Mom Moving One Kitten

[ameezers]

I called my breeding mentor, but some times it takes a while for her to get back to me. So I thought I would ask here, because you lovely people are usually pretty quick to reply and I am freaking out a little.

My queen just had her second litter on the 18th (all my cats are registered and health tested). Her first litter she had 5 kittens, all kittens were 95g-100g at birth. This time she had 6 kittens, they ranged from 89.5g to 98g.

The lightest kitten (we'll call her purple for now) weighed 89.5g at birth, now on day 3 is 128.5g, she is still the lowest weight of all the kittens but has gained a reasonable amount of weight, so I am happy about that. When looking at her compared to the other kittens she looks as if she is one of the biggest, 3rd only to the two males in the litter.

My issue is is that last night at like 2 am, I was woken up to mom dropping purple basically on my face. We snuggled for a minute, I was waiting to see if mom would bring the other kittens too, but she didn't. She just hopped back into the basket with the other kittens. So eventually I put purple back in the basket with mom and the others.

Then this morning, after getting my kids ready for school, I went up to give mom her morning wet food meal and to weigh the kittens; only to find mom had moved purple again onto my bed. She was standing over her at this point..

I've never had a cat move only one kitten.. Normally they move the whole litter to a new nest, or my other queen would bring me the kittens in the middle of the night (usually drop them off in my armpit) and then lay at the bottom of the bed for a break.

I am wondering if the kitten has a possible defect that I am not able to see? She is gaining weight, so mom is still looking after her and feeding her, but I am not sure why she keeps moving her away from the others.

While in the basket I notice purple is more often then any other, laying slightly away from the other kittens. But she is strong, with a loud meow when you pick her up, and has no issues smacking the crap out of her littermates for a nipple.. So I am not sure what is going on.

Last time mom did everything herself, I just watched giving encouragement. This time around she cleaned all the kittens, but only removed 1 placenta, I had to do the rest.

I weigh the kittens twice a day in the morning and evening, so I will be able to spot fairly quickly if I need to step in and supplement. But I am not sure what to do or if there is anything I can do to stop mom from moving purple.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Lots of spots]

I am by no means an expert but maybe purple is too rough or eating too much compared to the others so mom is just dropping her off at the baby sitters for a break?

 

[Sarthur2]

I’m not sure what’s going on since the kitten appears healthy. Keep monitoring and returning the kitten to the nest for now. It’s puzzling.

 

[di and bob]

Mama may sense something you don't, that it needs extra help, etc.. The kitten lying apart from it's littermates is alarming to me.....She is presenting the kitten to you for some reason, the same one is more than coincidence. Can you have the experienced breeding mentor check out the kitten, or if not it may be time for a vet to check her out, if for nothing else to bring peace of mind. What if she moves the kitten and it is unable to eat for an extended time? Mama may have noticed that you paid extra attention to that particular kitten because it was the smallest and is struggling more to thrive. She may be making sure teh kitten gets extar help. As long as the kitten is gaining weight everything should be all right, I would monitor that kitten very closely though for the next few weeks!

 

[golondrina]

One thing to bear in mind is that if the kitten is kept away from his siblings he may not be warm enough, more so if you supplement his feedings.

 

[ameezers]

I talked to my mentor and my vet and they both said as long as she is gaining, and there doesn't seem to be any other issues just to keep a close eye on her and contact them if anything changes.

I may have been a little quick to panic on this one.. As not long after I made the post and called my vet, she moved ALL of the kittens under my blanket in my bed. I moved them all back only for her to move them all again to the same spot.

So I changed the bedding in the nest, even though I had done it only a few hours before, and then moved the nest next to my bed and covered it with a towel. No one has been moved since then.

Purple is now 144g a 15.5g gain since yesterday morning. I am keeping a close eye on her and will contact my vet immediately if any thing changes.

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I feel a little silly now..

 

[Kflowers]

It is never too soon to panic with new kittens.

If she moves them again consider putting the cat bed in the center of your bed. Don't forget to make a wall of pillows when the kits start climbing around. That happens before they can see. Or put your bed springs and mattress on the floor and keep everyone visible.