Advice needed.

My mama cat had a litter of 5 about three days ago. All kittens were healthy and nicely developed. Yesterday one of them started to get weak, I watched it throughout the day as it progressivly got worse and just as I thought, it died in the night.

I live on a ranch in Montana so these are not breeding cats. I have all of my animals fixed as I am against overpopulation. I allowed this particular Mama cat to remain unfixed so that my children could be involved in the experience. Then it was my plan to fix her and I already made the appointment to have this done before she had the kittens. We keep the kittens as they are good mousers and they love to live in the barns.

Anyway, I didn't want all of you to think that I am irresponsible.

The mama is such a good cat, she came and woke me up when she was ready to have them and I followed her. She took me to my daughters closet and I laid some towels down and she laid on them and started having her kittens. I woke my daughter and we watched the whole thing. She let us pet her and she purred a lot. It was a beautiful and wonderful time for my daughter and I and I couldn't have been happier. Kimmy (the mama) is a very nurturing and attentive mother who talks happily to me when I check on her. I left her and the kittens in the closet because it is warm and dark and away from the activity of the house.

Anyway, today another one of the kittens is getting weak. I am scared that it is going to die as well. I got some bottles and milk replacer and a little surringe to feed them. They don't want to take the mild replacer and I am scared that if I force it, it will take to much of the kittens energy and make them worse off. Or go into their lungs and they will aspirate.

There is no vet around on the weekend that is open. I called an emergency vet in the city and they told me to try and bottle feed them. I think that the cat is underlactating and that the kittens are starving.

I am a wreck. I didn't think that this would effect me this way as I have been around the birth and death of animals my entire life. But this is special. I feel like I need to do something but I don't know what to do. The attitude of everybody around her is that you just let nature take its course.

Can anybody offer advice?

Thank you,
Montana

They could be dying from many things. I know some kittens have fading kitten syndrome. Also, it's possible they have some infectious disease, like Felv. If you think they are dying because she can't feed them, then of course the answer would be for you to feed them. They do sell replacement milk for kittens in a pet store.

I live on a ranch in Montana so these are not breeding cats. I have all of my animals fixed as I am against overpopulation. I allowed this particular Mama cat to remain unfixed so that my children could be involved in the experience. Then it was my plan to fix her and I already made the appointment to have this done before she had the kittens. We keep the kittens as they are good mousers and they love to live in the barns.

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Did you consider contacting a shelter or a rescue group and offering to foster a cat that was already pregnant??? This would have been the route I would have chosen since I know that pregnant cats are being euthanized in shelters because the shelters cannot keep them through their pregnancy, birth and 8 weeks of weening the kittens. The benefit is the shelter/rescue spays/neuters, finds them good homes and also finds homes for the kittens (that will spay/neuter them). I would hope you plan to also have the kittens fixed as well.

BTW..if you needed barn cats...there are TNR groups that would love to find a barn to place fixed ferals.

Katie

Thank you for your replies. I don't know of the infectious disease that you speak of but I read up on it in a minute. All of my animals are current on their vaccinations so I hadn't thought of a disease.

I have milk replacer. My dilemma is, do I start bottle feeding them when they still seem to be doing fine with the expectation that it will save their lives. Or do I wait until I see a problem, and by then it seems that it is too late.

I guess that all I can do is my best.

Thanks again.

Where are these babies at? Are they warm enough? is she letting them nurse off her or is she ignoring them?

Sadly, while you wanted your children to be involved in the start of life, now they have to also deal with the end of it- The kittens could be already dying and there will be nothing you can do about it no matter what. Even the most experienced rescuers and bottle feeders sometimes have to watch helplessly as forces beyond their control claim young lives. The kittens could be hypothermic, they could be sick, have a disease, really the list is endless. I would shelter your children from to much reality and not let them near the litter as I fully expect not many kittens will survive. You can also go to www.kitten-rescue.com and get some ideas as to the needs of newborn kittens and what you can do.

Please don't beat yourself up about this though- it does happen. I have a litter right now that I have lost one kitten already. The mom is dead and the babies were quite ill when I got them at one week old. They are now 3 weeks but I will not breathe freely until they hit 7 weeks old and are still thriving- when it comes to this situation, anything and everything can and does happen.

I have milk replacer. My dilemma is, do I start bottle feeding them when they still seem to be doing fine with the expectation that it will save their lives. Or do I wait until I see a problem, and by then it seems that it is too late.

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I would definately feed the one that seems "weaker" than the others and continue to monitor the other kittens until Monday when you can take them to the vet. I had a foster kitten recently die of pneumonia.

