can keep at least Kitten #1 with mama, and possibly Kitten #2. We would like to bring home #3 and #4 tomorrow to care for them. I know that #4 has a very slim chance of survival, and that there is a reason that mama is especially shunning that one, but I want to give the kitten a fighting chance. 

What all should I prepare for them? I will be getting KMR powdered formula, a bottle kit (several bottles, nipples, brush cleaner, etc) and a water-bottle heating pad. They will be in a small plastic container with the heating pad covered by a towel for the first week or so, then they will be moved to a deeper box as they wiggle around more. They will be fed every two hours throughout the day, but how much should I give them? As much as they can eat? Also, how does this set-up sound? They will be isolated from all of the other pets, and will not share anything (towels, containers, bottles, etc.). We will be washing our hands and wearing old clothes when interacting with them. Is there anything else I need to know? Be as detailed as possible please! Thank you so much for everything!!! 

Also, they will be fed every two hours throughout the night as well. Should I force them awake to feed, or let them sleep? 

Plus, mama cat is eating and drinking and using the litter box so her health does not seem to be too bad. Just wanted to let you know in case this helps any! 

Thank you!!! 

Your plan sounds good.

You know the sites for hand-reasing kittens?

www.kitten-rescue.com is one I remember, the others I usually do google about, at Fabcats and at messybeasts...

Okay, thank you so much! I will keep you updated  

You're probably best to take them all, small litters are often of little interest to mums and since she's apparently not raising 4 very well she probably won't be any better with 1 or 2.
Could just be the location, if in a quieter place she should settle much better, the cage & being confined in a small place could be adding to the stress, would she and the litter be allowed in a room at your place?

I have discussed this with my mom and we agreed that we are not comfortable introducing the mother into our house. We have three males, two of whom are neutered and another who is too young yet. The mother is completely feral and aggressive when threatened, and is not up-to-date on her shots. She despises human contact, and would be best left at the barn. She will remain in the multi-level cage until recovered, and then she will be spayed. Only then will she be released back into the barn. We are better able to isolate the kittens until they are ready to go to the vet. 

We also found out this morning that the mother has had three litters, not two. The first one she did abort, but she gave birth to the second one. There were only a few, but they ended up passing. This was all before I arrived at the barn, and since then every other cat has been fixed. Also, we found out who the suspected father of the babies is....the mother's father. There are no visible deformities that we can see, but we are preparing ourselves for unseen disasters internally and the chance that we cannot save the litter. We are preparing ourselves as best we can so we can give these kittens the best chance possible. Fingers crossed!!! 

Fair enough, you can still help the little ones as planned

Poor girl, least she'll be spayed soon. Could be genetic, or lack of care - which you'll make up for with this litter

Kittens can also be neutered at 2lbs, around 8 weeks of age

Oh honey I so want to discourage you from taking them away!

In my rescue, on top of the main part of rescuing I also do alot of TNR'ing, many times if I trap a feral mom who is just too far along for me to be okay with spaying her, I will keep her caged in my cat room and allow her to have her babies and care for them.

Currently I have 2 feral moms and their kittens in my cat room, what I'm getting at is I have quite alot of experience in this.

Gosh, where to start, I have alot to say here, in hopes that it will be helpful to you.

The big tell-tale sign for me was mom carrying her baby to relocate them. She is not trying to ignore or neglect them, they are in the worst stressful place they could possibly be in.

Even tame cats/indoor cats want privacy and quiet, with as little commotion as possible, let alone a feral or semi feral mom. She wants to be completely alone!

The cage needs to be moved right away. A stressed feral mom will lay in an upright position and not often allow the babies to nurse. It's just how they are.

Okay, so if this were me, I would bring them all home, but mom included.

Moms, whether feral or tame, LOVE their babies. Often times people don't realize that a mom abandoning or neglecting her kids was not her doing, it was either they were not well, or too much commotion or distractions, etc. etc.

This is not all, but in the 50-some moms with litters I've cared for personally, I think I had 2 moms who just would not care for their babies, the huge majority would not abandon their babies, it's very often other issues. (also if she were not well, I've dealt with that plenty too) Even the 2 who would not care for them I believe there was an unseen problem, maybe they were not well but I didn't see this from her looks/actions, they ate fine, etc.

If you decide to bring them home, they should be tucked away, either a room that only you will be going into, dark to semi dark spot, covered cage with just one side raised slightly for light and fresh air, low volume music is good, etc.

If there is no place like this even a garage or basement with some way of warming is great. If you can get a heating pad under them even better. (be sure it's on low and does not automatically turn off in a couple hours)-(the newer ones do this!)

Or a stable, small space heater, etc.

If they are inside your home there will be enough heat in the room for her and she will keep her kids warm.

At this point from where they are now, the smallest/weaker ones need some extra support from you to get them more or less revived and back to thriving again.

You can do this by doing 2 things, a small, needle-less syringe, and feeding them KMR twice a day, more at first until you see them nursing often again, as well as every chance you get, go to them and if you see the bigger ones eating but the smaller are not, plug them in and stay there to watch that they latch on well.

