Here's the skinny, nearly a month ago (on friday it'll be a month) I was called by someone I know who had a litter of 6 kittens on their porch, the mother had sadly been hit and killed just hours after the kittens were born. So I took them in and bottle fed them.
All was well until exactly a week later when one of the kittens, a male stopped growing and started getting skinnier and skinnier until at 2 weeks old, he died. The rest of the kittens, 3 more males included are perfectly fine, checked out by the vet as perfectly healthy, not so much as goopy eyes.
Well, exactly a week after I was given the litter of kittens, the same people found another litter of newborn kittens in their shed, the mother this time, still around, they have been keeping an eye on the kittens until they are old enough to take and tame. The kittens are now 17 days old and one of the kittens is smaller than the others, and is getting skinny around his face, spine and legs just like the one I had, his nose and paw pads are white and each time they've checked on the kittens (the mother is fairly friendly) the smaller kitten has been laying off to the side, while the others nurse.
Both kittens had similar markings, so we're sure they have the same father, a large orange and white tom that runs around the neighbor hood, but there again, he looks perfectly healthy.
My question is, what could cause this, there's obviously something wrong on the males side, But what? especially when the other kittens are fat and healthy.
Here's a pic of my kittens now, fat, bright eyed and playful
And here's a pic of the litter in the shed at my friends.
And here is a pic of the kitten they took for me.
And here is the one I had that died when he was a couple days old, they both look like perfectly normal kittens.
Any ideas would be great
All was well until exactly a week later when one of the kittens, a male stopped growing and started getting skinnier and skinnier until at 2 weeks old, he died. The rest of the kittens, 3 more males included are perfectly fine, checked out by the vet as perfectly healthy, not so much as goopy eyes.
Well, exactly a week after I was given the litter of kittens, the same people found another litter of newborn kittens in their shed, the mother this time, still around, they have been keeping an eye on the kittens until they are old enough to take and tame. The kittens are now 17 days old and one of the kittens is smaller than the others, and is getting skinny around his face, spine and legs just like the one I had, his nose and paw pads are white and each time they've checked on the kittens (the mother is fairly friendly) the smaller kitten has been laying off to the side, while the others nurse.
Both kittens had similar markings, so we're sure they have the same father, a large orange and white tom that runs around the neighbor hood, but there again, he looks perfectly healthy.
My question is, what could cause this, there's obviously something wrong on the males side, But what? especially when the other kittens are fat and healthy.
Here's a pic of my kittens now, fat, bright eyed and playful
And here's a pic of the litter in the shed at my friends.
And here is a pic of the kitten they took for me.
And here is the one I had that died when he was a couple days old, they both look like perfectly normal kittens.
Any ideas would be great