Katie

Yeah, I had a momma cat with milk that I *thought* was getting to all the kittens. But a week later one of them just faded and died in a day! I kept a very, very close eye on the rest, but they all thrived and grew. (I did force feed the runt a little, I'm not sure if she needed it, I was just terrified).

She was a very petite, young mother so I suspect 5 kittens was just too much for her. It was hard though, the one that passed was my favorite.

Thank you again for your post. The kittens are in a nice warm place away from activity and the mother is very nurturing.

As it was important for my children to see the start of life, it is also important for me for them to see the end of it. As I said, we live with all sorts of animals surrounding us and it is my personal opinion that it would serve any child well to see the circle of life in many ways.

Anyway...

The kitten that I thought was weak this morning, is doing just fine now. I checked a couple of time throughout the day and each time he has been nursing nicely.

Thanks again.

Hi there - gayef posted a REALLY interesting article on fading kitten syndrome, and I'll try and find it, but I couldn't just now. Suffice it to say that if it IS fading kitten syndrome, there's just not much anyone can do. It seems that little lives really hang in the balance the first few weeks, and it's very hard to lose one. Here's hoping that everyone is ok from now on, and if I find the thread, I'll post it. Good luck!

Kim.

Is this the article you mean? I thought it was very interesting too!

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52111

YESSSSS! That was it. Very interesting, and made a lot of sense.

I lost a kitten, just like yours. I believe it was FKS. I have a question, though... does FKS cause a slow beating heart rate? When I listened to my Limeny's heart rate, it was 84 BPM, when it's supposed to be 200 BPM. Could a heart defect be a cause of FKS?

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

I lost a kitten, just like yours. I believe it was FKS. I have a question, though... does FKS cause a slow beating heart rate? When I listened to my

Limeny's

heart rate, it was 84 BPM, when it's supposed to be 200 BPM. Could a heart defect be a cause of FKS?

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I doubt your kitten had FKS. Aren't your cats brother and sister? Which would likely mean they have the same blood type, so kittens wouldn't have FKS. If kittens heart rate was slow, then it could have been a birth defect and he died from it. Breeding related cats increases the chances of birth defects.

Originally Posted by elizwithcat

I doubt your kitten had FKS. Aren't your cats brother and sister? Which would likely mean they have the same blood type, so kittens wouldn't have FKS. If kittens heart rate was slow, then it could have been a birth defect and he died from it. Breeding related cats increases the chances of birth defects.

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How would the fact that their inbred mean that he didn't die of FKS?

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

How would the fact that their inbred mean that he didn't die of FKS?

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According to the article, FKS is cause when the mom cat has a different blood type from a daddy cat. There are only two blood types in cat. If mom cat and a daddy cat are brother and sister, then they most likely have the same blood type and thus kitten woud not die from FKS. On the other hand, there chances of having birth defect is higher. If there is a birth defect like a heart problems, the kitten could have died from that.

Originally Posted by elizwithcat

According to the article, FKS is cause when the mom cat has a different blood type from a daddy cat. There are only two blood types in cat. If mom cat and a daddy cat are brother and sister, then they most likely have the same blood type and thus kitten woud not die from FKS. On the other hand, there chances of having birth defect is higher. If there is a birth defect like a heart problems, the kitten could have died from that.

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I did not know that about FKS. Thanks for the info! That means there must've been a problem with his heart. Does that mean that Mirah or Annie could have heart complications in the future? Would that raise their chances?

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

I did not know that about FKS. Thanks for the info! That means there must've been a problem with his heart. Does that mean that Mirah or Annie could have heart complications in the future? Would that raise their chances?

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I don't think that means they will necessarily have heart problems. Hopefully not. The vet should be able to listen to their hearts during their check ups and if they are o'key now, hopefully they will be o'key in the future. Also, you don't know for sure what was wrong with the one that died either.

Originally Posted by elizwithcat

I don't think that means they will necessarily have heart problems. Hopefully not.

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Well, I don't mean that they will definitely have heart problems... but will it increase their chances of having heart problems?

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

Well, I don't mean that they will definitely have heart problems... but will it increase their chances of having heart problems?

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Many heart problems are genetic, such as familiar cardiomyophaty. If the cats that are related are bred, if they both carry a defective gene, then the chances are their offspring will have a disease is higher. That's why purebred cats are more prone to diseases than mixed breed cats, because of a small gene pool and inbreeding. If you breed related mix breed cats, then the chances are the offspring will inherit something are also higher. That's why inbreeding is not something you want to do. But it doesn't mean the cat will get the disease. Here is an article on inbreeding cats.
http://www.petpeoplesplace.com/Care/Cats/004/17p2.htm