What Are Some Problems Caused By Uncontrolled Inbreeding?

[lacy2000]

I just picked up a pregnant foster cat tonight. She came from a hoarding situation and I was warned that the inbreeding going on there could cause some issues with the babies. I want to know what to expect... stillbirths? Heart problems? Cleft palates? I’m a bit nervous because it’s only my second pregnant foster mom and my previous litter all passed away due to the Mom being severely neglected and sick. If anyone has had experience with this please let me know! I want to be as prepared as possible.

 

[abyeb]

I think low birth weights is the most common thing we see with inbred cats, but the heart issues and cleft palates you mentioned are also seen sometimes.

This thread is quite old, but does have some info that you may find helpful: Caring for inbred kittens

Please keep us updated. Thank you for fostering! People like you are so important to animal rescues and the cat-loving community.

 

[kashmir64]

Not only would you have the possibility of health issues, but mental issues as well. I know when it was the fad to line-breed horses, there were some pretty mentally unstable foals as a result. Which grew into mentally unstable dangerous horses. I would think the same thing would apply to any animal.

 

[StefanZ]

The most common inbreeding depressions is low birthing weights following smallish adults. And litters tend to be smaller.

Prepare for feeding with syringe, prepare for caring of weak kittens - think premature.
An IR heating lamp is useful. A scale, goats milk or kmr, syringe, dextrose sugar, pedialyte.

 

[lacy2000]

Thanks for all the info! I have kmr and heating pads ready. I’ve bottle and tube fed before so I’m not too concerned if that ends up needing to be done. The mom is a very small cat herself. I also have a 7 month old foster kitten (separated from her of course) and she is even smaller than him! So I’m guessing she was a product of inbreeding as well.

 

[lacy2000]

Sage had her 5 babies this morning! They are all healthy and have great birth weights! The smallest is 96g. Two females and three males. Sage is also doing very well. Already getting up to eat and drink!

 

[abyeb]

Sage had her 5 babies this morning! They are all healthy and have great birth weights! The smallest is 96g. Two females and three males. Sage is also doing very well. Already getting up to eat and drink!

They’re cute! I’m glad to hear everything is going well.

 

[ashade1]

Ooh! That little polkadot one! So cute!

 

[laurenfosters]

I just realized we are instagram buddies! She and her kittens are beautiful. Thanks for sharing them with us!

 

[kat hamlin]

Sage had her 5 babies this morning! They are all healthy and have great birth weights! The smallest is 96g. Two females and three males. Sage is also doing very well. Already getting up to eat and drink!

Hooray! It sounds like the biggest concern was low birth weight, and we've got that covered. Do keep a close eye on them, of course. I think I see more fading kitten syndrome in these guys than in healthy babies but not entirely sure.
My two girls are inbred, but even worse, they're inbred pointed cats, so they have vision and hearing issues too as well as one of them definitely being sub-par mentally. One of them came into rescue pregnant and luckily the kittens were aborted as it was my Shosho girl who is already not right in the head without being expected to take care of kittens. She does have a good mama instinct towards the foster kittens, but she's not responsible for feeding them!

 

[lacy2000]

I just realized we are instagram buddies! She and her kittens are beautiful. Thanks for sharing them with us!

Wow! I’ve never encountered another IG friend on here.

 

[lacy2000]

Hooray! It sounds like the biggest concern was low birth weight, and we've got that covered. Do keep a close eye on them, of course. I think I see more fading kitten syndrome in these guys than in healthy babies but not entirely sure.
My two girls are inbred, but even worse, they're inbred pointed cats, so they have vision and hearing issues too as well as one of them definitely being sub-par mentally. One of them came into rescue pregnant and luckily the kittens were aborted as it was my Shosho girl who is already not right in the head without being expected to take care of kittens. She does have a good mama instinct towards the foster kittens, but she's not responsible for feeding them!

I am watching them carefully. I am sadly all too familiar with fading kitten syndrome. It’s possible they aren’t inbred, but we thought so because two other moms from the house had extremely underweight kittens. I’m glad these guys had good weights. It gives hope for no complications from here on out!

