Orphaned kittens...Sad news

[Farmer Kitty]

well, almost.

We got up this morning and went out to the barn to do chores and milking and found our Momma kitty laying in the manger not doing well. I looked her over and can not find anything wrong. Either it is an internal injury or illness. She has seemed to be fine until this morning so I'm leaning toward the internal injury. Her kittens are two weeks old and there is no way she can take care of them. I really don't know how she managed to get herself into the manger. I guess she wanted to make sure we knew something was wrong with her so we could take care of her kittens. I went out to check on them right after checking her over and they were sleeping so I left them where they were. She kept trying to get up and move so I had DH go out and get them-I couldn't quit reach them but, he could. After that she calmed down and layed there. I'm hoping time will heal her but, I'm afraid I will find her gone later. I brought the kittens to the house and got out the KMR to feed them and wiped their bottoms. Now they are sleeping.

Here is a pic of them:

 

[s6bee]

I'm assuming she's a barn cat and not one of having the Vet visit as an option? Do you think she may have been hit by a car?

 

[freshegg]

you could put an add out for someone with a feeding mother to see if she will except them as hers till they dont need to be fed by her. good luck with mommy

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Quote:
Yes, she is a barn cat. I have no idea what happened. There are no visable wounds. Beyond that I dont' know. We live on a dead end road and while we get some traffic there just isn't much at night and she was fine last night.

freshegg-I'll raise them.

 

[Love my Critters!]

She could have eaten something bad, or she could have had another baby get stuck inside. When that happens and the baby dies it starts to poisen the mother. Sorry to hear about her feeling ill. The babies are too cute and you should have no problem feeding them yourself. Just remember at that age they can't go to the bathroom by themselves yet, so you have to help them. Good luck. Best wishes for the momma kitty too.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Make sure that after you feed the kittens, you wipe their bottoms to release their bowels. Young kittens cant release their bowels on their own. Good Luck. I would take the mother cat to the vet right away.

 

[GwenFarms]

Sundown is right. You have to wipe their bottoms with something to stimulate them, or they won't go. I've always used a cotton ball dipped in warm water. Cotton is absorbent enough to hold the moisture. If you have any goats milk around, I would supplement with that. I have several bags of colostrum in the freezer I use for times like this.

Hope all goes well.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

And remember do NOT use cows milk. KMR is a great formula. I have fostered kittens for a local cat resuce. MY last litter was in November and the mother was sick and stopped producing milk, so I had to bottle feed the kittens.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Quote:
I have raised small kittens by hand before and know to wipe their bottoms to stimulated them. The KMR works well and I make sure I have some on hand every spring to either supplement kittens or if I have to, to raise kittens.

I'm positive she didn't have another kitten in her that didn't make it. I just checked on her and I'm sure she has an internal injury. I'm not taking her to the vet for several reasons. One, even if it's something they can operate on I don't think it's an option for her. She is in really tough shape and I'm positive she won't make it though. Two, expense, as hard as it is to say, she is a 10 1/2 year old barn cat. Chances are that she won't be with us much longer even without this happening.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

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