Kitten Emergency!!!

I had my mother in law watching my pregnant cat while i was on vacation. While watching her the cat had the babies. That night she said she couldn't find the babies anymore and the mom had probably moved them to a hiding space. My husband and i got home the next night (tonight) and found that my mother in law had closed the closet door that the mother had moved the kittens to. WHAT SHOULD I DO??? THis means that they haven't seen the mmother in about 24 hours~!!! She's nursing them right now. but i don't know if they will survive....is there anything i can do at this poiint.???

I can't be of much help in that area hopefuuly someones on that can, Do the kittens look ok, and are they nursing ok? I hope someone can help give you information that will help you...Hope there all ok

There is not much you can do at the moment, except making sure the mother is confined with them. How do they look? Are their bellies round and tight..or wrinkled and loose? Are they nursing well? Is she attentive withthem?

Also, are you certain that they closet door was closed for all of that time?

And one last thing. What i would do is to weigh the kittens on a gram/ounce scale daily, to make sure they gain weight. The best indicator if their progress is weight gain.

I guess you sort of have to hope for the best at this point. I am not sure how much difference supplementing them with KMR would help, maybe someone else will have more advice on that front.

Originally Posted by poohandwendy

And one last thing. What i would do is to weigh the kittens on a gram/ounce scale daily, to make sure they gain weight. The best indicator if their progress is weight gain.

I guess you sort of have to hope for the best at this point. I am not sure how much difference supplementing them with KMR would help, maybe someone else will have more advice on that front.

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I don't think suplementing will be very helpful, if the kittens are nursing from mom then to take them a way to give replacement milk wouldn't help any, and giving them more milk after nursing to "make up for the milk they didn't get" could be harmful for them, eatting too much especially after being so long with out milk can be very dangerous, i'm pretty sure. Mabey if any thing to give them some thing try the pedialite mixed with water might help to hydrate them if they are dehydrated. But before doing that you may want to check with a vet.

I also suggest calling or seeing a local vet and seeing what he or she says. We are not there to see them, and not medically trained.

Other than than, I personally wouldn't mess with them too much if they seem to be nursing successfully and mom is taking care of them.

They've been traumatized already, taking them away from the mother more in my opinion might make matters worse. As long as they seem to be okay, I'd leave well enough alone and let Mom do her job and keep a careful watch.

I personally don't think weighing is necessary if they seem to be content, growing and healthy. But that is my opinion.

But please call a vet if you have any doubts that things are okay.

And please spay your cat as soon as she completely weans the kittens.

You should put the mother and kittens in a carrier and get them to a vet ASAP. The vet can assess if any of the kittens got dyhadrated or got too weak. It's very difficult to help kittens this young, but if anyone can do anything, it's your vet.

As a rule, when something goes wrong and you have an mergency - call your vet! Don't delay to post on boards... looking stuff up on the internet should always come second - your vet comes first!

Taking young kittens to the vet can also be very dangerous. Their immune systems are just not ready to handle all the things that exist at the vet. Calling the vet of course is always a good idea. But I wouldn't take them in unless you or the vet thought it is a life or death situation.

If they are nursing that is a good sign at least.

I am thinking of the little furries and praying for them

I agree with SolarityBengals. I would not take them to the vet unless the vet thought it was a life and death situation. The stress of the car ride and the vets office could stop them nursing longer.
I would call the vet and wait it out. If the kittens are still alive they will probably be fine, but the first two weeks of a kittens are life are very uncertain. Many kittens that have congential defects die during this time span.

I think it is a really good sign that mom is with them now and they are nursing. Just keep a good eye on them and see what happens. I mean obviouse mom wanted her babies am sure she will do great. Please keep us posted finger and paws are crossed.

I am another vote for waiting it out - by all means call the vet and see what he advises, but the vet's office is the LAST place I would take newborn kittens unless it was a dire emergency. If Momma is nursing and caring for the kittens normally now, they are probably fine.

It took my kittens quite a few hours to really get the idea of nursing and you don't know how much they got before she was shut out. If they are nursing and seeming to do well, then just wait it out. I have no "real" experience other than what I have read here and am experiencing but I would think that a trip to the vet would upset them enough to stop nursing and thereby negating all of the progress that they seem to be making.

Good luck!

I just caught up to this thread...any news?

Nothing that I have seen. I have been keeping up and refreshing.