- Joined
- May 23, 2021
- Messages
- 2
- Purraise
- 3
Hi TCS,
I'm hoping to get some advice on whether or not to be concerned. I found a young stray a couple months ago and took her in one month ago. The vet estimates she is 7-8 months. When I took her in, it became clear she was pregnant with what I'm guessing is likely her first litter. The litter was delivered on May 20th around early afternoon with seemingly no problems. Three kittens.
Observation has been challenging because she rejected my box nest I assembled for her (lined, soft, lip to prevent kittens getting out) and instead went for the cat tunnel she has. I've been regularly trying to look in and see how they're all doing but it's a pretty limited view. I use a flashlight but try to limit that because it's intense in the darkness.
The queen seems to be fine, though she does look pretty slender now. I also noticed some dried blood droplets on the floor but cannot determine when they appeared. The day after the birth she started coming out for breaks and pets. She allows me to touch the kittens as long as she's there (I keep it to a minimum, don't worry).
With all that context, my question relates to the runt of the litter. The runt seems to be a bit smaller than the other 2 and struggles to latch. Granted, I have also seen all three nursing together on multiple occasions. My concern became piqued when less than an hour ago, I hear unusual crying from the closet. I go to look and there on the hardwood is the runt, about 8 inches from the tunnel entrance, confused and upset. The queen is lying in the tunnel observing the runt but doing nothing. No concern in her eyes, nada. Just watching. I don't know if she placed the runt there or if exploration brought it outside. I gently placed it back into the nest (it was still plenty warm fortunately). Queen didn't seem remotely bothered by any of it. The runt searched for a nipple and missed it even though being within centimeters of it. I watched and shortly after they all cuddled and went to sleep.
I can't determine if this runt is a fading kitten or if the queen is in the process of/on the fence about rejecting it? For her to not care about one of her 3 day old kittens escaping the nest crying on the cold floor has me very worried. I'm wondering if the kitten pros among you agree or if I'm overreacting. Happy to provide any additional information I can.
And as a follow up question, given a fading kit/rejection could be occurring, any thoughts on me moving the family to the box nest I prepared? I know they're probably fine but I see her lie on the kittens all the time and hear them crying as a result. It's very tight in there. But more than that, the box will allow me to actually see what's going on better (if the runt is feeding, etc.). I could remove the soft base from the tunnel and place it in the box to help with the adjustment. I know she'll let me touch them in order to move them the 6 inches needed to go into the box. I would then remove the tunnel to prevent her from moving them back. I've just moved into this new apartment and everything is in boxes and there are very few other nesting spots available so I'd be surprised if she moved them out the box. Thoughts?
TY!
I'm hoping to get some advice on whether or not to be concerned. I found a young stray a couple months ago and took her in one month ago. The vet estimates she is 7-8 months. When I took her in, it became clear she was pregnant with what I'm guessing is likely her first litter. The litter was delivered on May 20th around early afternoon with seemingly no problems. Three kittens.
Observation has been challenging because she rejected my box nest I assembled for her (lined, soft, lip to prevent kittens getting out) and instead went for the cat tunnel she has. I've been regularly trying to look in and see how they're all doing but it's a pretty limited view. I use a flashlight but try to limit that because it's intense in the darkness.
The queen seems to be fine, though she does look pretty slender now. I also noticed some dried blood droplets on the floor but cannot determine when they appeared. The day after the birth she started coming out for breaks and pets. She allows me to touch the kittens as long as she's there (I keep it to a minimum, don't worry).
With all that context, my question relates to the runt of the litter. The runt seems to be a bit smaller than the other 2 and struggles to latch. Granted, I have also seen all three nursing together on multiple occasions. My concern became piqued when less than an hour ago, I hear unusual crying from the closet. I go to look and there on the hardwood is the runt, about 8 inches from the tunnel entrance, confused and upset. The queen is lying in the tunnel observing the runt but doing nothing. No concern in her eyes, nada. Just watching. I don't know if she placed the runt there or if exploration brought it outside. I gently placed it back into the nest (it was still plenty warm fortunately). Queen didn't seem remotely bothered by any of it. The runt searched for a nipple and missed it even though being within centimeters of it. I watched and shortly after they all cuddled and went to sleep.
I can't determine if this runt is a fading kitten or if the queen is in the process of/on the fence about rejecting it? For her to not care about one of her 3 day old kittens escaping the nest crying on the cold floor has me very worried. I'm wondering if the kitten pros among you agree or if I'm overreacting. Happy to provide any additional information I can.
And as a follow up question, given a fading kit/rejection could be occurring, any thoughts on me moving the family to the box nest I prepared? I know they're probably fine but I see her lie on the kittens all the time and hear them crying as a result. It's very tight in there. But more than that, the box will allow me to actually see what's going on better (if the runt is feeding, etc.). I could remove the soft base from the tunnel and place it in the box to help with the adjustment. I know she'll let me touch them in order to move them the 6 inches needed to go into the box. I would then remove the tunnel to prevent her from moving them back. I've just moved into this new apartment and everything is in boxes and there are very few other nesting spots available so I'd be surprised if she moved them out the box. Thoughts?
TY!
