Help! Kittens born 7-2, one not doing well

Hi~ I am a new member, new to kittens in general. My one year old cat, Spike (named by a three year old... we thought she was a male at first...), had kittens on Saturday. She had a litter of five, and initially all seemed fine. Today, I noticed that one kitten was off to the side of the box. When I looked closer, the kitten doesn't seem to be breathing right. All of the other kittens have a fast respiratory rate, are feeding and crawling around. This one only seems to lay there, and occasionaly spasm. Spike seems to be ignoring this kitten, but is attentive to the others. I don't know what to do. Is this nature taking its course? I would appreciate any input/advice. Thanks for your time!

I would agree that a vet visit is in order. Generally, if a momcat is ignoring a kitten, or a full litter it is because she is:
a. to young to be a mom
b. stressed out
c. the kittens are ill
d. she is ill

When a kitten is sick, it does not smell right, and she will either dispose of the kitten herself, or ignore it. If she were outside, she would carry a sick kitten yards from her nest and leave it for a predator. Also she will go into heat again and so she needs to be kept inside away from other intact males until her kittens are weaned, then she should be spayed.

How are things going there? Have you been able to get Momma to care for this baby?

~gf~

Hi again~

Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately, as I was placing a call to the vet we noticed that the kitten had passed away. The vet said the if the mother neglected one kitten, and was attentive to the other four that she must have sensed something was not right. We are going to bury the kitten and place a stone marker. It has been a tough lesson for the boys, but I suppose one that was inevitable. Thank you for the help and concern. The remaining four kittens and mom are doing great, and all have vet appointments.

Keep a watchful eye on the other kittens. If something is genetically wrong, it may take a few days to manifest itself. I am sorry you lost a kitten and your boys had to see the full cycle of life. Momcats are very intuitive, and they know that the weakest among their litter is expendable and will sacrifice them for the good of the others-

Oh dear ... I am so sorry you lost the little one!! Hissy is right about it taking a few days sometimes for problems to show up - be watchful.

Also, just curious here ... you will be spaying Spike once the kittens are weaned, right?

Hi again~

Yes, Spike will be spayed. We hadn't planned on getting a kitten, and at a visit to a friend's farm my sons fell in love with her (my friend's cat had kittens that were ready to go.) We brought her home to keep as an indoor cat, with every intention of spaying her. The vet at our old house said she was too young to do it when we brought her. Well, we were moving across state so we were waiting to have it done through the new vet. After our move, Spike got out and was missing for a few days. We were heartbroken. When she came back we were thrilled... until we realized that she was indeed pregnant. We have people who want to adopt these kittens ( a neighobor wants two, my mother in law one, and a friend the last one...we were going to keep one) so they will go to good homes and Spike will be fixed. What an ordeal. Thanks again for the helpful info, this is great site.

I am a siamese breeder and this situation sounds familar. I am not a vet, but the same thing happened to one of my siamese when it was a week old. It probably had a congenital heart defect. My kitten had the same exact symptons, but it survived to the emergency vet and then died. The vet took one listen to its heart and knew.
I am sorry for your loss.