my cat gave birth to kittens need help

she started labor at 11:00 pm ... she gave birth to a kitten ... about 15 minutes later she gave birth to other kitten and then another one after 30 minutes .... and then she gave birth to another one after two hours 

so now she have 4

the place she picked to give birth in is pretty cold and small ... i was concern that the kittens couldn't drink milk because the place is very small she couldn't lay on her side to feed them

so i put the kittens in a box with a blanket and tried to make her follow the box into my room (there is a warm nice place for her but i don't why she didn't give birth in it) anyways my cat went crazy when i took her kittens ... but i had too it was pretty cold down there 

good thing she followed me upstairs into my room and i put her in her place 

she was tired and trying to breath ... so i thought she was still in labor ... i sat next to her but i fell asleep

i woke up at 7:00 am to screaming voices from the kittens ... i found out she just gave birth to another one and was drinking water

i didn't see the new one move .. so i went to bring some napkins and warm water to try to clean him up

i came back to see that half of him disappeared ... there was no face and a lot of blood .. like she ate him or hurt him .. i don't know on purpose or by mistake? .. anyways i freaked out and went crying .. after i calmed down i went back to get him and bury what's left from him ... but i couldn't find him .. i tried to put my hand in there .. but i couldn't find him .. but he still could be with them but i wasn't lucky to find him? i don't know

anyways now it's 7:30 pm .. i see the 4 of them nursing normally ... she didn't eat anything since yesterday .. i tried to feed her myself but she refused (could she have eaten her baby?) .. she didn't go to the bathroom either ... but she drinks a lot of water though

i don't see her in labor ... but her tummy isn't very small .. could it be that there are some left inside of her? or maybe she's done

i don't know how to tell

i live in a village in a third world country so there is no good vets .. i could go tomorrow to the city but it takes 4 hours driving

and i'm scared the she will freak out from the car and eat another of her babies 

is there anything i can do? or can you answer any of my questions? 

does the thread shows a different time? i don't know i didn't fix the time in my laptop

 It's good you got her into a warmer place.    You did the right thing there.    Who knows what cats get into their heads.  but sometimes they really don't pick the best place  and if it was very cold,  they did need to be moved.  and the way to move them is what you did -- move the kittens and the mom follows.

 I am so sorry about what happened with that last baby.    That must have been awful to see.  Since you did not even see him move,  it might be he was already dead when he was born, or died soon after birth from some unknown  birth defect,  or she could have accidentally bit him and killed him while she was trying to pull him out and  panicked. 

  In those situations,  it's a normal instinct for the mother cat to eat the dead fetus before it will decompose and the smell could attract predators that would kill her other babies.     Cats sometimes still follow this instinct even when they are indoors and there are no other animals around.   It doesn't mean she is a bad mom.  In fact it may mean she is a good mom and was trying to protect the kittens who were still alive.   I know it is very upsetting  though.

 It would be good if you could soon make sure there is nothing left of that fetus,  because you don't want the tissue rotting and making the other ones ill. 

I don't  know for sure if she is done .  Sometimes they can have another kitten many hours later.  But it is normal for her to still be larger than usual after having kittens.     Her uterus is still stretched out,  and so are her abdominal muscles and skin,   plus she normally should have her mammary glands full of milk now, and that will make her bigger too. 

  Will she let you pet her and hold your hand against her belly ?  try feeling along her belly and sides.   You may be able to feel if she has another kitten inside.  If the kitten is alive you might feel it moving.   Even if not alive you might be able to feel the body - especially the head.  Look at the size of the other kittens' heads before you feel.

   Hopefully she is done and has no more kittens,  and is settled down and nursing the kittens she has.    If she does not seem satisfied in the nest you have prepared,  try to give her a more dark and hidden place.   She needs a bit of room to stretch out  but she might not need much room.   

Normally  I do advise to weigh kittens every day at about the same time,  using a scale that weighs in grams,  to make sure they are gaining .  You want to see them gain at least 10 grams per day.  better yet if they gain at least 15 grams per day.   Also when you weigh them, you can quickly look them over to make sure they look OK.

 but  I think you're going to go carefully and try not to upset your cat.       See if she will let you pet her first  before you even try to touch the kittens.

   You mostly should leave her alone,  but also keep an eye on her to make sure she is not hurting these kittens.   Since she has seemed to be caring for them.   and if she continues to nurse them and clean them ,  then I would bet that the other kitten she ate was already dead or at least that she didn't mean to hurt it.

