Please help me SOLVE THIS MYSTERY

[cleo&cairo]

Mysterious Kitten Disappearance!

Please help me and my husband solve this mystery.

My beautiful Mainecoon Cleo just gave birth for the first time in the early hours of 2nd July. She gave birth to 7 beautiful kittens successfully.

A few hours after she delivered and was resting, she started to show signs of contractions at around 11am.

She then went back to normal.

We went to sleep that night and woke up the next morning (3rd July) to see a placenta waiting for us in the upstairs corridor.

We then went down to check on her and her kittens only to find she was absolutely fine and NO EXTRA KITTEN IN SIGHT!

We began franticallysearching the house for this new arrival and couldn't find them anywhere

What could have happened? She couldn't have eaten him right?

We 90% remember each kitten coming out with its placenta so how could this be??

Your help and advice would be MUCH appreciated! Thank you so much xx

 

[Sarthur2]

It is indeed a mystery, but memory is not perfect. I suspect it belonged to one of the seven already delivered and was a late-arriving placenta. A bit unusual, but not out of the realm of possibilities.

Are all seven kittens latching and nursing? Have you weighed each kitten? Seven is a large litter and there’s sure to be a runt or two. Keep a log of daily weights and gains to make sure each is getting enough milk. Be prepared to supplement the runts if necessary.

Give mom a dish or two a day of kitten formula for the extra calcium she needs now during nursing, and see that she also gets loads of protein, including boiled chicken and plenty of wet food.

Do you plan to spay mom after this litter?

 

[cleo&cairo]

It is indeed a mystery, but memory is not perfect. I suspect it belonged to one of the seven already delivered and was a late-arriving placenta. A bit unusual, but not out of the realm of possibilities.

Are all seven kittens latching and nursing? Have you weighed each kitten? Seven is a large litter and there’s sure to be a runt or two. Keep a log of daily weights and gains to make sure each is getting enough milk. Be prepared to supplement the runts if necessary.

Give mom a dish or two a day of kitten formula for the extra calcium she needs now during nursing, and see that she also gets loads of protein, including boiled chicken and plenty of wet food.

Do you plan to spay mom after this litter?

Hi Lovely thanks for responding!

Yes it must be that!

Unfortunately, we lost one yesterday, he was much smaller than the rest and came out with a strange somewhat-underdeveloped lower/side lips which seemed quite red. He was separate to the rest and wouldn't latch to the nipple well. Just as morning came around for us to go and get him kitten formula we sadly found he had passed

 

[cleo&cairo]

Hi Lovely thanks for responding!

Yes it must be that!

Unfortunately, we lost one yesterday, he was much smaller than the rest and came out with a strange somewhat-underdeveloped lower/side lips which seemed quite red. He was separate to the rest and wouldn't latch to the nipple well. Just as morning came around for us to go and get him kitten formula we sadly found he had passed

Also, I must thank you very much for all the extra advice you gave! Really appreciate it! I didn't know momma cats could have kitten milk! But I've been giving her canned tuna and chunks of raw beef

 

[lucyrima]

Unless your cat is a bird, fish, insect or lizard, she's a mammal! That means milk is ready for kits when they're born, like the rest of us mammals. All kinds of animals are mammals - apes, dogs, horses, and loads of others including whales!

And even if she didn't need milk (and need it to the exclusion of almost anything else for a while (wks), she can't 'do' tuna or raw beef anytime soon (months).

 

[Sarthur2]

Cats in the wild eat raw meat anytime they catch their own food; however, with home cats, I do encourage that their meats be boiled or steamed. It ensures that bacteria is killed before eating.

 

[lucyrima]

Yes, but she talked about a very young kitten, who doesn't hunt in the wild or anywhere else yet.

 

[kashmir64]

I think there is some confusion. From what I'm reading, the little one who passed wasn't latching, and she was feeding mama cat the tuna and raw meat. Sarthur2 was suggesting kitten milk to supplement mama. Not feeding the infant raw foods. Or am I the one who misread this? (entirely possible)
OP could also try kitten pate or goats milk for mama.

cleo&cairo sorry for the loss of the little one.

 

[cleo&cairo]

I think there is some confusion. From what I'm reading, the little one who passed wasn't latching, and she was feeding mama cat the tuna and raw meat. Sarthur2 was suggesting kitten milk to supplement mama. Not feeding the infant raw foods. Or am I the one who misread this? (entirely possible)
OP could also try kitten pate or goats milk for mama.

cleo&cairo sorry for the loss of the little one.

Thank you so much
and yes you are 100% right! Of course I didn’t feed newborn kittens meat!

 

[StefanZ]

Mysterious Kitten Disappearance!

Please help me and my husband solve this mystery.

My beautiful Mainecoon Cleo just gave birth for the first time in the early hours of 2nd July. She gave birth to 7 beautiful kittens successfully.

A few hours after she delivered and was resting, she started to show signs of contractions at around 11am.

She then went back to normal.

We went to sleep that night and woke up the next morning (3rd July) to see a placenta waiting for us in the upstairs corridor.

We then went down to check on her and her kittens only to find she was absolutely fine and NO EXTRA KITTEN IN SIGHT!

We began franticallysearching the house for this new arrival and couldn't find them anywhere

What could have happened? She couldn't have eaten him right?

We 90% remember each kitten coming out with its placenta so how could this be??

Your help and advice would be MUCH appreciated! Thank you so much xx

Im late for your start question. I agree the most probable is there was one placenta left inside. And good she delivered it herself even if it was an literally afterbirth.

However it is fully possible if she happened to deliver a stillborn kitten, she did ate up it. In nature they tend to do so, not to draw predators or ants to the nests of living kittens. She carries the body away or eats it.

 

[lucyrima]

Oh! You're right, I wasn't paying attention! At least it makes more sense this way. I didn't know mothers might eat the stillborns, but that also makes sense (thanks StefanZ). Really must get more sleep!