Mother Cat Smothered One Of Her Babies. Ignores The Rest Of The Litter Now.

[Teddy777]

Hi!

This is depressing and very hard for me to type. I almost logged out few times. I appreciate your suggestions. If it's too long I am sorry. I want you to know what's happening so that you can guide me correctly.

My Cat Sunshine gave birth last afternoon and the moment she delivered the first baby, one of the rowdy kittens from the previous litter tried to kill the baby. I was working in my office room and heard the baby cry (which sounded like a bird in distress) and ran to their room and saw the baby being bitten. It was a horrible sight which will definitely taunt me for the rest of my life. I rescued him and took him & Sunshine to the other room. It was a shock as my Cat didn't make any sound while delivering the first baby, and even when the baby was being dragged and bitten she remained so calm.

I wasn't prepared as she didn't appear like she was going to deliver any sooner. It's no excuse as I should have been more careful. I feel terribly guilty. She feels anxious when she is alone and cries nonstop. So I wanted her to stay with them as long as it was okay.

When I gave her the injured baby I rescued she seemed to be happy. She stopped delivering and appeared to be in shock. Then came 3 more babies around evening. The one who was bitten was moving around and drank milk just like the other babies. I named the injured baby Michael.

Today morning I found that she had tried to smother 3 of the babies including Michael. Two of them were okay but Michael was smothered so badly as if she wanted to squeeze the life out of him. He was so badly squeezed that watery liquid had come out of his wounds, nose and other crevices. He was so round yesterday. Today he looked like a rectangle barely clinging to life. It was shocking and heartbreaking. I prayed and tried to help her nurse him. He was unconscious.

After struggling to breathe he passed away.

One of the most depressing days ever! After I buried the Kitten I spent the day cleaning the place, feeding the other Cats and arranging my files as I couldn't concentrate on my work. Actually I felt like something was off from the morning. Now it became clear as I noticed how she refused to feed the babies.

Sunshine cries when she is with the newborn kittens. She wants to see the older ones and when I take her to see them she tries to grab them by scruff and bring them here. They freak out and run from her after which they all sleep together. She is at peace and appears calm when she is with them. But when I bring her to the other room where the babies are, she cries nonstop. Not normal meowing but meowing as if crying for help or trying to communicate to the alien kitties in a different language.

To test her I let her spend 3 hours with the older ones and she didn't cry to see the babies even once. When I brought her to feed the babies, she didn't settle down at all. She didn't even bother to feed them! She cried like crazy to go to the other room and when I took her she calmed down.

She doesn't care about these babies at all.

Why is she refusing to feed the tiny wee babies who need her so much? Are they premature? Is that why she is abandoning them? They are active (they meow and move like normal kittens) but their fur does look so pale/light unlike the last litter who were shiny and dark. She doesn't meow to see the new babies at all.

What's going on?

-Teddy

 

[susanm9006]

Mama cat probably didn’t smother her baby. If it had wounds from the older cat that would be enough to kill kit. PLEASE put mama and babies in a safe room away from other cats and kittens until these kittens are at least eight weeks old. Feed her there and make sure she has a litter box. And weigh each of the kittens to make sure they are gaining weight. Given their tough start I would supplement them with bottle feeding now and continue if they don’t gain weight.

And I hope that you will get this mom and your other cats neutered to prevent additional litters.

 

[cindy321]

I think the mum cat possibly confused, she knows something is wrong but do not know what is it, panic and looking for other babies,sometimes they do accidentally slept on top of kitten may squash the kitten to death, esp when the nest is too small or the bedding is not properly laid out.

if I were you, I will lock the mum inside a big cage with food, water, litter and then put the new born with her, cover the cage with a blanket etc , so it is dark and quiet

and watching her from distance, she will cry try to escape and get to the old kittens, but ignore her, just put the new born with her. as long as the new born kittens are healthy they will soon starte to suckle, after that mum should calm down and start to nursing them

I will not intervene unless you notice mum are really try to kill the newborn, in that case, possibly something is wrong with the new kittens, then you need to separate them, however I doubt the baby kittens can survive.

 

[catsknowme]

I agree with locking the mom up with the newborns. Keep monitoring them and supplement feed if they are meowing with hunger. At some point, her nipples will engorge and the suckling of the newborns will give her relief. It sounds as if the older kitten got confused and thought that the newborns were mice to be killed and eaten. If you have a more gentle older kitten, it might help to add it to mom & the newborns, so she might relax sooner. I have had tomcats go after newborns (the males will try to kill the offspring of a rival male so that the mother cat will come into season and mate with him to raise HIS offspring - yet another reason why both male and female cats need to be neutered as soon as possible) but I have never known sibliings to do that.
Please keep us updated! Condolences on the tragic loss of the newborn - I am sorry that it had to suffer so. It is very unusual that his mother did not defend him so you may be right that something is wrong with the litter. At any rate, his sufferings are over and his little spirit is in a much better place.

