# Litter of kittens dying - please help!



## tnh (Oct 25, 2004)

I just recently adopted a cat which was already pregnant. 5 kittens were born on Tuesday, all appeared good and nursed well. Then after a couple days one died. A couple days later another died. All appeared to be constantly nursing from the mother, but upon closer inspection, she had very little (if any) milk, not even bagged up. Immediately we started bottle feeding with kitten formula, the remaining 3 kittens, and they drank well. The next day one of the kittens lost it's appetite and we couldn't even force it to drink, it died shortly after. The next day after that, another one which had a good appetite suddenly lost it's appetite and also died. The last kitten was much stronger than the others with an enormous appetite and we were sure it would do well. It's been a couple of days and all has been going very well until tonight. Suddenly the mother started vomiting (she is looking quite weak) and decided to reject the kitten. She won't pay any attention to it at all!
I'm not sure if we will be able to save the kitten now. We have been stimulating its excrement and keeping it with the mother (by force) to stay warm, but it will no longer bottle feed. All this happened in the last 4 hours and we are exhausted! Does anyone know why a kitten will just lose it's appetite like that? And the mother - is there any kind of health problem in cats that would prevent them from producing milk and cause vomiting and weakness? She also has had very little appetite, but so far there has been no diarrhea.
I will be taking them to the vet as soon as they will take me tomorrow, but by then I'm sure the kitten will be extremely weak. Does anyone have any ideas what we could do in the meantime?

Thanks for your help,

TNH


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## spacemonkey (Aug 12, 2004)

While I can't make any certain diagnosis, there are certainly illnesses that could make a mother cat ill and in turn, she can pass it off to her babies. I'm so sorry you've lost all those kittens  I really don't know what you can do until a vet can see them. They go downhill very fast, as you've seen. Is there an emergency vet in your area?


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## RarePuss (Jun 16, 2004)

If the mom is not producing milk, there's something really wrong with her  if she's sick and maybe cold, the kittens will get cold and that's the end for them  Keep a hot water bottle for the last kitten to keep it warm, BUT the most important thing to do, to save teh mom and maybe give the last kitten a fighting chance is to take them both to a vet, ASAP


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## jessamica8 (Aug 17, 2004)

I agree about the vet. Also, if the mother rejects it, you have a very tough job. The survival rate for a kitten that young (less than a week) having to bottle feed is not great. As they said, keep it warm, keep trying to feed it (try an eyedropper to get it in the mouth if it won't suck; but make sure it doesn't suffocate, just give a drop or two at a time.) Good luck; my thoughts are with you. Let us know how it goes.


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## tnh (Oct 25, 2004)

*Thanks for your replies, keep posting*

When we first found out that the mother had no milk, we just assumed it was because of stress. I didn't realize how shy she was and maybe moving her to a new home just took too much out of her, especially while she was pregnant. I know she's had hardly any appetite, and I would think that alone would be enough to stop her milk.
But she seemed to love her kittens and was trying to take good care of them, so I focused my attention on saving the kittens. When she started vomiting tonight and turned her back (so suddenly) on her last baby, I couldn't believe my eyes! Now I'm worried something is terribly wrong with her. As far as I know she has always been a strictly indoor cat, and this is not her first litter. The person I bought her from told me she has had mastitis in the past, and I thought maybe this could somehow be a result of that. Cronic mastitis maybe? I don't know much about it, but please keep posting me, I'll be waiting for replies.

Thanks,

TNH


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## spittles (Oct 24, 2003)

TAKE HER TO THE VET ASAP!!! It is the only thing you can do for her and the kitten...please get her to the vet ASAP.

Also, get KMR(kitten milk replacer) and bottle feed the last guy an mix some of the milk in her food. This will get her extra vitamins and maybe the last one will survive. But please take her and the kitten to the vet...

Abhay


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## queen of the nile (Aug 16, 2003)

This happened with my foster cat, who we think had distemper  . She had no milk, was vomitting and ignoring the kittens. Please take them to the vet immediately. If it is distemper, it kills within 24-48 hours.


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## tnh (Oct 25, 2004)

*Thanks*

Thank you all for trying to help. We held the baby all night to keep it warm and force-fed it to keep it strong. His appetite has not returned yet and we are very worried. In the morning (thankfully) the mom seemed much better and took it back again, and she's just as happy as ever, purring and cleaning the baby. I don't understand this! 
The vet is taking us in this morning, I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks again,

TNH


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## tnh (Oct 25, 2004)

*Good news!*

I have good news I wanted to share. When I took our mom cat and kitten to the vet on Monday morning, he found they were both nice and healthy. Mom was a little dehydrated from vomiting so he gave her a shot of fluid. No infections or mastitis, so why mom never produced milk is still a mystery. Anyhow, we were able to find a surrogate mom for the kitten because he really was starting to hate bottle feeding, and he's still doing very well.

Thanks again for your suggestions on Sunday night!

TNH


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## violina23 (Jun 28, 2004)

Best wishes to mom & baby!


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I hope there's a happy ending with both!


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