2 week old kittens dying one after another !

My female cat gave birth to five kittens two weeks ago, everything seemed fine, they were nursing well and all, one week later, i discovered that one of the kittens became VERY VERY skinny and really weak (too weak to move at all) and he could not compete with his other siblings that were quite big at the time. after 48 hours, i found him dead. And here is where it gets really weird.... so one day after that happened, another cat started showing the same symptoms, and died two days later, his siblings seemed fine... but hey, guess what ? two days later, another one is having the same issue (huge weight loss, extreme weakness, inability to make a proper sound.) his only other brother is looking okay, but i'm extremely anxious about this since the same exact thing happened before, it's like everytime a kitten dies, another's health becomes in jeopardy aswell !Side note: we have no vets close to our city, the closest one is 720 miles away. i also considered feeding them myself because i thought they could be incompatible with their mother, but i didn't find any KMR ...

Sounds awfully like fading kittens, which is very hard to do anything about even with the help of a vet.

Any incompatibility would be the blood groups and it's far too late to do anything about that.  This link tells you something about fading kittens, and you can make sure they are warm enough, not dehydrated, and give them some sugar drops.  I also weigh my young kittens each day at about the same time, as the first sign of problems is usually that they stop gaining weight.  A healthy kitten with a healthy mother would normally gain about 10g or more most days.

http://www.icatcare.org/advice-centre/cat-health/kitten-deaths-‘fading-kittens’

One of my foster litters had this, and sadly they all died.  In that case i suspect they were a bit premature.

Thank you for replying, i had to move the third kitten(the one who is dying at the moment) away from the mother as i noticed some flea problems and suspected that might be the issue, it pained me so, so much to do it but i thought that would be the best option to try and keep at least one of the kittens alive... the third one is basically doomed to die since he doesn't move much and his mother wouldn't even let him nurse... since i moved him away, his mother gave more time to the last kitten to nurse . do queens know when their kittens are about to die ? is it irrelevant to them if they do ?

Ahmed Nadim96 said:

 
 i also considered feeding them myself because i thought they could be incompatible with their mother, but i didn't find any KMR ...

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 Can you get  goat milk?  Goat milk works fine if you dont have a good kmr at hand.

Raw goat milk is best if you can get it, it contains some defensive antibodies...

Please continue to report and ask!

Good luck!

Ahmed Nadim96 said:

 
, i had to move the third kitten(the one who is dying at the moment) away from the mother as i noticed some flea problems and suspected that might be the issue, it pained me so, so much to do it but i thought that would be the best option to try and keep at least one of the kittens alive... the third one is basically doomed to die since he doesn't move much and his mother wouldn't even let him nurse... since i moved him away, his mother gave more time to the last kitten to nurse . do queens know when their kittens are about to die ? is it irrelevant to them if they do ?

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Oh, if there are fleas, you must fight against them.  They may be THE reason for kittens dying off, or they are at the least, "the last straw which get the camel to broke down", with weakish kittens...

Yes, it is common cat moms abandon a dying kitten.  So you did right.

If you want to try and save it, you must fight on yourself.

As said, keep it warm.  If cold, it wont nurse, nor can use the food it gets.

Keep it watered. Forcefeed if necessary.

Give it honey on the gum, to perk in some energy...

continuing

If YOU give it food or water,  let it lay on his tummy, head up.  Seems awkward, but it is so they do nurse from mom.   Give him small portions, may be often but with the weak ones must be small.

The risk is big they dont swallow everything, or get reflux and inhale what they did already swallowed.

If they get such reflux in the lungs, they get pneumonia from it, and do usually die from it.

contnuing

Fleas, yes.  Kemical or medical preparates are harmful for such smalls, so unless you have something you are really sure it is OK, you must take it by hand.

Comb them, and pluck off the fleas and eggs by hand. Drown them i water with soap in. Begin with the kittens, and also the mom.

If desperate enough, you can try and bathe the kittens.  In USA they use Dawn fluid soap.  As you arent in USA, I suppose most mild fluid soaps should work.  Mild children shampoo, or mild dish kitchen cleaning soap. 

Be careful so the kittens dont get any water nor soap in mouth or nose.  Be sure there is no draugh where they are bathed.  Afterwards dry off them well, and keep them warm, so they dont get cold...

Good luck!

If there are fleas on the cat & kittens there are flea eggs in the bedding.  Change it for clean, wash the old bedding hot (60c) or get rid of it.

Frontline pump action spray is OK for kittens from 2 days old - you spray it on some cotton wool and damp the kitten with it.  I have no idea if it's available where you live.

Big thanks to everybody for the support and advice you gave me. Unfortunatly, the kitten is about to die and there was nothing i could do... the mother even neglected him... i tried to feed it but as soon as the honey gets to his throat, he just coughs it and can't swallow it back... After she's done with this litter, i'm going to have my cat spayed so that this doesn't happen again because seeing these kittens dying infront of me is just too much... Well i can at least take care of the last kitten while he's still alive. i'll keep updating you on how he's doing if you want to.

Ahmed Nadim96 said:

Big thanks to everybody for the support and advice you gave me. Unfortunatly, the kitten is about to die and there was nothing i could do... the mother even neglected him... i tried to feed it but as soon as the honey gets to his throat, he just coughs it and can't swallow it back... After she's done with this litter, i'm going to have my cat spayed so that this doesn't happen again because seeing these kittens dying infront of me is just too much... Well i can at least take care of the last kitten while he's still alive.

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Yes, tx, please do report and tell!  Some of our forumites had lost whole litters to such a fading kittens syndrome, but several had one or two left.  The strongest one I presume...  So there is chance and hope.  Fight off the fleas, so the chance will be bigger.