 

[Teddy777]

Mama cat probably didn’t smother her baby. If it had wounds from the older cat that would be enough to kill kit. PLEASE put mama and babies in a safe room away from other cats and kittens until these kittens are at least eight weeks old. Feed her there and make sure she has a litter box. And weigh each of the kittens to make sure they are gaining weight. Given their tough start I would supplement them with bottle feeding now and continue if they don’t gain weight.

And I hope that you will get this mom and your other cats neutered to prevent additional litters.

Hi thank you! I have the Mom and the babies in another bedroom. She has a litter box, food, water and some of her toys there. I'll weight the babies regularly and start with formula.

I am neutering them all as soon as possible. It was unplanned. I never wanted indoor pets as I was afraid of falling in love with them. Their Mom was a feral who lived in my parents' garden. Somehow she stole my heart and got killed when her kittens were 4 months old. I took them in. I was too busy as I was starting a new business then. Thought they won't make babies until they are at least 1 year old but they made babies when they were just 9 months old. Just when I started breathing normally she was pregnant again!

I am sure the Mom Cat smothered the baby by accident. She keeps sitting on them all the time. He was under the bed flatttened looking like a sandwich. But the other kittens who were under the bed were alright. Maybe he couldn't move like the other babies did and died there. Though he was wounded he drank milk and moved around when I went to bed last night. I did know that he will die in a few days from the internal bleeding and trauma. It's sad I couldn't take him to the doctor as vets here are terrible.

Once again thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Teddy777]

I think the mum cat possibly confused, she knows something is wrong but do not know what is it, panic and looking for other babies,sometimes they do accidentally slept on top of kitten may squash the kitten to death, esp when the nest is too small or the bedding is not properly laid out.

if I were you, I will lock the mum inside a big cage with food, water, litter and then put the new born with her, cover the cage with a blanket etc , so it is dark and quiet

and watching her from distance, she will cry try to escape and get to the old kittens, but ignore her, just put the new born with her. as long as the new born kittens are healthy they will soon starte to suckle, after that mum should calm down and start to nursing them

I will not intervene unless you notice mum are really try to kill the newborn, in that case, possibly something is wrong with the new kittens, then you need to separate them, however I doubt the baby kittens can survive.

Hi thank you! I did all that except for the cage. I'll get it tomorrow. You are right. She looks and sounds confused. It's so hard for her to sit down and nurse them for few minutes. When I sat with her and comforted her she nursed them. She tried to run towards the door several times and I had to bring her back.

I'll keep an eye on her and the babies. Thanks again.

 

[Teddy777]

I agree with locking the mom up with the newborns. Keep monitoring them and supplement feed if they are meowing with hunger. At some point, her nipples will engorge and the suckling of the newborns will give her relief. It sounds as if the older kitten got confused and thought that the newborns were mice to be killed and eaten. If you have a more gentle older kitten, it might help to add it to mom & the newborns, so she might relax sooner. I have had tomcats go after newborns (the males will try to kill the offspring of a rival male so that the mother cat will come into season and mate with him to raise HIS offspring - yet another reason why both male and female cats need to be neutered as soon as possible) but I have never known sibliings to do that.
Please keep us updated! Condolences on the tragic loss of the newborn - I am sorry that it had to suffer so. It is very unusual that his mother did not defend him so you may be right that something is wrong with the litter. At any rate, his sufferings are over and his little spirit is in a much better place.

Hi! Thanks for your comforting words. Usually I comfort my friends about Kitty Heaven and draw them pics of what their Cat would be doing. Now when you said that to me about the baby, it did comfort me.

There is just one soft kitten in the older litter who is very shy and timid (she won't eat when the other kittens are around). I tried to bring her but she appears to be scared of the babies. The father is a very loving cat who acts like a human. He is nice to the babies.

I locked up the Mom with the babies. Thanks a lot for your advice and the comfort. I'll keep you guys updated.

 

[Teddy777]

He wasn't flat yesterday. He was round. The head and the body was round. -_-

 

[Willowy]

He may not have been able to nurse and that's why he wasn't "round" anymore . Deaths are not not uncommon for a litter conceived very soon after another litter, and fall litters often don't make it through the winter. Sorry for your loss. I hope she can focus and care for the other babies.

Do have the papa cat neutered soon. Female cats can get pregnant again right away after giving birth, and female kittens can go into heat as young as 4 months (although 5-7 months is average, there are some early bloomers). And mature male cats may retain sperm in the tubes fora few weeks after neutering. So you have to act quickly to prevent more litters. Cats are very efficient at multiplying!

