Mother cat with no motherly instinct- One of the kittens has died.

I am heartbroken as I write this.... and I apologize for it being so long.
My cat gave birth to two kittens two days ago. She is a first time mother and about 2 years old. She had them under my bed near a box I had placed there with newspaper and a blanket. I was worried about them not being in the box but I didn't want to move them as they looked so small and were just born. After a few hours I noticed that the mama cat was leaving the kittens so I pulled the box out and placed the kittens in the box with her. She stayed for a while, but the minute I turned my back she carried them back under the bed. I heard crying a few times during the night and would wake up to see her running back under the bed to be with them. The next day I woke to see her on my bed and not with the kittens. At this point I did not know what to do and thought about taking them away from her. She went back under the bed and was feeding them so I thought maybe she is doing a good job. This is my first time with kittens born in my home, I usually only handle them if one of the ferals brings kittens around at about six weeks. I just didn't know what to do. I called my sister and she happened to know someone with a cat who just had kittens and she suggested maybe I should bring the kittens to her friend's cat. I was still indecisive as I did not know if that cat would accept them or even if the kittens should be moved.They were so tiny! I could not call the vet as it was Sunday, but I was going to call first thing on Monday. Well...long story short, I made sure they were alright and then went to fix dinner when I went back upstairs I found one of the kittens dead. I quickly wrapped up the other kitty and brought her to my sister's friend's cat and she was accepted by her.
I am so filled with guilt. What could have happened? I know that they were very small for their age...in fact, the lady who has the kitten now says she is not sure that the kitten will make it. What could I have done differently? And why didn't the mother cat take better care of them? Could it be she had no milk? Are cats born without the motherly instinct? The mother cat only looked for the kittens a little while then just went about her business. She looks a little down but that's it.
I am so upset. I feel like I did everything wrong....

JIL05

JIL05

I have never had new born kitten so I do not know what to say, but I am so sorry. I have a stray mother right now due any time and I am just reading everything I can to try and be prepared.

At least you helped the other one. You are in my thoughts.

Gizmoe

Im so sorry for your loss. This is my cats first litter too, and I caught her trying to sit on the cats to suffocate a few when they were first born. I really dont think you could of done anything different. But Im not an expert. We all send good vibes your way!

It is possible that the kittens are sick, and the momcat will know this. Because they don't smell right, she will abandon them, either by leaving where they are, or putting them out of her nest.

The other possibility is that she is just a young mom and does not know what to do. Perhaps all the human attention to her family upstet her- there is no way of knowing. I would definitely get her spayed pretty quickly though.

I am so sorry... I am truly impressed with everything you did. I am sure I would have done the same thing. We cannot forget our human "learned-intelligence" in a circumstance like this one. Let it remind us that nature does take care of itself in a way that is terribbly painful for us, but perhaps, "right" or "correct" for an instinct an animal mother can only know or understand. Don't forget you gave love, warmth, affection, food, shelter, vaccination's, etc. to your mother cat. Circumstances with domesticated animals will, at times, have to be left to them. I feel these are times that nature is telling us that it will always know more than we do.
I hope this makes sense to you. Let us all know how you are all doing.

Brooke is right - and I couldn't have said it any better. I do feel your pain and share your loss.

a cat my friend had gave birth to litters and let all the kittens die evey time with the exception of 2 from two different litters. she had no interest in being with her babies until they were a few days old.

one of the surving kittens was my cats mum who managed to raise Maverick and her brother just fine despite her own mothers neglegence.

maybe some cats are just born without any maternal instincts? or maybe a period of maternal neglect is beneficial in the long run as it weeds out the weak from the strong

aww that is really sad but I am sure there are reasons behind it and nature has taken it's course etc. Sorry of your loss. I hope that momma cat is doing okay. How is the other kitten doing?

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to give an update on the little kitty that was taken away from its mother. Our friend's mama cat has taken great care of her new little kitten and he (Don't know the sex yet, so I will call it a he) is doing much better. He looks to have grown a bit although he is still half the size of her kittens born three days before him. He is so small that I call him Peanut! He sure is a tough one!
We know we are not totally out of the woods yet with Peanut, but it is beginning to look like he will be fine.
His original mama (Minky) is fine as well. She is doing much better than we would have thought. She only looked for her kittens a couple of times than went about her business.
Thank you for all of your encouragement. I really appreciate it. It has been hard second guessing myself about everything that happened and if I could have done anything different.
If I get a chance, I will try to post a picture of our little fighter.

JIL05

Originally Posted by JIL05

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to give an update

Click to expand...

