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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

3day old new born kitten died today :-(

44 replies

soremummy · 31/08/2014 21:49

My sons cat /kitten ?? Had 5 kittens on Thursday morning my 7 yr old and I watched last two being born he lives near me so we have been visiting a lot but unfortunately today when we visited and mummy cat went for a walk round house we noticed one wasn't moving she/he was still warm but unfortunately she had died. My daughter was totally devastated we had to have funeral etc but I'm now worried about the other kittens was it just one of those things? Or should I be watching for something? I'm on kitty watch tomorrow as his partner is back at work and basically I'm crapping myself in case I go find a kitten in distress or worse still dead/dying. I have weighed them tonight and gonna weigh tomorrow evening to see if they are a gaining weight any input would be appreciated I've only ever had dogs

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Original poster
soremummy · 31/08/2014 22:30

Shameful bump before bed

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cozietoesie · 31/08/2014 22:55

Poor wee stick.

This is not my strong suit, sore, so hopefully you'll have other posters see this thread, but my understanding is that sometimes these things do just happen for a variety of reasons. How did the rest seem? And does Mum appear to be feeding and looking after them?

Lonecatwithkitten · 01/09/2014 07:18

Was the mother up to date on her vaccinations prior to getting pregnant?
Weighing the kittens daily will give an idea if there is fading kitten syndrome.
There are a wide variety of causes including congenital abnormalities, panleucopaenia and fading kitten syndrome.

Original poster
soremummy · 01/09/2014 08:06

Thank you for your replies. She had all her injections etc and they brought her to be checked by vet when they thought she was pregnant. Mum seems to to coping well and appears to be feeding them we will weigh them everyday now and keep an eye on them. I'm hoping it was just one of those things and only affected the one kitten.

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cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 08:19

Best of luck to the rest, then, and let us know how they're getting on. (How old is Mum by the way? I formed the impression from your OP that she's quite young.)

Original poster
soremummy · 01/09/2014 09:52

I think she was born around February so I think she's very young but that's just my opinion They got her mid April and she was about 8 wks old then
I'm going to check them soon but to be honest even checking them every 2 hrs isn't going to do much cos if something has happened it's happened I guess

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cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 10:37

Lordy - so she's only about 7 months old? That's too young, really, to have a litter although there's not a lot you can do about it other than having her neutered in good time and keeping her inside.

See if you can persuade them to have that done as soon as the kittens are weaned and in the meantime, to watch her like a hawk in case she wants to get out and party. (Spaying should take care of any unwanted pregnancies which occur but cats in heat can be stupid and seeing a handsome bit of stuff somewhere could lead her to dash across roads into a car or similar.)

Best of luck with the kits anyway. Just do your best with weighing them, checking if they all seem OK and heading to the vet if there seem to be problems.

cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 10:41

PS - and make sure that they're feeding her really well. She'll need a whole load of high quality calories right now because not only is she still growing herself but she's got to feed a litter of kittens. (It's possible that this might stunt her own growth a bit.)

Original poster
soremummy · 01/09/2014 12:03

I thought she was too young too they had an appt to get her spayed and then found out she was pregnant. Other 4 kittens are ok just had a cuddle withh mummy (not admitting that I like her as they want me to have a kitten lol) they had their male cat done I did get a bit of a fright cos onewas in the back of the box and I couldn't see it move but when mum came out it squawked she seems to be feeding them. Two of the gingers where feeding when I left and the other 2 dark ones where cuddled up asleep should I get cat milk?? For mum and what high calorie stuff should I give her. I know she is on decent dried food they got if from vets. But if there is anything else I can do to help I will Thanks for the advise

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cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 12:25

Personally, I'd give her wet kitten food. It's good quality and balanced with lots of nutritional elements and she's only a kitten herself after all. (It also has the advantage that when the kits are old enough to start on solids, they can muck straight in to what Mum is eating.)

Also, I think I'd try putting a little additional water into it to make it pretty mushy - think of the amount of milk (liquid) that four kittens will need - just to ensure that she's got enough liquid in her. Worth a try anyway. Why not get a pouch or two to start off with and see how that goes down.

