Have you ever seen a delivering mama bite a hole into her newborn while trying to clean it up?

I've had a number of wonderful experiences fostering cats and kittens, pregnant and non-pregnant, but last night my foster kitty delivered what I think was a stillborn kitten.  I did not see the actual delivery so I'm not positive.  But within an hour of delivery I found a deceased kitten pushed to the side of the nest with what looked like it could be an umbilical hernia but opened all the way up to the outside.  The opening was about the width of a pencil. 

I'm guessing it was a birth defect and that this baby was not going to make it, but could the mother have been overly aggressive in trying to clean the baby and actually ripped a hole while biting off the umbilical cord?  

The kitten was the same size as the surviving littermates I'm guessing it died right around the time it was born.  Has anyone had any experience with this?

Basically I'm wondering if this was gastroschisis or mama-induced trauma. 

I'm also feeling horribly guilty for not being there at the delivery because if mom was just super freaked out maybe I could have helped calm her and the kitten would still be here?   She's a very friendly foster kitty who seems to be comforted by having humans around. 

(((Hugs)))  to you,

Sounds to me as if it was a gastroschisis....

Was the umbilical cord insertions right in the center of it?  or off to the side..

If it was in the center, then it was a gastroschisis. It is a deadly anomaly in cats. The cat could look perfectly normal, otherwise....

If the insertion was off to the side, then it was an omphalocele...

I have no experience with Cats/animals, but I am going by the appearance in human babies.

Please, Do not feel guilty about not being around.. just taking in a foster is proving you are an awesome person.....and a pregnant foster is showing you are a special person...

Sometimes, we cannot always be around for things, it is just life..

Mother Nature is instinctive to animals...they instinctively know what to do..

I honestly do not think your presence would have changed anything, in this situation. It was meant to be..

I do not think the mom nipped at the cord incorrectly. This was just a bad thing and could not have been avoided..

oh, I sound so horrible...I sound so cold and clinical.. but seriously, I do not think your presence would have changed the outcome.

But truly, you are doing your best.. You have lots of kittens now to take care of and momma cat...

Now you will be able to show her lots of love and attention; and the babies...

((hugs))

Fostermom123 said:

 
I've had a number of wonderful experiences fostering cats and kittens, pregnant and non-pregnant, but last night my foster kitty delivered what I think was a stillborn kitten.  I did not see the actual delivery so I'm not positive.  But within an hour of delivery I found a deceased kitten pushed to the side of the nest with what looked like it could be an umbilical hernia but opened all the way up to the outside.  The opening was about the width of a pencil. 

I'm guessing it was a birth defect and that this baby was not going to make it, but could the mother have been overly aggressive in trying to clean the baby and actually ripped a hole while biting off the umbilical cord?  

The kitten was the same size as the surviving littermates I'm guessing it died right around the time it was born.  Has anyone had any experience with this?

Click to expand...

Artiemom gave an excellent answer.  But to your question in the title.  Its rare but not unheard of moms happens to hurt the baby while chewing off the cord.  Especielly inexperienced moms may do it.  Not that common, but the litterature surely mentions it may happen.

StefanZ said:

 
Artiemom gave an excellent answer.  But to your question in the title.  Its rare but not unheard of moms happens to hurt the baby while chewing off the cord.  Especielly inexperienced moms may do it.  Not that common, but the litterature surely mentions it may happen.

Click to expand...

How old does the mom seem to be?  Do you think this was her first litter?

I suppose it's possible that the mom did this accidentally, but I really think it's more likely that it was a birth defect, and even if it was the mom I don't know how you could have prevented it.  By the time you realized what was happening it would likely have already been over.  Bury your dead, and delight in the living.  I'm sure that's the mom's attitude -- she has too much to do with her new kittens to worry about the one that didn't make it.

Margret

I am so sorry that you lost this kitten, but Margret is right.  From what you have said, I'm betting that this was not a mom-induced injury.  Those are generally fairly obvious, and pretty messy.  Sorry, but true.  Don't beat yourself up.  You did the best you could, and probably could not have changed the outcome.  This little one just had too many strikes against it, and probably never drew its first breath.  Try to take joy in the kittens that are well and happy.

Just a bit of philosophy, when I think of what  has to happen for any living being to come to healthy birth, and of all the things that can go wrong, I am amazed that there is life on this planet at all.