 

[lacy2000]

So things are slowly going downhill for two of my kittens. They aren’t gaining much weight. I started supplementing with KMR yesterday evening. Each of them gained about 2 grams. One weighs 111g and one weighs 119g.

They are both active and nursing, but I noticed they are small compared to the others and I can feel their ribs more. I have been giving them separate nursing times with Mom. I also have a heating disk with them at all times and I’m giving small amounts of karo syrup for energy, just in case.

One weird and quite frightening thing I noticed when Mom was stimulating one of them was blood in her poop. Has anyone else experienced this? My first thought was worms. I also considered the KMR was irritating her digestive system. What do you think? Is there anything else I should do? I haven’t noticed it in any other kittens so far.

 

[kashmir64]

Goats milk. You can go down to Walmart and buy pasteurized if you can't find raw. Mix 1 part KMR to 3 parts goats milk. This will give an extra boost with antibodies the kittens need.
I'm not saying this will definitely save them, but it will give them a much better chance if it's a nutrition thing.
The bloody poop does sound like it could be worms. (I hope that's all it is)

 

[lacy2000]

Goats milk. You can go down to Walmart and buy pasteurized if you can't find raw. Mix 1 part KMR to 3 parts goats milk. This will give an extra boost with antibodies the kittens need.
I'm not saying this will definitely save them, but it will give them a much better chance if it's a nutrition thing.
The bloody poop does sound like it could be worms. (I hope that's all it is)

Ok thank you. I’ll head to Walmart right now to get some goats milk! I really hope to save these babies, but if it’s a congenital issue I know that they weren’t mean to live in this Earth. I just want to give them the best chance possible.

I’m hoping it is worms and I can get them to two- three weeks so they are old enough for dewormer.

 

[laurenfosters]

Ok thank you. I’ll head to Walmart right now to get some goats milk! I really hope to save these babies, but if it’s a congenital issue I know that they weren’t mean to live in this Earth. I just want to give them the best chance possible.

I’m hoping it is worms and I can get them to two- three weeks so they are old enough for dewormer.

I don't have a ton of advice to offer; just want to tell you that i've been there too with my recent litter; it is so upsetting and anxiety-inducing as you just want to give these precious little lives the best chance you can. You are doing an amazing job and they are lucky to have you!

 

[lacy2000]

I don't have a ton of advice to offer; just want to tell you that i've been there too with my recent litter; it is so upsetting and anxiety-inducing as you just want to give these precious little lives the best chance you can. You are doing an amazing job and they are lucky to have you!

Thank you! I’m just grateful that three of them are doing well. I’ve been down this road before and it didn’t end well, but I’m trying to remain optimistic about these guys.

 

[lacy2000]

Ok I got the goats milk and mixed it with the KMR. I’ve been giving them about 1-2mL of it every 2-3 hours. If I see they are very full, I don’t give it to them. I still want them to be hungry enough to want to nurse. They are doing good right now. Active and nursing from Mom. I noticed the female kitten was a little weak so I’ve been giving her a tiny drop of Karo syrup every few hours and it has an effect almost immediately. She’ll nurse much longer when she has it.

She was also the one with the bloody stool. Today she had normal poop! I’m thinking it may have been constipation from the KMR, but I’m not putting other possibilities out of my mind. If I notice it again, I’ll add a few drops of olive oil to her milk.

I weighed them last night and the male kitten gained 5 grams, but the female kitten didn’t gain at all. I hope things start looking better for her!

Here’s the female kitten:

Here’s the male kitten:

 

[kashmir64]

They are so adorable. You are doing everything you can. Right now it's just a waiting game.
Keep us updated on them.

 

[lacy2000]

So here’s an update:

The male kitten, named Basil, has gained really well. His face is nice and full and he is strong. He has gained almost 20 grams in the last two days!

The female kitten isn’t doing so well. She has been losing weight and went from 118 grams to 111 grams within the last two days. I rushed her to the vet today. The vet is going to keep her and see if she can stabilize her and get her to gain weight. If she gets stronger, she’ll come back with me.