I had trapped a cat for TnR and she gave birth! She is not going near the kittens and it's been a few hours. There are two living and one was stillborn. The mother has had no time to acclimate to her space and is stressed from trapping. When we trapped her we called the vet who comes out to do sterilizations (they want you to trap then make the appointment) but she is away on vacation so we set her up in a dog crate and thought we'd just have to hold her temporarily. She's long-haired so we couldn't see if her nipples were swollen- we really weren't positive who we trapped or if it was male or female as there were three cats that we were trying to TnR who look pretty much identical.
She had two live kittens after I brought her dinner. So within the last three hours. They had been cleaned of the amniotic sac and one placenta was eaten. I checked again a little bit later and there was a lifeless kitten still in the sac with placenta attached.
The mother is very very young- could be 5 months old- at most 7 or 8 months and still small. I do have KMR- both liquid canned and powder on hand as well as syringes for newborns. I have bottlefed many years ago but that was with older kittens. I do know how to stimulate them to help them urinate/ defecate.
I don't want to jump the gun and remove kittens that she will tend to but I don't want to cause them harm by neglect. Mom cat is on top of a carrier and the kittens are on the ground in a box with towels. She hasn't moved and isn't showing signs of further labor nor does she look physically distressed- other than the fact she is feral and just had kittens possibly for the first time. The two living kittens were cleaned up enough so the sac was removed but she birthed them on top of the carrier instead of inside it- so the kittens must've fallen to the ground afterwards. I found them on the cage floor screaming and struggling to move.
Right now the kittens are acting lively. They are huddled together and crying but momma is not with them. She's not far but she hasn't attended to them.
I have KMR, a miracle nipple and a pet ag nursing kit. I don't know how long to let it go before I intervene. I know how important the colostrum is in the first 48 hours so I'm really just torn on what to do and looking for advice.
She had two live kittens after I brought her dinner. So within the last three hours. They had been cleaned of the amniotic sac and one placenta was eaten. I checked again a little bit later and there was a lifeless kitten still in the sac with placenta attached.
The mother is very very young- could be 5 months old- at most 7 or 8 months and still small. I do have KMR- both liquid canned and powder on hand as well as syringes for newborns. I have bottlefed many years ago but that was with older kittens. I do know how to stimulate them to help them urinate/ defecate.
I don't want to jump the gun and remove kittens that she will tend to but I don't want to cause them harm by neglect. Mom cat is on top of a carrier and the kittens are on the ground in a box with towels. She hasn't moved and isn't showing signs of further labor nor does she look physically distressed- other than the fact she is feral and just had kittens possibly for the first time. The two living kittens were cleaned up enough so the sac was removed but she birthed them on top of the carrier instead of inside it- so the kittens must've fallen to the ground afterwards. I found them on the cage floor screaming and struggling to move.
Right now the kittens are acting lively. They are huddled together and crying but momma is not with them. She's not far but she hasn't attended to them.
I have KMR, a miracle nipple and a pet ag nursing kit. I don't know how long to let it go before I intervene. I know how important the colostrum is in the first 48 hours so I'm really just torn on what to do and looking for advice.
Hang in there, we're with you as much as we can be (too bad we can't help with those 1:30 AM and then the next, and the next... feedings!)
