Deformed Kitten!!!

We just had one of our cats have 5 kittens last night,2 of which passed away But it was really strange because 1 of them was a full term kitten but it's intestines and other organs were all on the outside,and the other that passed away was extremely deformed,he had very short crooked legs,no bottom jaw,a very soft skull and also its intestines and organs were on the outside of it's stomach.It was a very hard thing to see.But thankfully she did have 3 healthy kittens(2 tabby & white and one orange & white) Has this sort of thing ever happened to anyone else?Should we be concerned for the other kittens?

I've heard of the intestinal deformity happening in human babies, and it can be corrected by surgery sometimes, of course the MD usually knows before birth and a human baby is born right into the hands of a hospital with all kinds of life support and stuff. Sounds like one of the kitties had a lot more wrong with it though. Poor babies, RIP. I would just keep an eye on the remaining kittens, like you would any newborn kitten, any maybe mention it to the vet when you bring them in for the first time.

Probably was a result of the momcat being mated by more than one tomcat which is typical for cats allowed outside during mating season. This causes premature litters and other problems because once the labor starts for the healthy kittens, the kittens from other matings are also pushed out whether or not they are ready to be born. Very rarely will a mom cat hold off a few days between birthings to keep the still developing kittens inside. Please keep your female inside the house as she will be going into heat soon and she will want outside and likely come back (if she does) pregnant. Spay her as soon as the kittens are weaned.

Originally Posted by hissy

Probably was a result of the momcat being mated by more than one tomcat which is typical for cats allowed outside during mating season. This causes premature litters and other problems because once the labor starts for the healthy kittens, the kittens from other matings are also pushed out whether or not they are ready to be born. Very rarely will a mom cat hold off a few days between birthings to keep the still developing kittens inside. Please keep your female inside the house as she will be going into heat soon and she will want outside and likely come back (if she does) pregnant. Spay her as soon as the kittens are weaned.

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Our cats are all indoor cats,we live in the city and it is VERY dangerous for them.And as far as her being mated by 2 different tomcats is impossible,only one of our males was not neutered at the time of her pregnancy( he just got neutered 2 weeks ago) so we are 100% he is the father.Our other 2 males have been neutered for over 6 months now.

Hopefully your vet warned you that the male can be fertile for up to a month after being neutered, and your Momma cat can get pregnant within a week of giving birth! So you will need to keep them separate for at least 2 more weeks. (Also, males have been known to kill kittens, so probably best to keep the new Mom in her own room until the kittens are older anyhow.)

Is there any possibility the kittens are inbred? Or maybe since the tom and female were together, they mated over a period of time, so some of the kittens were conceived before the others. Otherwise, it may just be a fluke of nature. That must have been awful to see, but at least those two babies are at peace now.

Hope the others continue to do well. I would suggest as zak said, to tell the vet at their first check-up (six weeks).

In humans, it's called an omphalacele, and is often combined with other birth defects. It's often associated with chromosomal abnormalities (read: it's a genetic problem!), and therefore you can also see other birth defects (maybe like the missing jaw, etc). Chromosomal abnormalities can cause lots of problems, not just the visible ones.

So, chances are that those two little guys didn't have a chance, but it's also likely that the healthy kittens are perfectly healthy! I wouldn't worry about them. They just got the lucky genetics.

Kity take care of the 3 that you have and let the others RIP ok... Concintrate on makeing sure everything is goes ok... Know that nothing you did caused it, but you now have to forcus on the survivers...

Never had any deformed kittens but have lost a few. Sounds like this might have been an inbred breeding or something along those lines.

Sorry to hear about your little kittens.

I did raise dutch rabbits at one time and the one female we had gave birth to a litter. Well when I got to see them (rabbits you can't inspect a newborn litter without the mothers killing them - have to wait a few weeks) the babies were ALL dead. But the weird things was they were like newborn rabbits - eyes closed and NO fur at all. And they were all huge - like the size of a month old rabbit but no fur. We never bred that mother again - gave her away as a pet; but the image of those weird dead babies are still with me! And this is a long time ago (over 20 yrs).

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Never had any deformed kittens but have lost a few. Sounds like this might have been an inbred breeding or something along those lines.

Sorry to hear about your little kittens.

I did raise dutch rabbits at one time and the one female we had gave birth to a litter. Well when I got to see them (rabbits you can't inspect a newborn litter without the mothers killing them - have to wait a few weeks) the babies were ALL dead. But the weird things was they were like newborn rabbits - eyes closed and NO fur at all. And they were all huge - like the size of a month old rabbit but no fur. We never bred that mother again - gave her away as a pet; but the image of those weird dead babies are still with me! And this is a long time ago (over 20 yrs).

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If it is anything like the human condition it can be just caused by bad luck. sometimes the intestines just form outside the abdominal cavity due to a number of problems during embroyonic development. It can be due to a chromosomal abnormality but isn't always. The cat form may be different but it humans it happens without imbreeding I am sure the same can be said for cats.

How are the babies today?

j_real said:

In humans, it's called an omphalacele, and is often combined with other birth defects. It's often associated with chromosomal abnormalities (read: it's a genetic problem!), and therefore you can also see other birth defects (maybe like the missing jaw, etc). Chromosomal abnormalities can cause lots of problems, not just the visible ones.

So, chances are that those two little guys didn't have a chance, but it's also likely that the healthy kittens are perfectly healthy! I wouldn't worry about them. They just got the lucky genetics.

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exactly

I'm sorry for your loss. I think it's unlikely that the health of the remaining kittens will be negatively affected.

I agree with the others saying its a genetic abnormality or chromosomal defect, especially considering both the kittens had the same problems with the organs outside of the body.

This is a 12 year old thread.

trickytree said:

This is a 12 year old thread.

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Oops! Somone replied wednesday and I thought it was recent. Guess i need to check the originla date next time!