Mother cat leaving kittens

ardnax

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Everything I've read said that new mother cats don't leave the litter for anything besides eating and litterbox. My cat Bailey had 1 kitten Wed night (which would not nurse) and then 2 more early Fri morning (which are vigorous eaters). Bailey pretty much ingnored the first one aside from cleaning it after birth and we thought maybe it was because it was a bit premature and this was a natural reaction. But then the other two were born and Bailey doesn't seem overly interested in them either.

She lays there and lets them eat, and she licks them intermittently but she spends alot of her time following us around. She even tries to sleep on our bed like she used to. I'm afraid that the kittens are getting too cold even though we have them in a warm spot. I think the first one is not going to make it. It appears dehydrated and although we've tried bottle feeding, it doesn't seem either a) interested or b) to know how. The other two are so much bigger already and are very active (as a newborn can be
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Anyway, has anyone else had a cat that did this and is there anything we can do? I think we are going to lock her in the utility room with the box so she can't get out at night and maybe force her to stay with the babies. It might be important to add that we think this is her first litter. She was a stray that we took in so it's impossible to know, but this is our feeling.
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by ardnax

Everything I've read said that new mother cats don't leave the litter for anything besides eating and litterbox. My cat Bailey had 1 kitten Wed night (which would not nurse) and then 2 more early Fri morning (which are vigorous eaters). Bailey pretty much ingnored the first one aside from cleaning it after birth and we thought maybe it was because it was a bit premature and this was a natural reaction. But then the other two were born and Bailey doesn't seem overly interested in them either.

She lays there and lets them eat, and she licks them intermittently but she spends alot of her time following us around. She even tries to sleep on our bed like she used to. I'm afraid that the kittens are getting too cold even though we have them in a warm spot. I think the first one is not going to make it. It appears dehydrated and although we've tried bottle feeding, it doesn't seem either a) interested or b) to know how. The other two are so much bigger already and are very active (as a newborn can be
)

Anyway, has anyone else had a cat that did this and is there anything we can do? I think we are going to lock her in the utility room with the box so she can't get out at night and maybe force her to stay with the babies. It might be important to add that we think this is her first litter. She was a stray that we took in so it's impossible to know, but this is our feeling.
Ardnax....I can only talk from my personal experience..I fostered a mom and her 3 kittens. She wasn't particuliarly interested in her kittens...but I kept her in the bathroom and that seemed to help. One of her kittens ended up developing pneumonia and died...but the other 2 grew up to be healthy and fat.


Good Luck

Katie
 

catsknowme

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I know that this probably sounds extreme, but maybe you could try making a space in your bed for the little family & see if Bailey feels more confident. She sounds like she's a nervous new mom & not sure about these new little ones. The more you nuture & comfort her, the more reassured she will be. I had a stray cat, Penny, that with her first litter, was the same way. I gave her a box with towels and an old velvet toddler dress for a nest & kept that by my pillow & that worked. It's not too soon to talk to your vet about getting your cat spayed - Penny got preggers when her kits were still tiny & by the time I realized it, she was pretty fat. This was about 20 years ago, & I didn't realize that cats could still get fixed although pg., so I let her have the 2nd litter. She did well with nuturing her 2nd litter, but got a bad inflamed mammary duct & was so thin - I think the closely spaced pregancies were hard on her. Please keep us posted!
 

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With the weak little one, swipe a little glucose syrup or even honey onto his tongue and then offer him the bottle. If he rejejcts it or seems hungry but doesn't know how to suck on the nipple, use a syringe (without the needle of course) to slowly feed him. What's probably happening is that the other two kittens are shoving him out of the way when he's trying to feed from momcat. Use your hand or a rolled-up towel to give him some suckling time by himself. If this seems to work, you'll need to do that about 5 times a day.

If he is too weak to suckle from mumcat and the bottle, he may need to be tube-fed. Get a vet or vet tech to show you how. This may just give him the energy he needs and he may be able to hold his own while suckling from mumcat in a couple of days.
 

kumbulu

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As for your idea of locking her in with the kittens, it sounds like that may be what you'll have to do. Of course, let her out for 1/2 an hour or so a couple of times a day so she can spend time with you and stretch her legs.
 
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ardnax

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I want her to have a chance to wean the kittens before we get her spayed, but she is a STRICTLY indoor cat right now. I'm not taking any chances on her getting PG again! She seemed to do alright locked in the room with the kittens last night, and we let her out to have full access to the house during the day. When we are around she wants to be near us, so we keep the box in the living room so she can see us all the time. I have to imagine that when we are not here that she spends her time with the babies.....
 

solaritybengals

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The breeder I work with occasionally has this problem with a first time mom. Its like they aren't really certain what their responsibility entails. So when this happens she will confine the new mom with kittens in a smallish kennel (room for litter box) until the new mom figures it out. Then it usually clicks and they are great!
 
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ardnax

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I'm sorry to report that the weaker black kitten died last night. We tried everything, but the poor thing was just too weak to survive. The other two kittens are doing great though and I think that Bailey is finally getting the hang of this mothering thing.
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by ardnax

I'm sorry to report that the weaker black kitten died last night. We tried everything, but the poor thing was just too weak to survive. The other two kittens are doing great though and I think that Bailey is finally getting the hang of this mothering thing.
Ardnax....I'm so sorry to hear about the black kitten dying....that also happened in the litter that I was fostering....one didn't make it..but the other 2 grew up to be very adorable, playful, pudgy kittens.

Katie
 
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