I am fostering a mother cat who gave birth late Friday night/Saturday morning to three kittens. Everyone seemed fine, mother cat appears to be doing a good job. This morning I found that one of the kittens had died, no idea why. Now I'm very worried about the rest of the litter. What is the normal newborn kitten behavior? They seem to be sleeping mostly, with some moving/stretching, occasional meowing (although less meowing than yesterday... I think, it's kinda hard to tell). Does that seem normal? Are there any signs that I can look for that means the kittens are doing well/not well? When I go into the room mamma cat seems more interested in getting attention from me than sitting with her kittens, so I haven't seen her nurse them. But she's always in the box with the kittens when I check on her so I have to assume she is. When she does climb in with the kittens she often seems to lie on top of them or rolls around on her back - I'm worried she's going to squish them! Am I just being overly worried?
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newborn kitten behavior?
- Thread starter 0112358
- Start Date
No you arent overly worried - who shall worry if not you? A good caretaker shall be vigilant and observant.
Some kittens may die of no apparent reason. Unpleasant but so it may be. He perhaps got fluid in the lungs during birthing. Pneumonia from such is the perhaps single most common death cause for healthy newborn kittens.
The behavior seems normal, both from kittens and mom. A key to know for sure how they are faring, is to weigh them every day. Or at very least, to held them in your hands, so you get some idea if they gain or not. A healhy, normally sized kitten should add 10+ grammes every day. If the kitten is born very small, or just had a crisis, 6+ is acceptable.
Also, your problem is, are they thriving, sleeping and not complaing because all is well, or are they lying there because they are lethargic and dying? Which yes, may be a problem to know... So, start to weigh them, so you get a starting point. Borrow a scale from some neigbour if you dont have it at home. Otherwise, Walmart and the like has cheap kitchen electronical scales measuring in grammes. Take next measurement in 12 hours, to get an idea. Thereafter normally every 24 hours.
Also, be there with the mom and kittens a longer while, so you see if she is actually nursing - my guess is she does, but there IS the shadow of doubt.
Why they seem to meow less? My guess is now when they are just two, they dont need to compete for the best teats.
But if you DO notice they are lethargic for real, the trick is to smear some glucose sugar on their gum. It goes directly to the blood from there, and perks them up almost instantly... Brand names for the glucose sugar powder may be Dextrose or Dextropur, or something similiar. There are also flavored tablets for giving quick energy, sold a little everywhere. These are useful too. Just crush the tablet, take some powder and wet it a little.
If you dont have real glucose sugar, you can use white caro syrup or even honey. Both contain much glucose sugar.
Welcome with reports or more questions!
Good luck!
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