Thanks Jil for the update, I've been wondering what happened to the lone-kitty but so afraind to ask. I am glad Peanut is such a fighter!!! and wish her all the cat-nip she desires for a healthy spurt and quick recovery to her momma!

so sorry that you lost a little kitty. but glad that the peanut (such a cute name) is doing well
my molly hadnt got a clue when she had hers and only occassionally fed them and as for cleaning them she looked at me with disgust! so i ended up bottle feeding a couple while she got on with the rest. molly has always been more of a "me me me" cat though. all the best and good luck with peanut

All you can do feel whats right to you, you doing your best

Hi Everybody,
Here's an update on Peanut:
Peanut was doing well with his foster mommy for a while but lately he's been very lethargic , shaking alot, and he hasn't grown. We had to keep showing him the nipple so he would drink. I tried to hand feed him but he would not drink. We took him to the vet today and they were amazed at how small he was. They said that the only thing that we can do is to keep on trying to hand feed him and hope for the best, that it can go either way. Then she called in one of the nurses to give a second opinion. This nurse handfeeds the orphans. She also was amazed at how small he was and she offered to take him to take care of him for two days to see if she could help him out. I was nervous about leaving him with her, but the vet says that she is the best so I did. I want him to have the best care he can get.
Please send prayers and good vibes for little Peanut. He is such a fighter. He is almost three weeks old and I want him to make it so much.
Thanks!
JIL05

Sounds like he is in capable hands, so he passes from caring and nuturing hands into just a bit more experienced hands. I think Peanut would like those odds!

I am so sorry, don't beat yourself up..these things happen and it is nver easy

We have had a feral cat in the back yard for a year now. Didn't even know it was female until I heard meowing coming from a big hole in our fruitless mulberry tree. Mama cat protected this litter of four viciously and the kittens were never frndly but I set up a box on the patio with bedding to protect them from elements before rains came in fall.

Then come spring and before we knew it she delivered litter of two. Darling little cats but still unfriendly. Please note there was still one hanging out from first litter.

We learned the pound started its neuter and return policy but we don't hav a car and didn't want to trap them until they were on their way out. Again she was a protective and nurturing mama.

Again before we knew it she had another litter of 2 and suddenly she's letting black kittens nurse on her while I can hear meowing from tree from 2 hungry newborns.

Mama and last kittens take off for a day whenever the lawn is mowed or gardening being done but still we hear crying in tree but fainter. Once I pounded on tree trunk with broom handle to see if they woke up but mom continued grooming older kitten without flinching or becoming alarmed for babies sake.

My 90 year old mother has been feeding them and guarding them all trying to make friends and it has done a world of good to see her moving around more and getting out in the fresh air I hate to take that away from her.

After mama cat went missing 2 days I had a friend look in tree and he found 2 tiny kittens barely moving so I asked him to give them to me and we started feeding them.

Out of nowhere the rest of the family came back and mama cat went right past my mother into the house and retrieved one of her kittens.

I don't know whether to keep the other one and insure that it's f'ed or leave it outside for mom to take. I'm afraid mama cat has no vested interest in this litter. She's delivered 3 times in less than a year. Her eyes are bright and focused but her coat is dingy and pale. There is no possibility any of the older cats will ever befriend us and in fact mama cat is very aggressive to my dog who only goes out to relieve herself. Yes she likes to chase them but is very much glued to my hip all other times.

I don't want to continue feeding these animals that hiss and growl at me and attack my dog. My dog who is an authorized member of the family and even shares my bed at night.

What should we do?

C chark60

I would not trust the mom cat with this kitten. Instead, raise it yourself.

Somehow the mom needs to be TNR'd so the breeding stops. I feel sorry for her.

I would continue feeding the ferals and try to make arrangements for them all to be TNR'd as soon as possible.

Some mother cats don't know what to do and some are crazy. Most of the time it is best to let the mom pick where to keep her kittens or you risk upsetting her and things go down the crapper. You have to find out what works for the mother cat. I had one that had no idea what to do. She had hers in an old box in the corner that had newspapers in it. The problem was her five kittens were all tangled in the umbilical cords pretty badly so I had to get them out and cut the cords and untangle them. It was a mess and took me a bit. Well after that I fixed her a box. Then she took them one by one and stashed them under an old counter where they were hard to get to. Then she came out and laid down on the floor. She would not go back to them no matter how much they cried. I got them out and put them in the box. She repeated the process. I got them out from under the counter 5 times and none of the times would she feed them. I then tried to put them in their original location but to no avail. She stashed them again and again. Finally they were getting cold with no nourishment and mothers warmth so I took them out from under the counter and laid the mother down on my bed and held her there and put the kittens up to her and made sure each one got a good meal. One was really cold but he was strong and ate. Then he warmed up. I then put them in a small pet taxi and locked them in there. I let her out to go to the bathroom. It worked. They got to eat. After about three days I was able to open the door and mom went in and our on her own and took care of them great after that. I kept the carrier on the bed by me and she loved having them there. They all grew up and lived. I got her fixed soon after. The point of the story is sometimes you just have to do what works. Sometimes also they do kind of know something is wrong or if they are premature they won't have the instinct like they are supposed to. Don't blame yourself. You said it yourself it is your first litter and you did not know what to do. But at least you cared. A lot of cats don't have that.

I just wanted to say that the mother cat I spoke about above just had no idea what she was supposed to do with them. She just kept stashing them then lounging in the floor like they did not exist.