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- May 30, 2019
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hi all,
My cat Tuffy had a litter of 3 kittens last night. It’s her second time queening. She’s an outdoor barn cat and it took me the entire day to find where she had them, she didn’t hide with them once over the whole day. I finally found them close to where I’d set up her birthing box and two of the kittens were dead. One is severely underdeveloped and clearly died weeks ago. The other seemed full term and I couldn’t tell if it was stillborn or died right after birth. The remaining kitten seemed hungry and a bit cold. I pulled it from where she had them as it was a dangerous location and moved him to the safer box to warm and hope she would nurse. She seemed okay with this. The other two I removed and disposed of their bodies, I didn’t want them to affect the health of the remaining kitten. I thought all day she must have rejected her litter and they were dead somewhere, never expected this. The mom has seemed distressed all day and will only lay and feed the baby if I sit with her. The second I move she does too. This wouldn’t concern me if I’d seen her with the kitten today but she was laying outside and playing with the other cats all day. She is nursing now but keeps getting out of her box to check that I’m here or to sit next to me. I can’t sleep here with her and am worried she’ll leave the kitten in the night and he’ll freeze without others to lay with. My mom is in the middle of chemo so I can’t have cats indoors or id bring them in with me. I guess what I’m asking (it’s been quite the day sorry this is so long but I wanted to fully explain the situation) is when I should step in and help her feed and raise the kitten. I know it’s best if she can raise him but if this pattern of disinterest continues I’m afraid he’ll face a similar fate to his littermates. I know that she must be very traumatized. I don’t want to cause her any more stress but I really want this poor baby to survive. How long should I give her to decide she wants to be a mother?
PS I am getting her spayed next week so no more of this trauma will occur. I’m doing my best I promise
My cat Tuffy had a litter of 3 kittens last night. It’s her second time queening. She’s an outdoor barn cat and it took me the entire day to find where she had them, she didn’t hide with them once over the whole day. I finally found them close to where I’d set up her birthing box and two of the kittens were dead. One is severely underdeveloped and clearly died weeks ago. The other seemed full term and I couldn’t tell if it was stillborn or died right after birth. The remaining kitten seemed hungry and a bit cold. I pulled it from where she had them as it was a dangerous location and moved him to the safer box to warm and hope she would nurse. She seemed okay with this. The other two I removed and disposed of their bodies, I didn’t want them to affect the health of the remaining kitten. I thought all day she must have rejected her litter and they were dead somewhere, never expected this. The mom has seemed distressed all day and will only lay and feed the baby if I sit with her. The second I move she does too. This wouldn’t concern me if I’d seen her with the kitten today but she was laying outside and playing with the other cats all day. She is nursing now but keeps getting out of her box to check that I’m here or to sit next to me. I can’t sleep here with her and am worried she’ll leave the kitten in the night and he’ll freeze without others to lay with. My mom is in the middle of chemo so I can’t have cats indoors or id bring them in with me. I guess what I’m asking (it’s been quite the day sorry this is so long but I wanted to fully explain the situation) is when I should step in and help her feed and raise the kitten. I know it’s best if she can raise him but if this pattern of disinterest continues I’m afraid he’ll face a similar fate to his littermates. I know that she must be very traumatized. I don’t want to cause her any more stress but I really want this poor baby to survive. How long should I give her to decide she wants to be a mother?
PS I am getting her spayed next week so no more of this trauma will occur. I’m doing my best I promise