The other thing is to watch out for her feeling hot,  seeming lethargic, vomiting,  or having an odor like something rotten, or a lot of dark or bloody discharge.  Those could be signs she had a dead fetus still inside her or a retained placenta.     If you see anything like that happen you need to phone the vet.  

 ( a small amount of discharge with some blood spotting is normal ) .

re her not eating -- she very probably ate the placentas if you didn't find any.  and probably ate the one fetus.  so it's no surprise she is not hungry.  Even without eating a dead fetus,  the placentas often fill them up and some queens don't feel hungry for a day or two.    Just make sure she has fresh water and offer her some more food later tonight.   or leave a bowl of dry kitten food for her to eat when she wants it.

I don't have experience of anything like this but wanted to say you have coped amazingly well. I don't think I would have managed on my own and it must have been really upsetting to see that last little kitten like you did.  I do believe it is a sign that your cat is a good mother and she was looking after her healthy babies in the best way she knew how to.

I am here hoping all is well for your mother cat and her 4 kittens, and that there are no more kittens there, that they all stay well.    

I am sorry you have experienced this but I want to suggest something - Since you didn't see the last kitten, are you sure it was a kitten or could it have been the placentas? It is normal for a mother cat to eat the afterbirth, though to us it sounds yucky. It gives the mother nourishment at a moment when she cannot get away to find food. And also of course cleans the nest up. But if a kitten is born dead or very deformed she will often eat it for hte same reasons, it is Nature looking after its own.

I an glad you have some healthy kittens and that their mom is looking after them.

hey maewkaew  thank you so much for you replay

you helped me yesterday thank you

unfortunately bad things happened

I woke after that night to find out that one of the kittens is dead 

I decided to take the rest to the vet even though it's far, but i have to wait until the night because it's friday and it's the holy day in my country and all things closes during the day in friday except hospitals and pharmacies .. so i thought i could take them at night  but when i called my friend she said no the vets will not even open at night not until saturday at 4:00 pm (our weekend is friday and satureday) animals don't get sick on weekends???

so i had to deal with them by my own 

i noticed that one of them isn't drinking ... i tried to left him and put him on his mom's chest but he can't grab anything .. he falls evertime

so i went to the pharmacy and bought a needle and lactose free milk (this is all what they have that i can use) .. i tried to feed him but he refuses 

i called my friend to come over and help me because she had experience with kittens before .. maybe she knows how to feed him

by the time she was on her way the mom left the kittens .. i tried to bring her back to her kittens she stays with them a little and then leaves 

i was warming them up and by the time my friend arrived another one died .. the one that wasn't eating 

we decided that the kittens will stay with her because clearly there was something wrong and also the mom doesn't want to sit with them

so the 2 kittens went with her .... one of them drank 3 ml of milk and the other one refused .. but she forced him ... after two hours again one drank 3 ml of milk and the other one refused .. and when she tried to force him milk got out of his nose ... he died an hour later

now there is one left ... she fed him 6 times now 3 ml every two hours 

now it's saturdy 5:30 am we hope he can survive until 5:00 pm to go to the vet

we are gonna take him and his mom

we are thinking that the kittens  maybe are premature but we can't know without a scale .. we couldn't find that weight a gram but we are gonna look again

the mom didn't return to the nest until 7 hours later .. and she didn't go crazy when she didn't see the kittens .. which is a good thing but also good thing that we took them from her ... that last one may survive 

though she is acting completely strange

she is very independent cat .. she is usually not very friendly and likes to do her own thing (completely the opposite of my other cat) .. she doesn't like to stay in one room and doesn't like to sleep with me 

though right now she follows me everywhere and hugs me .. and if i'm 2 minutes out of her sight she cries loudly (she never cries)

since yesterday she didn't leave my side .. which is very weird for her

anyways hope everything goes well

thank you

 I am so very sorry this is happening.    I can tell you are a very kind and resourceful person and trying to do the best you can.     At least you have given them a more comfortable place for their short lives. 

 Rest in peace,  little kittens ...
 

  It's impossible to know just what the problem is.  They might be premature,  or might have got some infection even before they were born.   I hope you will manage to save this last kitten.      But sometimes kittens just fade away and there is nothing to be done.

   One has to be very careful in giving milk / formula  to kittens.  It's not a good idea to force it in  if they are not swallowing it -- it's easy to give too much ,  or for it to just go  in too fast,  go down the trachea (the tube to the lungs) instead of the esophagus ( the tube to the stomach) ,  and if even a drop gets in their lungs,   they get pneumonia and can die quickly.   Even very experienced rescuers and breeders have had kittens die from aspiration pneumonia.

