Would could cause 2 kittens from two different litters to simply waste away at the same age?

wildside

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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
 

maewkaew

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  One possible guess  is that there is some problem with an internal organ that is not able to support the kitten past a certain point of growth.  

 The inheritance mode could either be dominant  just coming from one parent  -  for example the father -- and if it's a gene  with variable expression , then even though dominant he himself might not suffer from the problem.   ( because if , for example,  the sire carries one copy  of the abnormal gene ,   

but it can also sometimes turn out that some are affected more than the others.  

But   it also certainly might be a recessive gene that a kitten has to get from both parents in order to be affected.      and it may be both the mothers have  a copy of it. ( and they may be close relatives) .

With a recessive,  if both parents carry 1 copy  ,  they themselves would not have whatever the condition is , but they could each pass it on to approximately half the kittens over time.   Since it would take 2 copies to   so  on average one would expect 25% affected kittens.  

  Other kittens would carry one copy and could pass it on.  

I hope  the parents can be neutered .    and  the kittens when old enough.  
 
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mybff

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The reason is often not know, why one kitten doesn't do well. That kitten off to the side needs to be bottle fed with kitten formula immediately, ( you can get it at a pet store) and he needs to be kept warm, or he won't survive. It may be that he is not strong enough to get to his mom to nurse or there could be something wrong that is unkown. It is for sure that if not fed right away he will not live.
 

denice

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This happens even with kittens born to cats that have been well cared for and bred by responsible breeders.  I have heard it called fading kitten syndrome.  I don't think anyone knows the cause and it very well not be a single cause.  It's one of those very unfortunate things that happen.
 
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