Chloe's Kittens

Hi all.

Chloe is my kitty cat. She was a stray that I took under and gave a home. She's probably less than a year old and is still not fully grown. Didn't realize she was pregnant (or could get pregnant even) till she got sick and stopped eating about 8 1/2 weeks ago.

She gave birth to 6 kittens yesterday.

The problem is Chloe doesn't clean her babies. The nesting area smells like poop fast enough. I have so far 1) washed each kitten with soap once this afternoon; and 2) wiped them down again a few minutes ago with a damp cloth tonight.

I thought the mother was supposed to be actively cleaning each of the newborns, but she doesn't.

What do I do? Is washing each cat with warm running water OK? Or is the warm damp cloth alone better? How do I get the mother to clean her newborns? She actively goes into the nesting box to feed her babies but she doesn't seem to clean them or understand that she's supposed to. 

Thanks.

I would advise against bathing them at this time. This is a good article on why. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/bathing-small-kittens-tips-that-can-save-a-kittens-life

Something else I'm more concerned about based on what you say is whether they are warm enough. Is she keeping them warm? Newborns can't retain any body heat.

It sounds to me like she is basically just a young and inexperienced mom who is making mistakes because she doesn't know what to do. Since the kittens are VERY young, and she is probably still recovering from the birth, I'd give it few days to let her acclimate and catch on.

I hope you will consider getting her spayed as soon as possible, and that you will keep her inside and away from any studs until she can get spayed.

I'm not sure why I did bathe them (lower half only) but I thought I read about it somewhere.

I will avoid doing so.

At 6 kittens, they seem to go into an huddle-orgy and start peeing and pooping all over each other. 

The mother, although attentive and eager to feed, doesn't do more than enter the nesting box and lay there. I try to guide the kittens to her nipples and such. But after a few hours the box stinks and the towels I've laid down there are soiled. 

THANK YOU very much for the article about bathing kittens. I didn't realize how sensitive to temperature kittens can be.

I definitely plan on holding Chloe indoors till the kittens are weaned and then I will go have her spayed. This will be difficult as throughout out her pregnancy, she loved being outdoors for a few hours every day.

I am not a pet or animal person. I am only trying to do a good deed for an animal that I now love and care about. But frankly I would be much happier without all of these cats. 

I am rather upset that the neighbor has not neutered their tomcat. I'm pretty sure he's caused many a litter by now. 

Good the kittens do poop and pee by themselves.  As half of the point of washing is not just cleaning, but also stimulating...  When I saw the title, I got afraid the real problem was they werent stimulated...

Tulosais advices and remarks were sound, just to agree.   Wipe them as long as you can, and wash in carefully controlled, warm situation, just when its really necessary.

Lets hope her maternal instincts will kick in and she began with washing too.    Cats dont like smelly nests, so its an instinct for them to do everything to keep it clean.

Re the tom from outside.  Can you talk over the neighbours into neutering it??   Find a cheap spay clinic nearby, and give them the adress too??  Or even if necessary, propose you will yourself help them with taking the tom there and back...

If its easy and fairly cheap, they may agree.

Good luck!

THe kittens stimulate themselves since they are so many they rub and knock into each other as they try to stay warm.

The nest stinks so I now (3rd day) have been replacing the towels whenever neccesary.

My cat only knows how to clean herself and lay near the kittens. She does nothing else. 

After a few hours there's poop and pee all over the towel. 

It almost feels as though I am raising birds or chicklets. The same sort of smell. 

Please help. I am typing this with two kittens wrapped in a paper towel and lying on my chest and in my hand for warmth. They are either very sleepy or they are fading.  All 6 of these kittens are filthy, some with poop on their heads .Yet I'm sure now that even wiping them down with warm wet cloth is dangerous due to risk of hypothermia.

one of them passed away. this was the one that was on the outlier of the circle of feeding when i came back from work. she was cold and was not crying when i picked her up; nor was she looking for a nipple when i moved the others out the way. i tried warming her up for 30 minutes in my hand and then tried putting her with her mother close by her chest but then when i came back she was still not feeding or crying and just barely able to move.

