Disowning?

[Bri1976]

My 8 month old kitten has 3 little kittens around noon yesterday and she keeps bringing them onto my bed on my side but then she leaves. If she hears one screaming she’ll come back but other than that she doesn’t seem to want anything to do with them. They’re currently laying against my back, where she dropped them off at, and she’s at the foot of my bed. If I put them on the floor she brings them right back up here. I have no clue what to do.

 

[Norachan]

Oh, she's way too young to know what to do with the kittens herself! You're going to have to take over.

Have the kittens nursed at all? It's essential that they get some nutrition. You need to make sure they are kept warm. Little kittens can't regulate their own body temperatures and will die if they get too cold. Get a heating pad or a hot water bottle, cover it with a blanket, put the kittens on top and then put another blanket over them.

You need to feed them KMR. DON"T FEED THEM WHEN THEY ARE COLD! They won't be able to digest it and it will make them very sick.

You also need to stimulate them to express their bowels and bladder. They can't do this alone either.

Here are some articles for you to read.

Hand Rearing Kittens: What You Need To Know To Save A Newborn's Life

Weighing Newborn Kittens (and How This Could Save Their Lives)

And some videos.



Hand rearing kittens is a very tough, demanding full time job. If you don't think you can do this by yourself call your local shelters to ask if they have a mother cat who could foster the kittens.

@StefanZ @Sarthur2 catwoman707

 

[jen]

Also please keep her inside away from intact males until she can be spayed. It is so sad this happened to her so young.

 

[di and bob]

I would give her a nice low box with a heating pad on low or a cat heating pad covered in a blanket. Have it big enough to let her or the kittens move to a unheated end if they get too hot. She needs to be 'taught' to stay with her kittens. Bring her to them and try to get her to lay down, stroking and praising her. They MUST eat. Make sure she has a full stomach and is not hungry,wanting to leave to eat. Some too young mothers have no idea what to do. Some appear not to have anything to do with their little ones, but DO go and feed them every few hours, watch for that. Then they would just need warmth from you. See if she is licking them at all to stimulate them to go to the bathroom. I pray everything turns out all right, mama needs reassurance and lots of attention if the kittens are to be raised by her. PLEASE keep us posted!
PS I have had cats get pregnant at even a few weeks shy of 6 months. and I have had them get pregnant again when the kittens are only two weeks old, so watch out or she will be really overwhelmed. I had one female that had three litters and 17 kittens in one year! (needless to say she is spayed now!)

 

[Bri1976]

She is letting them nurse but not for long at all... 10-15 minutes tops. Like she knows what to do a little bit but isn’t wanting to. I can’t get to any type of formula until Monday at the earliest. She’s leaving the spot where they’re at after a little while and then coming back whenever they start screaming at the top of their little lungs. They’re in no danger of being cold because my blankets and my body heat are keeping them warm whenever she’s not around.

 

[Bri1976]

I know. I hate that it happened. But we had a cat that wasn’t neutered in the house but we didn’t know he was old enough to reproduce nor did my parents want to take him to get neutered.

 

[Bri1976]

I finally got the male cat neutered back in August. She’s doing good as of right now but whenever I try to go to sleep she gets up and starts wandering and meowing at the kittens and me.

 

[golondrina]

Weighing them would indicate if they are feeding enough from their mother.

 

[Bri1976]

I’m not sure how to weigh them. We don’t own a scale of any sort

 

[Willowy]

Are you able to get a small kitchen scale? They're usually around $20, at Walmart or other store with a reasonable kitchen selection. An analog scale may be even cheaper than that.

Without a scale, you can get by if you keep a very close eye on them. They should have round little tummies, be firm and warm and squirmy. They shouldn't fuss too much if they're well-fed. If they feel at all cold or limp or "squishy" that means they're dehydrated and you would need to step in right away. If they cry too much that means they're hungry or dirty, and you'll have to step in then too.

Will the mama cat stay with them if you stay nearby?

Although 15 minutes is long enough for a feeding, as long as the kittens aren't squalling after she leaves. The normal thing for them to do is to cry when they're hungry, she comes to feed them, when she leaves they cry for a few seconds and then settle into a heap and sleep. If they're crying longer than that or don't settle down and sleep after eating, they're not getting enough.

 

[Bri1976]

I did find a scale. It weighs up to 22lbs. Two of the three kittens weighed 1/4 of a pound and the third weighed a half a pound. I don’t think they’re getting enough food because they do start screaming for a while until she comes back. But she seems to be doing better today. I think she’s finally caught on to what she’s suppose to be doing. She’s staying on the floor (with a blanket) and she’s keeping her kittens down there. They’ve been pretty quiet this morning except for when I weighed them. They got fussy then and she tried getting them back from the scale by picking them up. She’s currently nursing while meowing to me beside my bed. The kittens are eating and are quiet, possibly asleep.

 

[catwoman707]

It does sound like she is doing better today thankfully, no fun being surprised with having to take over for a mama cat!
I was thinking the same, if you are able to put a nest right by where you are she might stay with them better.
It's her age, if she were any younger she would likely have dropped them out of her randomly and done nothing. These are pretty much the only cats who abandon the litter, unlike most people believing they 'found and abandoned litter' but are actually stealing a feral mama's babies.
So she has a small amt of nurturing developed and is learning it fast now

Scale needs to weigh in either grams (ideal) or in ounces. Impossible to watch daily weight gains on a scale that weighs in pounds.
In an emergency situation where formula is urgently needed but can't get it then, there are recipes online to make homemade, and can actually use baby formula as a last resort and temporarily.

Remember blankets are only good for warmth when we or kittens are able to hold their body temps, blankets will insulate, but they do not create warmth, they need a heat source.
Otherwise their temp will drop down towards room temp, and when temp gets below 94 the organs go dormant and if fed will not process the milk, it quickly grows bacteria sitting in their tummies and will end disastrously.
This is why temp regulation is SO important.
They begin to regulate it themselves at about 3 weeks.

 

[Bri1976]

The scale I have only has kilograms and pounds. We have never had a need for a scale that weighs in ounces or anything so I guess we have never bought one before. And Callie’s kittens seem to be doing perfectly fine now. She has stayed with them all day except for a couple of times. They’re all warm and comfy in my bed once again. I just pray tonight isn’t like last night. I got maybe 3 hours of sleep at the most because either Callie would meow or one of the kittens would meow or because she’d want them on the bed.

 

[catwoman707]

It does sound like she is getting the hang of things now and was looking to you for support and guidance.
It will only get better

 

[Bri1976]

I’ll post back on here in about a week or so to let everyone know how the kittens are doing and everything. Everything seems to be going good today, with the kittens atleast.

 

[Norachan]

That's good. Please keep us updated.