Cat keeps abandoning one kitten

[unsurebut]

She gave birth to 5 on Sunday and there's just one who she keeps removing from her bed and leaving it hidden in places. She doesn't come back for it either, I've scrabbled around finding it and then returning it to her.

Any advice? I'm worried about this little one 😞

She may be aware it's not thriving.

Ask your vet?

Oh no! What a worry. Small bump.

My cat did this. We took the kitten to the vet as it got a sore eye and it had a genetic abnormality. It died at 2 weeks. In our cats case she 'knew' and did not want to waste milk/care on it. 5 is a lot, maybe she cannot produce enough milk for them all? Are they all gaining weight?

If mum cat isn't feeding it then you'll need to hand rear the kitten to give it a chance.
Agree with pp that a vet visit is in order.

Bring it to the vet as advised. The cat might sense that there is something wrong with the kitten.

One of our childhood cats did this. We just kept putting the kitten back in the nest. It was always the smallest and never the favourite but it survived and went off to its forever home at 10 weeks so it might not be as bad as it seems. Make sure the mum’s getting plenty of nourishment.

You should take the kitten to a vet, the mother might sense that the kitten is in poor health.

I would get some milk powder and hand feed it with a syringe.

Kitten fosterer here. Don’t wait too long to make the call - if she’s repeatedly rejecting it, either take it away and hand rear or call cats protection and see do they have a foster carer who will take it.

I’ve reared several like this, and all of them started out with something not quite right, and happily all survived and went on to forever homes. Hand rearing is hard but lovely too.

Just to
add, hypothermia is a BIG issue for teeny kittens so get a hot water bottle and some towels and wrap it up nice and warm. The last one I had was in winter and I kept her in my bra for a few days.

It sounds like she’s rejecting it. You could try hand rearing it yourself. I’ve done it with kittens. It’s hard but 12 years later, my mum and I still have the cats!

Animals have a sixth sense, maybe she knows this one isn't well and wants to concentrate her efforts on the others. If she keeps doing it, you may be best removing it and hand rearing