Good luck!

the dying kitten didn't die yet, it's a good sign, i'll try to get my hands on some goat milk tomorow if he survives untill then. The other kitten is with his mother as i write this, and is apparently doing fine.
I'll see how they're doing in the morning and let you know what happens. Untill then, good night.

Good morning,
So i woke up today and went to check on the little kitten to see how he's doing. And he was looking terrible ! So i took off and searched through the whole city in hope to find goat milk. I finally got my hands on it after two and a half hours... When i finally got home, it was too late. I found out that the kitten has drawn it's last breath already... The other kitten is doing fine at the moment. I could upload a picture of him later on if i find out how to do it. By the way, the mother is acting weird lately. She's always going into dark corners around the house ! Could she be pregnant so soon after her first litter ?? I'm suspecious because i do have a male in the house aswell (her brother)anf he seems to be in heat as he tried to mount her while she was just sitting but she just didn't care at all.

Yes, the mom can be preg already. Or will be soon, as you do have a willing male in your house.

Unlike humans, they arent protected by lactacing and nursing.

The best is to spay her (and preferably him too) as soon it is practically possible...

Re uploading pics, its easy.  When you write, you have several rectangles with symbols in them.

The second one from right, the lefties symbols "the hills with sun above", hover with your mouse on it, or click on it...  Afterwards itns quite intuitive.  Even I managed to load up a pic when I needed.

Sorry for you dead kittens.  Good luck for those alive!

Okay,so can she be spayed right now even if she just got pregnant ? Or do i have to wait untill her next litter ? Also, if her brother was actually the father, could that be the reason why all the kittens are dying ?

Ahmed Nadim96 said:

Okay,so can she be spayed right now even if she just got pregnant ? Or do i have to wait untill her next litter ? Also, if her brother was actually the father, could that be the reason why all the kittens are dying ?

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Yes, you can spay her without any problems in the early pregnancy.  I saw one british veterinarian handbook which recommended exactly this.  As spaying when they are in heat is more difficult and risky for unexperienced surgeon. You arent always sure when they are going into heat.  So the easiest was to let them mate, wait to the heat was over, and spay, said the handbook.

Later on when she is "more pregnant"  spaying is still possible, but it becomes of course unpleasant and ethically more difficult too, both for the owner and for the surgeon.

She is nursing still at this moment, so spaying is not ideal, we usually recommend to wait till they are done with the nursing at about 8 weeks.   Here you can obviously not wait so long.

It is also not unusual they must do emergency spaying, say mom got complications, or infected vomb. They are rushed in, emergency spayed, come home, and usually proceed to nurse their kittens.  some can even do it almost immediately, other must rest 24 hours, but they almost all continue their nursing.

So, do this spaying when practically possible, dont wait to long if you suspect she is preg.

Here you do have this goat milk now at hand as a back up, so the kitten will have its food, this way or another.

Re. her brother t = the father.  It may have caused the problems, but not at all sure.

Fully possible, but not sure.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice, today i saw That one of the mother's breasts was abnormally big, it does not seem to bother her though... What is that about ?? Could the milk from THAT breast be toxic ?? What should i do ?
Ps : i couldn't post earlier because my pc broke so i'm writing this on the phone.

Ahmed Nadim96 said:

Thanks for the advice, today i saw That one of the mother's breasts was abnormally big, it does not seem to bother her though... What is that about ?? Could the milk from THAT breast be toxic ?? What should i do ?
Ps : i couldn't post earlier because my pc broke so i'm writing this on the phone.

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I dont have a really good answer.  Or rather, the given advice to let a vet examine her, doesnt works, as you said you dont have a vet at your place. Nor I suppose you dont have any way to get some antibiotic cream?.   (and which antibiotic would work I dont know. There are forumists who know, not I).

Yes, it may be some inflammation.  Cats are often good to conceal pain. We had example of a heroic mom who had fully deweloped sewer mastitis (inflammation in the teats) and she still was willing to nurse her kittens...

I there any color changes? Any pus?  The breast wasnt bigger earlier one week ago?   (I know most people are not looking daily at their cats teats.  Experienced breeders probably do, but few others).

It may be "just" some milk stocking too, now when there is just one kitten left...

Any way, you can have some olive oil on it.  Or raw honey just from the bees, is also good.   If you have some mild cream for inflammed women breasts, you can surely try with this too.

Try to see the kitten is not eating from that teat.   It may be good the kitten eats from the other teats, it would hurt her if he ended alltoghether.  So good if you are near and see what happens.

Good you do have now this goat milk, if necessary.  You know how to give bottle / dropper?  The kitten on its tummy, paws down, head up. The same position as it is nursing from mom.  The dropper aside the mouths, never straigh into the throath.  Slowly, so there is no risk any dropps of the food come into the lungs.

If it is poisoning with inflammed teats?  If it is inflammed with lotsa of bacterias and pus, possible.  But as I understand, if a kitten nurse from a mom with masitis, it usually does NOT get sick from it.  Even if that mastitis is bad...  It hurts the mom, though.   As said, we did had an example of it.

My guess these kittens died from some other reason.

Good luck!   *vibes*

The kitten seems to have no problem nursing from there, as a matter of fact, she doesn't want to do it anywhere else ! the teat that's larger does have a slightly different color that the others (red-ish) i tried to get some milk out of it to see if it's weird or anything, it's seems okay, although it surely produces a lot more that the other teats ! if it doesn't hurt the cat, i'll go buy some cream tomorrow morning and i'll apply some olive oil, hopefully that does the trick ! and by the way, the kitten seems to be fine, it's eyes are fully open and it started playing and walking almost well !