Kitten Update and Question

[Dragon Slayer Trinket]

My cat Cricket gave birth to a lone kitten yesterday. It was a bit of an emergency at first (check out this thread please - question: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nimal-emergency-all-help-appreciated.1528756/), but Tiny Black Thing is doing way better and the weird red thing attached to his umbilical cord is gone. Please pop over to the attached thread to see if you can answer my question on the red thing. I'll post pictures soon of TBT and his mother.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

My cat Cricket gave birth to a lone kitten yesterday. It was a bit of an emergency at first (check out this thread please - question: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nimal-emergency-all-help-appreciated.1528756/), but Tiny Black Thing is doing way better and the weird red thing attached to his umbilical cord is gone. Please pop over to the attached thread to see if you can answer my question on the red thing. I'll post pictures soon of TBT and his mother.

No real way to give an answer without photos. It would be a good idea to take both her and the kitten to the vet to get them checked out though. They can answer you for certain about the umbilical cord issue and make sure that there aren’t anymore kittens trapped inside.

 

[Dragon Slayer Trinket]

No real way to give an answer without photos. It would be a good idea to take both her and the kitten to the vet to get them checked out though. They can answer you for certain about the umbilical cord issue and make sure that there aren’t anymore kittens trapped inside.

I've raised kittens before from birth and I'm not too worried about the mother or the kitten. I just want to know what the red thing was. So the umbilical cord was longer than the kitten and was wrapped around it when TBT was born, but at the end of the cord, there was a red thing, maybe 2 to 3 inches long, and it looked like a tongue.

 

[Dragon Slayer Trinket]

This isn't my cat, I found this online, but it's similar looking to mine. Is it the placenta? Mine was wrapped up and much more red, and had bumps like a tongue on it.

 

[cassie]

I'd just whack it off and not worry about it. Now if it is bleeding, that is another matter.

 

[Dragon Slayer Trinket]

I'd just whack it off and not worry about it. Now if it is bleeding, that is another matter.

I was thinking about doing that, but Cricket ate it. She's not a great mother, but she's passable.

 

[cassie]

I was thinking about doing that, but Cricket ate it. She's not a great mother, but she's passable.

Speaking of not great mothers, I once had a barn cat who felt motherhood was not for her. When her kittens were about two weeks old, she would deposit them on my back step for me to raise. She did this every time. I never figured out why or how she knew I would raise them. No, she was not trying to bring them in the house. Once she left them on the step, as far as she was concerned, her maternal duties were over. Fortunately, she had small litters. Since she was a semi wild barn cat, I was never able to catch her to get her spayed.

 

[Dragon Slayer Trinket]

Wow. Reminds me of Horton Hears a Who.

Speaking of not great mothers, I once had a barn cat who felt motherhood was not for her. When her kittens were about two weeks old, she would deposit them on my back step for me to raise. She did this every time. I never figured out why or how she knew I would raise them. No, she was not trying to bring them in the house. Once she left them on the step, as far as she was concerned, her maternal duties were over. Fortunately, she had small litters. Since she was a semi wild barn cat, I was never able to catch her to get her spayed.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Growing up on a farm I've helped kittens, dogs, cows and horses deliver babies I can say without a doubt that it placenta. Also her eating it is perfectly normal and a way many animals gain back nutrients from giving birth.

 

[Dragon Slayer Trinket]

Thanks so much for your help!

Growing up on a farm I've helped kittens, dogs, cows and horses deliver babies I can say without a doubt that it placenta. Also her eating it is perfectly normal and a way many animals gain back nutrients from giving birth.