Hi!

How is the other one doing?

You have the right idea. Warmth is the most important thing.

Something you can do to try to perk the other one up and make her want to eat once she's warm is to rub some glucose or sucrose on her gums. Plain white sugar can ork too in a pinch but is not ideal because it takes much longer.

I am sorry this is happening. I know it is heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, the other passed too

Chloe, the mother, is ...

One of the remaining kittens moved out of the nesting box... I heard it crying but the mother did nothing but lay where she was.

She's also not eating. Anything. Last thing she ate was a few treats but now she's not even eating that. And she looks like a bag of bones after giving birth. 

I have tried rotisserie chicken just now too - lightly blended in warm water and she has not taken to that either. 

I will have to go out and buy kitten milk because at this point it seems these kittens are not getting enough milk or the nutrients they need.

And they are still filthy. My fingers smell like kitten poop after I have touched them -- and at this point I am afraid they will died if I try to clean them. 

This has been a very heatbreaking night.

Other than not eating, does she seem off? I mean She could have had another kitten and it could have died inside of her. If it doesn't get out it will kill her. The reason I asked if she seemed off is because if she does have a dead kitten inside of her she would stop eating, and start to seem sick. Though if it has been a couple of days then I could be wrong and it could be something else entirely. I would take her and the remaining kittens to a vet as soon as you can. I am so very sorry for your loss. Sending good thoughts   

She doesn't seem off at all, except she's trying to be a mother and her meow is raspier than it was. She had a few bites to eat since my last post. But just a few bites. She's not listless or lethargic and she's not throwing up. She had 6 kittens. That seems like a lot. I doubt she has anymore in her.

It's not possible to touch the kittens without touching poop...

They seem to poop without any stimulation. 

I tried going to sleep in grief but I kept getting woken up by the sounds of kittens chirping... they keep meowing and settling in seems very difficult to do. I'm exhausted from lack of sleep and work right now.  I should have purchased the kittle replacement milk when i was at Petco today, but I figured it could wait as the kittens were still only 2 days old.

I will have to wash them but I don't want to interfere anymore. I will try simply wiping them off clean with a dry paper towel. 

The one who first died today had no name. Black with hint of tortie and white highlights by the face with white scarf. 5 toes on the front.

The 2nd one who died is Nico. He was black and had white stripe on the top of his head. 6 toes. These two in the litter looked the most simillar to each other, true siblings.

The 4 remaining are Jr. and Puppy -- two mostly black cats, although Puppy has brown eyebrows. And Leo and Axle -- two light orange cats. 

I have prepared a box with Nico and his sister for burial.  They both died in my hands...

I am so sorry. I honestly do not know of anything that can help. When my queen gave birth I didn't have this problem. She cleaned them up and let them nurse and stayed with them to keep them warm. If you lived near me I would most definitely help out with the kittens. As far as I can tell you re doing everything right. Hopefully someone can give you better advice than me. 

Honestly I would get mom to the vet if you can. Her being inexperienced, it is normal that she'd make some mistakes, and often queens won't eat for a few days after the birth if they ate the placentas because they are full. But if I'm understanding right and we are 4 days out from the birth, and she is still not eating and is not helping the kittens along really at all, it is possible something is seriously wrong. I don't mean to alarm you but if she were mine, for my own peace of mind, I'd get her checked out. What you are describing is not wholly normal. Did she eat all 6 placentas?

It is really unlikely that the kittens are going without any stimulation or that they are stimulating one another. Are you absolutely sure mom is not doing this for them? Is she not licking/grooming them AT ALL or is she just extremely ineffective? If you are sure she is not, I would take over stimulating them. That way you can better control when and where they go, and you can also make sure they are all in fact going.

If possible get a scale and weigh them all every day. This is the best way to be sure if they are getting enough milk or not.

