Need help for 1 day old kitten!

Hello! Ok so, my cat got pregnant in Dec from a stray when she was 5 months old. She just had her babies yesterday, Feb 26th. 3 of the kittens stoped growing at some point during pregnancy so she only has 1 left.

She's been cleaning this kitten right from the start, she cuddles with it to keep it warm, yet when the baby tries to latch and feed, she pushes him of the nipple and licks herself. She also only stays with the kitten if I'm in the room with her. When I leave, she follows. But she does go running back to the kitten when my 2 year old gets too close to the door. I understand she might want me to still help her, but she won't let the kitten nurse. He's very loud and has been meowing all morning. Should I go ahead and get some kitten milk and bottle feed? I'm so nervous that since she's still young, she doesn't know what to do and we might lose this beautiful baby. Please help, and of course, thank you for the advice!

Yes, absolutely start bottle feeding the kitten, immediately. A 1 cc syringe is a great tool to feed newborns. A drop just inside the cheek at a time. You'll also need to get a gram or kitchen scale to weigh the baby. I'd start weighhing it every 12 hours for the first few days. You want to see weight gain daily (about 10 grams per day).

Pet Ag, Petlac, and GNC are good brands of KMR. Stay away from Hartz brand if at all possible. Powder KMR is preferred over the premix, but whatever you can get your hands on now is most important. Goat's milk is another good option as well.

Yes I would start feeding the kitten right away. If your girl was only around 5 months when she got pregnant she may just be to young to understand what to do. Hopefully if she watches you she may start feeding on her own.
Please give us updates. Hope everything goes well.

She may come around and start feeding the kitten.  New moms are usually unsettled the first two days.

when you feed the newborn, Tummy down, head up, like the kitten is laying by mom.  the food and the kitten must be warm.  You should also have a heating source (heating pad, hot water bottle or rice sock)  if mom is not in the nest.  Kittens cannot maintain their body heat until 3 weeks old.
[article="0"]Hand Rearing Kittens  [/article]

I went out and got some milk. I tried to feed the baby when I got home, he got about two drops if milk when Baby (mommy cat) took him out of my lap and under my son's bed. She laid down with the kitten and it looked like he started nursing! He's been content under there and has been sleeping most if the afternoon.

Is it normal for him to be very active though? When he is awake, he is all over the place. I thought newborns didn't move around too much.

Baby (mommy cat) brought the kitten to me in bed as I was putting my son to sleep. She dropped it off by me Then backed away like she was waiting for me to take care of it. I made her lay down and put the kitten to her tummy and he latched right away. Now she's nursing her baby while I'm breastfeeding mine as well [emoji]128516[/emoji]

This is one of those magical moments that you'll never forget.  Very sweet and very wonderful.  

The milk bar is open

RedSavvy10 said:

Baby (mommy cat) brought the kitten to me in bed as I was putting my son to sleep. She dropped it off by me Then backed away like she was waiting for me to take care of it. I made her lay down and put the kitten to her tummy and he latched right away. Now she's nursing her baby while I'm breastfeeding mine as well [emoji]128516[/emoji]

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Seeing you breastfeeding your child, probably helped her get the right idea.  Cats living togehter often help each other with their kittens. It was perhaps why she come with the kitten to you.  You are not only her Mamma,  but also her co-momma

Another thing.  Now, .when her milk and her mother instincts has come, ONE alive kitten is not really enough.  He needs siblings too.  You could perhaps get some fosterlings needing a momma?    Just make sure they dont carry on some infectious disease

My boyfriend came home for lunch and Baby brought her kitten out to see him! Lol, he seems to be getting heavier. I've put a heating pad in her nest on low for when she's not in it with him. He's definitely a lot quieter than he was on the first night. Barely makes a sound anymore. [emoji]128571[/emoji]

I do have a question about the other kittens though. All three of the other kittens seemed to have stoped growing at different weeks of gestation. I know it's common for young, first time mom's to lose a kitten or two, but is it normal that they were all at different levels of development? (I have pics of all 3, just didn't know if it was appropriate to post them.

RedSavvy10 said:

My boyfriend came home for lunch and Baby brought her kitten out to see him! Lol, he seems to be getting heavier. I've put a heating pad in her nest on low for when she's not in it with him. He's definitely a lot quieter than he was on the first night. Barely makes a sound anymore. [emoji]128571[/emoji]

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What an adorable little fuzz bundle!  And how sweet of Baby to show off her kitten. 

RedSavvy10 said:

I do have a question about the other kittens though. All three of the other kittens seemed to have stoped growing at different weeks of gestation. I know it's common for young, first time mom's to lose a kitten or two, but is it normal that they were all at different levels of development? (I have pics of all 3, just didn't know if it was appropriate to post them.

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Good you didnt posted them.  If somebody wants to look, they can ask you via PM.

So they were born at the same time, but just one alive, and the others stopped development and life in different ages?   The most interesting here is this shows clearly the mom may without problems carry dead kittens, and deliver the kittens when its the normal time for delivery.  And some kittens may even live perfectly healthy.  Although its surely touchy, the wise owner  watches alike a hawk, and measures temp against fever every day.

This with kittens dying in the vomb one after another in different ages isnt the most common. Although I presume all variations happens.

Why this?   My theory is some genetical fault, or rather, similiar, but different faults by the same basic genetical fault.  Making them stop at different ages.  IF so, lets dearly hope the alive grey kitten  is 100% free from this, not just 99%.   But its fully possible.   So lets hope.

But if you are a breeder, I would probably recomment not to breed further on on any of them. Not to risk this faulty gene to spread further.

Yes, she delivered all 4 kittens on Feb 26 within 7 hours.

The first kitten was almost fully formed without hair, the second looked like it had stoped growing sometime in Jan, the grey baby was the third one out, and the last kitten looked like it had stoped growing very early on. It was extremely tiny and still wrapped in the placenta.

I'm not a breeder, this was a surprise litter and definitely won't happen again. Money will be put aside from my tax return to have both of them fixed.

It sounds genetic. Probably something wrong with a chromosome in her eggs. Kittens get their fur the last couple of weeks in the womb. It's good you are setting aside money for spay/neuter. Cute little fellow! And mom sounds proud of him! [emoji]128522[/emoji][emoji]128149[/emoji]

Oh she is! My boyfriend always says we should have named her princess lol. She's always begging for our attention and will do anything to get it. I'm still suprised it's a grey kitten. The litter I got Baby from was all black kittens and the daddy cat outside is black and white so I was expecting it to be black of some kind.

Gray is diluted black and comes from the same gene. It really depends on the mix of dominant and recessive genes. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Grey baby at 4 days old. I didn't know newborn kittens were so big! Lol, he barely fits in my hand anymore

Most aren't!  That's a big baby!

Do you plan to get mama spayed when the baby is weaned?

Yes, money is being put aside from my tax return to fix both cats. We plan on keeping the grey baby with us too. I'm kind of hoping it's a boy. I'd love for both me and my little girl to both have baby boys lol.