 *  Also  I just want to make sure you know that it's important to not hold them on their backs  to feed them.   They need to be with their paws down,  back up .  or with the front part of their body slightly raised  ( like when they are nursing from their mother).

You are doing a lot of things right.   You knew that you needed to warm up the kitten.   You did right to at least get lactose free milk.     Goat's milk would be OK and so is the stuff called "evaporated milk"  that comes in cans,    the kind without sugar added.     Here is a link to some  info on feeding kittens.   http://www.kitten-rescue.com/what_to_feed.html

 Here is a link to more recipes for making homemade kitten formula .   ( You can use goat's milk in these recipes instead of the evaporated milk.)  http://www.hdw-inc.com/glop.htm

  3ccs  IS a normal amount  per feeding for a newborn kitten  IF they are normal weight,    But if they WERE premature,  or just low birth weight,   it's possible it can be too much,  and it comes back up from their stomach.. and then is swallowed the wrong way & gets in the lungs. 

( Under 80 grams it is considered low birth weight.   And even a bit under 80 is not terrible  ( but I would feed less at a time) .     But when the weight is down to around 60 grams,  the risk is much higher.)

  Another tip -- if a kitten is weak,  sometimes it can help to give them a little dextrose   / glucose ,  or honey ,  rub it on their gums in their mouth.    That way if they had low blood sugar,  it can give them some short term energy and sometimes then a weak kitten is able to nurse.

If the mother cat is not helping the kitten to go pee and poop,  you will need to do that too.    That same site tells about it. http://www.kitten-rescue.com/pooping_and_peeing.html

It sounds like your cat ,  even though she is worried and confused  and almost just a kitten herself,  understands that you are trying to help. 

I am so sorry this has happened - but as said already, sometimes there is nothing you can do, the kittens are just not fated to live. I hope the last one survives and that you can get it and the mother to the vet to be checked over. You have had good advice from Maewkaew - I have raised orphans on goat milk, but maybe the mother will be able to feed her last kitten. Good luck.

I'm thinking of you, so sad to hear about the 3 kittens.  My hopes are now concentrated on this tough little survivor pulling through and staying with us.  You did everything you could and I am sorry things have gone this way.  The mother cat seems to be finding comfort with you and trusts you which is a good thing.  I agree with jennyranson that if you can get the mother cat to a vet for a check out this would be good for her, esp. with the kittens not being strong.      for mother cat and her little baby. 

thank you so much maewkaew, MServant, jennyranson

so sorry all the kittens died 

may they rest in peace 

   So  sad, I am very sorry things went this way.   I hope momma cat is doing alright and that you are able to comfort each other.  You have been amazing for her, and both she and her babies had their best chance of survival because of what you did for them.  Believe you did everything you could for those babies and that they are all together now.  

Take care of yourself through all of this, and continue to love and take care of that precious momma cat.  

Did the last kitten die?

Very, very sad, not only for them and you, but I have always seen the mom's sadness, even when they feel they must do what yours did with the last born kitten, eat it.

The mom cat will eat every last bit of the kitten, you will find small parts in her poop after a couple days, sorry for the graphics but it is nature, despite the love she felt for them all, her survival instincts had to remove the predator attracting smell of a weak or dead baby.

In my opinion, those babies may not have been kept warm enough by momma, even when a room is a hot 80+ degrees, it's hot to us, not them, they need to be between 98-100 degrees, any lower and their organs go into a neutral state and are no longer able to process any milk. This is why is is absolutely critical to be sure a baby is fully warmed before attempting to feed. It will kill the baby very, very fast.

When you see a newborn not latch onto a nipple and nurse, just lay there, either off alone (they will continuously scoot away) or laying there but not latched on, they have lost their will to survive/thrive. It's a fast downhill slope after that happens. Some can be revived, I have certainly revived many, it just depends on how early their going downhill is caught.

So sorry about the babes, please get momma cat spayed

Oh nana, I am so very sorry.   I know this is heartbreaking.   

Take good care of the poor mama cat.   I'm glad she has you. 

  Catwoman has a good suggestion to get her spayed now so she doesn't have to go through it again. 

RIP dear baby kittens     

I am so sorry. Sometimes things happen we have no control over, and you really did all you could. It is possible that she has some genetic problem which could have caused the deaths. But whether that is the case or not, I am sure you would not want her to go through this again. So my advice would be to get her spayed quickly as she could get pregnant again now very soon.

jennyranson said:

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Agree absolutely.