I know what a difficult experience this must be and am very sorry.

tulosai said:

 I would take over stimulating them. That way you can better control when and where they go, and you can also make sure they are all in fact going.

If possible get a scale and weigh them all every day. This is the best way to be sure if they are getting enough milk or not.

 

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That was a creative tip! Yes, its worth trying.   I second the rest of advices too including a vet check up.  Wise precaution.

The weighting is too a good tip.

Re  kmr: if you can get full fat goat milk(no obscure low fat variation that is), it is OK too.  Fresh goat milk is even better.   Use a dropper in the beginning.  A bottle may be too difficult if they are weak.

Re perking up fading kittens:  make sure they are warm, like you tried with. You can even massage them some, limbs and so.  And like Tulosai said, smear some glucose sugar on their gums. Be it glucose sugar proper, or honey, or white caro syrup.  Maple syrup should also be OK.  If you dont have anythyng such at hand, even common white sugar should work, although its much slower.

Its probable these yours got pneumonia, its what most often kills healthy newborn kittens.  If so, warming up and glucose sugar wouldnt help them.

But sometimes home remedies are enough.

Good luck!  @ChloeJune

At this point it sounds like this is more than a new mom not knowing what to do. I would get her to a vet asap if she were mine. I would also start feeding the kittens (their not being able to settle could be caused by mom not having enough milk), stimulating them to go to the bathroom and cleaning them. You CAN wash them, just keep them warm during and after the process, and dry them well. It is not good for them to be covered in pee and poop, much better to give a quick bath and then get them dry and warm.

momto3cats said:

 
At this point it sounds like this is more than a new mom not knowing what to do. I would get her to a vet asap if she were mine. I would also start feeding the kittens (their not being able to settle could be caused by mom not having enough milk), stimulating them to go to the bathroom and cleaning them. You CAN wash them, just keep them warm during and after the process, and dry them well. It is not good for them to be covered in pee and poop, much better to give a quick bath and then get them dry and warm.

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I agree with this, if there was no improvement its vet asap now.   Also I agree on the  other comments..

@ChloeJune

I also wanted to chime in again and say I also agree with all the comments @StefanZ  and others have  made since last night.

@ChloeJune  how are they all doing today?

I left work early to tend to the kittens. Last night I had intervals of only 20 minutes of sleep, waking up to tend to the cries of the kittens and make sure they are in a better position to suckle on mother. 

This morning Jr. was fading and I tried dropping a few drops of preheated goat's milk into his mouth. He seemed to pep up alittle considering that by the end of it he was able to cry a little. But he looked exactly as listless as Nico and their sister did when they were fading.  Jr was just fine yesterday. But sadly he has passed as well.

I placed an electric blanket underneath the box this morning. Perhaps, the box itself is not good for the kittens or the mother. They are now underneath the bed and were carried underneath there by their mother.  I don't like the new location  as I can't get to them easily  and the floor will be cold, but at this point perhaps mother knows best.

The 5th and 6th kittens to be born, the 2 orange cats, Axle and Leo, are still doing strong - and they both pee and poop without stimulation. Puppy, the last remaining black kitty, is probably the strongest one. He's the only one who uses his 4 day-old paws to knead on mother while he is suckling.

I have purchased a package of kitty wipes. This seems to be the best way to clean them.

On Friday during birth, Chloe ate 5 of her placenta. I picked up the last one and threw it away. I know this cat, and have seen her sick. She's not sick even though she's not eating as much as she should be. She drinks a little of the goats milk.

I will take them to the vet tomorrow.

Leo, Axle, and Puppy will have no problems being adopted in the future if they make it. 

Jr. will be buried next to this siblings. I called him Jr., BTW, because he resembled his dad the most -- male, all black + 6 toes. 

Thanks for all the replies and concerns. 

I have no experience here to help out, but I wanted to commend you for doing all you can for the kittens. Did you get the chance to call a vet about the situation? I suggest doing so.

Please keep us posted. I will be following this thread with well wishes.