Other posters may have other views though.

cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 13:02

PS - have you chosen your kitten(s) yet? Wink

Original poster
soremummy · 01/09/2014 13:54

Chosen the fat ginger one with stripes on tail but will reside at his house for convenience purposes and would be cruel to take from mummy lol. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. I'm off to shop and can sneak her some wet food. I think they have given her some tuna etc and I know her dry food bowl is full (enough to feed a normal cat for about 3 days or so) my job was /is to check she has food water and look at kittens. There is noway that that cat could eat that much food or drink that much water in a day! But she did enjoy the dreamies she takes them from between my fingers and she only does that to me won't hand feed from anyone else. I think I spoiled her when I was feeding her when they first got her !

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cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 14:01

I have a serious weakness for ginger toms. (He's probably a boy.) In my own experience, they're such charming and grounded cats. That's just me though.

I'd try her with some wet food - just to ensure that she gets enough into her, especially liquid. No reason to take the kibble away though.

Good luck.

Original poster
soremummy · 01/09/2014 14:39

Just checked again all sleeping soundly but she had barely eaten the bowl is still full she was eating loads before she had them. I will leave her a bit and give her wet food before they come home from work see will she eat that. She is on purine kitten kibble chicken with milk

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Original poster
soremummy · 01/09/2014 22:10

Update weighed kittens using my digital scales to be more accurate. Little ginge 107 g. Tortoiseshell 115g Splodge 117g (mainly black but big white splodge on face). Big fat stripes ginger 140g! Mum hadn't eaten the dried food think she is being a fusspot but gobbled down full pouch of Felix kitten food. Will update tomorrow thanks for your help. (At a guess the big fat ginger will be kept!) it can be shared with us he only lives a few doors away. Next challenge how to find out the sex I'm a bit scared of moving them etc lol I know I'm a wimp night x I will be checking them tomorrow but apart from my dd who had me puzzled as to why she didn't want to visit all was ok found out in the end she didn't want mum to think she stole her 5th kitten bless her she afraid the mummy might not like her anymore and a bit scared another might die and it would be her fault

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PartyFops · 01/09/2014 22:15

I have no advice sorry, but I hope they are all OK. I have 2 cats fat ginge and splodge!

cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 22:18

The tortie will be a girl and the gingers will likely be boys. (Although there's been some movement in recent years on the % of gingers who are female - about 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 now I think.) The splodge? Anyone's guess - you're going to have to do some general up-ending and nether-region inspecting. Smile

Glad she liked her wet pouch. She can probably do with the moisture.

Original poster
soremummy · 01/09/2014 22:25

Thanks I couldn't believe she ate it that fast lol poor male cat they have just sat behind her he was drooling but didn't try get any and did. Mention I'm not a cat person ? Lol night and thanks again for advice I'm not brave enough to check sex yet it took me all my time to pick them up to weigh them

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Original poster
soremummy · 01/09/2014 22:29

Will do weights tomorrow night and check mum is eating remind me why I'm doing this please? (I could ruin my image me a softie never)

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cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 22:33

Fellow feeling from one mum to another? (That'll play even though we may know the real truth on this board. Wink)

cozietoesie · 01/09/2014 22:40

PS - it just occurred to me. Where are the pics? You don't get off that easy. Grin

Original poster
soremummy · 02/09/2014 09:22

Will sort pictures later ( I even have one of her biting the cord lol) there on my phone so will have to try upload later

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Lonecatwithkitten · 02/09/2014 09:31

The tortie will almost certainly be a girl though every so often you get a Kleinfelters syndrome where they are a male with an extra X chromosome I have seen four in my career. Ginger ratio depends on colour of parents tortie mum ginger dad 1 in 4 female ginger, 1 in 4 make ginger. Tortie mum black dad 1 in 4 ginger male no ginger females. Ginger mum black dad 1 in 2 ginger males no ginger females. I could go on.

GerundTheBehemoth · 02/09/2014 09:39

Here's a handy diagram of inheritance of gingerness in cats.

I read somewhere that chimeras/mosaics (ie with two different genomes in one body) make up the majority of male torties, with the rest being XXY. It's not possible to have a genetically 'normal' male tortoiseshell, either way.

Original poster
soremummy · 02/09/2014 14:12

I'm ashamed to say they don't know who the dad is (great parents they will be lol) I do know that there is a ginger cat quite often hanging around near their house so it might be him. Mum is a tortie Just off to check them update weights tonight

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