The biggest problem in having bigger kids with the smaller ones is they get bumped off the nipple often, at some points they start to get discouraged so to speak and give up, then go downhill from there and dehydrate and die pretty fast.

To feed the KMR be sure they are on their tummies, tilting their head up a bit by the scruff, and slowly, gently squirting tiny amts at a time onto their tongues or the side of their mouths, never in their throat. (I wish I were there so I could show you how to tube feed!

3mls/cc's are fine for the first few days, each time you feed them, then go to 4. You won't need to do this for long because you will see them gain strength fast and nurse on their own.

If you can not take them all home but you are able to move them, this is fine too, but you won't be able to help the weak ones unless you were to go to the barn and supplement them.

They MUST be moved asap. Even the biggest won't be nursing properly while mom is so stressed.

The kittens have a MUCH better chance of making it if mom can care for them. Believe me, even the best bottle feeders lose many, hard to say why but blame mother nature I suppose, since it's not the way she meant it to be

Be prepared that not all kittens will make it. Then if they do it's wonderful, but just so you know.

Depending on how feral she is, there is another issue I want to bring up....I am assuming she is a total feral, not semi, although you said something that caught my attention, let me go back.

Okay it was 2 things, the momma kneading the blanket, and the biggest one is that the owner was able to grab the kittens, hold them and put them back near mom. This is between semi feral and feral She MUST have some type of exposure to people to allow this. This is a good thing.

You are more than welcome to private message me for more and any questions or concerns you have.

So I will not bring up the other thing to worry you at this point, because it only applies to 100% ferals.

Good luck

Are you able to bring the cage home too? By my comments I don't mean to suggest bringing mom home and letting her be out and about, that will NOT work! She should be caged with her babies.

Allowing her to roam, she will not, she will hide and not come out, and not care for her babes.

Thank you so much for all of your information! I will definitely pm you with specific questions!!

I will keep everyone updated as to how they are doing! Thank you for all of your concern! 

I also meant to add to your comment about moms father being these babies father.

This is extremely common, male kittens will even mate with their moms, siblings, children, it doesn't matter because they don't know.

When cats, male or female become sexually mature they no longer know they are related. (nor would they care

Many, many cats are inbred. Majority do not have defects (somehow)

The few that are born with defects are often with their tails, such as a small bent tip of the tail for example. Internal organs do not seem to be affected. Although FIV and FELV of course are something inherited, but it's not a birth defect from inbreeding cats.

Okay thank you! I sent you a rather lengthy message haha thank you so much for all of your help!! 

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update... 

We went to the barn planning on taking all 4 kittens this morning and, if the barn owner let us, the mama. When we got there, we checked them out and we could only find Kitten #'s 1, 2 and 3. Short of tearing the cage apart, #4 was no where to be found. We resigned ourselves to the possibility that the poor kitten had passed and the barn owner had removed him. The other 3 were doing ok, not fully hydrated though. 

Once the barn owner arrived, she checked the kittens out as well. After looking for a few minutes, Kitten #4 appeared! He had been stuck under mama! Unfortunately, e was not hydrated either. The barn owner has decided to keep them with mama to give her another chance. This made me so nervous! I know the best place is with her, but I am afraid that they are just not getting what they need. The cage is covered every night and and usually during the day (that part I am assuming). However, the barn owner left the cage uncovered when we left. It is safe to say that the cage was left uncovered for most, if not the whole, time since then. It has been about 8 hours since we left the barn.

We heard a story from someone today that alarmed me. Apparently yesterday, a boarder was caring for her horse on the other side of the barn. She suddenly heard the kittens screaming! She ran over and saw the mama sitting on two of their heads; they were absolutely screaming!!! Mama seemed to ignore them, so they started making hissing sounds and she moved. I know it is not mama's fault - she is so stressed out because of all the commotion! Will the kittens be able to survive in conditions like these? The barn owner said she would call if Kitten #4 is in need of our help, but she is adamant about keeping the other three with mama no matter what. I know that the best place for them is with their mom, but at what point does it become dangerous? What signs should I look for in order to ensure that all of the kittens are healthy? Any advice would be much appreciated!!! Thank you!!! 

I also wanted to add that there is nowhere quiet in the barn for all of them to be, I've looked all over the place and there's nothing :-/ The barn owner is such a nice lady and means well, but just doesn't know enough about kittens. I cannot risk getting in an argument with her because I work off the board to my horse, and I do western lessons and run a therapeutic horsemanship program out of the barn as well. I'm so lost on what to do - I want to help these kittens so badly! 

The kittens are 4-5 days old now and all still alive, so she must be doing something right.  Every day they will be growing and getting stronger, so in the cirumstances I'd cross my fingers and leave them be for the time being.

Some mums are clueless and will sit or lay on kittens, a strong kitten can wriggle out. Perhaps the owner just has a survival of the fittest mentality, since they are 'just' farm cats?

Hopefully she will at least be checking them daily, since mum will of course need to be fed someone will need to check then.