HELP! Mumma cat has lost all her kittens how do I....

Over the last three days I have lost a whole litter of kittens, I am so gutted, the vet is stumped as to the cause but assumes it was some kind of bacteria but I have no idea how it could have got to my gorgeous little babies... Anyway, between bouts of bawling my eyes out I'm now worried about mum...

She's not sick but as this has happened so quickly and her milk hasn't slowly dried off how can I make sure she doesn't develop mastitis?!

So far only her two furthest back "glands" look like they've actually got a fair bit of milk in them but I've tried "milking" her but got nothing out... What else can I do? Is there something I can feed her to dry off milk supply?

The vets said antibiotics "should" stop any sitting milk getting infected but won't milk sitting in the glands stretch them and/or cause them to rupture or something (image of waterballon being over filled) :/

I've never had this happen before help!

Wow. My heart is just breaking as I am reading what has happened to you. I know how difficult it is to lose even one kitten, let alone an entire litter in such a short amount of time. 

I think your concerns about mastitis are very valid, I just don't know enough about it to give you any helpful advice. I just wanted to offer all my sympathies. If you need any emotional support we are here for that too. 

RIP Kittens

Thanks EB, they were only 3.5weeks old but you still get so attached in that short space of time, especially when you are staying up all hours of the night trying to get them to eat something only to have them drift off in your arms , the went down hill so fast, I've never lost a kitten before, not even one and to have the whole litter almost all at once, I'm still a little in shock but I got to love them for a little bit though so that will have to be enough for now .

I've seen someone suggesting sage tea to dry up milk in humans, does anyone know if this would be safe to try for my kitty?
 

A solution some try with is to get hold of other kittens who lost their mom, as fosters.

For you as a breeder it is more complicated, as you want to be sure they fosters are healthy. "on Ceasars wife´s reputation may not even a shadow fall down", so not on your breeding either.  Other breeders are fine but you probably cant just contact the shelters nearby.

Another even more important problem is, if it was a bacteria infection which took the small ones, you cant risk another litter of kittens. Not before you are sure she is entirely non contagious and healthy again.

As I understand, the most common is they just let it dry out. You can have some good olive oil on, or some other  good delicate cream...   Somebody had one containing among others zinc oxide, useful for sore skin.

And watching out it doenst get inflammed / goes mastitis.

And of course giving her lotsa of love and sympathy, as she surely is in sorrow.  Like you are.

Feeling with you and your cat mom!

Good luck!

So sorry this has happened - I know from my own experience that waching a litter die one by one is heartbreaking.  The girl wasn't on antibiotics and didn't have a problem with mastitis, so hope yours is OK.  She was very young, a foster, and the litter faded.

Milk production is stimulated by kittens feeding so hopefully she will dry up quite quickly.  If her breasts get hard it might be worth milking just enough to relieve the hardness, but if you milk too much it will be self-defeating.

Hope you don't think this is unkind, but you need to remember your cat will come back into call quite quickly - they do this even if feeding kittens, so talk to your vet about when she can be neutered.  If you have an 'empty nest' feeling you could maybe foster kittens for a shelter / rescue?  I found that very satisfying.

I considered seeing if there were any kittens that needed fostering StefanZ but 1, it's late in the season here so not that many young kittens around anyway, and 2, the last thing I want is any more little kittens getting got by whatever this thing is

And OrientalSlave, if mumma was a Justa I would agree wholeheartedly about getting her speyed but this mumma is one of my best pedigree breeding cats, this is her third litter and the first time she has had any kind of issue, I'm hoping to get a few more litters out of her yet as her kittens have the best type and temperament.

I'm giving the whole cattery another wash down this weekend (I normally do one every week) with a double strength anti-bacterial/anti-fungal wash and my next litter isn't planned for 6 months (from a different mumma) so hopefully that will be long enough for whatever it is to be eliminated completely.

In the meantime I am keeping a close eye on mumma, no hardening or hot glands yet, I don't have any olive oil, I do have cocnut oil but I don't think she would like the smell of that, do you think a human nipple cream would be alright? They're usually safe for human babies so they should be alrght for a cat if she licks at it?

Anyway, she's going to make me cry again if doesn't stop rooting around in her basket like she's looking for her kittens (I let her say goodbye to each of them before I buried them) so I'm going to go find a little fluffy teddy bear or something to keep her company for now.

Sorry had no idea she is a pedigree.  What breed?

wegiebreeder said:

 I don't have any olive oil, I do have cocnut oil but I don't think she would like the smell of that, do you think a human nipple cream would be alright? They're usually safe for human babies so they should be alrght for a cat if she licks at it?
Anyway, she's going to make me cry again if doesn't stop rooting around in her basket like she's looking for her kittens (I let her say goodbye to each of them before I buried them) so I'm going to go find a little fluffy teddy bear or something to keep her company for now.

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Human nipple cream should be fine. CocNut oil of good quality too.  Olive oil you can buy in nearest food shop. what you dont use for tits you can use in your kitchen.      Use preferably one of high quality, it contains most E-vitamine too.

Yeah, this with teddy bear sounds good.   

Oriental:   Wegie is sometimes used as a friendly nickname for Norwegian Forest Cat, NFC  [small edit]

We in Sweden say usually  skogis = forestie    

Very sad when they are looking for their lost kittens.

I must be blind as well to not spot your user name - I know what a Wegie is!

Possibly it would have been worth having a autopsy on the last one to try to get a definitive view on what the problem is.

Only other thought is she might be ready to breed again sooner since she doesn't have a litter to raise.  Hope the teddy brings her some comfort.

Okay then, off to do some shopping, yuk... the things I do for my kitties!

Mumma is sleeping cuddled up with her teddy so I feel alright leaving her for a few hours. The vet has taken various samples so we'll see what comes back.

StefanZ - I like that nickname even better!

Oriental - She's normally good with not coming back into heat for a while after babies, her last litter had been completely removed from her for 2 months before she started coming on call again, so I'm hoping leaving the teddy bear with her will keep her maternal instincts high so she doesn't think about getting more babies yet... so long as she doesn't get attached to the teddy bear :/

I'm so glad Stefan and OS had some good ideas for you! I had thought about her doing a surrogate litter too but figured it wouldn't be a good idea since you don't know where the source of the infection (if that's what it was) originated from and the last thing you need is to lose another batch. 

I would try the creams as suggested to try and give her some comfort but if you see any signs of mastitis be sure you get her back to the vet ASAP. It sounds like you breed somewhat regularly and I have no doubt that you would anyway- I just had to throw it in there in good conscience. 

It sounds like you are emotionally handling it all as well as can be expected, though I'm sure seeing her search for her babies is gut wrenching. 

Hopefully her teddy provides her enough comfort for you both to get through this phase.         Vibes that she doesn't develop any complications and that this is a one time fluke incident.