- Joined
- Apr 28, 2016
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- 27
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Hello! I have had a heartwrenching night and morning. I have horses and one of the barn cats gave birth early yesterday morning. One baby was still born and two were significantly smaller than the other one. It was going to get cold overnight and mom is fairly friendly so I took them home thinking that would give them a better chance. I lost the little boy overnight, mom moved him out of the basket that contained her and the other two babies. The other two seemed to be doing fairly well and appeared to be nursing but I noticed that one was getting sluggish and would not nurse (even when I put her up to several different nipples). I called the nearest pet store and they were going to meet me at the front with formula and a bottle, I had a feeling she didn't have long. I wrapped her in a dryer-warmed towel and rushed her the five minutes to the store, she passed away during the drive. I realize there is more I probably could have done, but I am going off of the advice of an experienced rescuer and headed for the bottle as soon as I thought it necessary. It was the significantly smaller ones that didn't make it. This is the mom's first litter and she is young, probably under a year and very inexperienced. I am bottle feeding the last baby, who was the strongest from the beginning, every two hours and she is still "nursing" off of mom, but the mom is not lactating that much so I don't want to take any chances. I am wondering what would be the best (I've read kitten food) to feed the mom to help her begin lactating well and if there is any other advice experienced people can give me. The mom kept getting scared and chased away from the babies at the barn, so in addition to being cold, they had gone a long time during their first 24 hrs without milk before I realized that they were out there and needed help. I am doing the best I can but just want outside advice