 

[cindy321]

poor baby, I know you must feel terrible, but it happens, I have seen kitten was squash their internal organ even come out!

all you can do now is try to save the rest kittens. The reason we suggest to use cage is to limit the mum, so she can not run away from her babies. Given a few days or even weeks, she will get used to it, then you can let her out

 

[talkingpeanut]

Where are you located? We can help you to find a low cost spay/neuter clinic in your area. How many cats do you have to fix?

 

[Teddy777]

He may not have been able to nurse and that's why he wasn't "round" anymore . Deaths are not not uncommon for a litter conceived very soon after another litter, and fall litters often don't make it through the winter. Sorry for your loss. I hope she can focus and care for the other babies.

Do have the papa cat neutered soon. Female cats can get pregnant again right away after giving birth, and female kittens can go into heat as young as 4 months (although 5-7 months is average, there are some early bloomers). And mature male cats may retain sperm in the tubes fora few weeks after neutering. So you have to act quickly to prevent more litters. Cats are very efficient at multiplying!

Thank you Willowy! All that sounds scary. I am looking for a good, reputed vet in my state so that I can neuter them as soon as I can. She nurses the babies when I sit with her and scratch her head.

 

[Teddy777]

poor baby, I know you must feel terrible, but it happens, I have seen kitten was squash their internal organ even come out!

all you can do now is try to save the rest kittens. The reason we suggest to use cage is to limit the mum, so she can not run away from her babies. Given a few days or even weeks, she will get used to it, then you can let her out

Thank you! She is getting a hang of it now. It's hard to ignore her meowing as she sounds desperate to see the other kittens. When she visits them she nurses them and I don't want the babies go hungry. So I had to be strong and keep her with the babies.

 

[ashade1]

So sorry you have gone through that! Can you share pictures of mom and the other babies?

 

[Teddy777]

Where are you located? We can help you to find a low cost spay/neuter clinic in your area. How many cats do you have to fix?

Thank you so much! Sadly, you cannot help me in this matter as I live in a third world country and I am terrified of the doctors here. I couldn't use the local vet as they look greedy and appear too keen as if they are going to develop the business off of treating the pet in front of them. That's disturbing. Besides, if my family instructs/requests/pays the vet to kill the babies, they definitely will.

My fears aren't baseless. I had an experience a decade ago where I fought with my Dad over how his brothers were stealing from the businesses. Next thing I know is I go the doctor for a pigmentation on my cheek and my Dad who is a generous, kind, loving person instructs the doctor to prescribe me meds that's meant for hysteric women. After 2 months of sleepiness I heard my male sibling boast about what Dad did. When I confronted my 'Mom' she confirmed the same and I felt so cheated. But for her pleadings, I wouldn’t have argued with my Dad. She wanted me to voice their concerns and kept mum when she knew what Dad did. Sickening!

And when I cared for a stray Cat in 2013 and she gave birth, they instructed the servants to kill the kittens as they were “worried” about me washing my hands more often than usual. I am a germophobe. You have germophobes in third world countries too. Even otherwise people should wash their hands after coming in contact with people and animals.

My family prevents me from working and from moving elsewhere. I have good educational qualification and I can provide for any number of Cats but my family keeps me stuck with emotional blackmailing. To be honest I have always been concerned for my life. I am not scared for my life but I have to be careful as anything can happen. Maybe it's kind of peer pressure to please your sidekicks. I'll never know. So I started writing books and focussed on my publishing career as it has been my childhood passion to author and illustrate books.

I am done with doctors here. I am done with people too. They scare the crap out of me. It's like getting you life sucked out. I have been trying to move to the US ever since I decided to keep the Cats and the first litter came out. Now things got out of hand with 2nd litter arriving so soon. I hope to move to the US as soon as possible.

In the meantime I am looking for vets somewhere far from home so that I can fix an appointment and get it done without my family coming to know. It’s scary as I can never guess what kind of person that vet would be.

I am sorry for saying all that. I am so depressed today. It does feel different to get it off of my chest.

 

[Teddy777]

Thanks for your suggestions guys! Love and prayers to you!

 

[Teddy777]

So sorry you have gone through that! Can you share pictures of mom and the other babies?

I'll take a pic this week when my sister visits me.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Best of luck! Be sure to keep the males and females separated or you will have many more litters to deal with. Even the kittens can start having babies.

 

[Teddy777]

Update
Today she broke out from the room where I had spent over 10 hours in securing a window and went to see the other kittens from outside by jumping into the garden. When I opened the back door which led to those kittens she gladly came in and tried to hold them by scruff to drag them where the babies are. I locked her there and she stayed for few hours just chilling out with them.

It's insane how she doesn't bother to feed or even remember the babies when she is with the older kittens. When she is with the babies she doesn't relax at all and won't nurse them even when they cry for milk.

Now I spent an hour to secure the window and she is still trying to break.

 

[Teddy777]

She is driving me nuts. Is it alright to leave her with the older kittens and keep the babies safe near me? Do the babies need to be nursed at night?