What's wrong with our kitten?

Question

Our calico cat had kittens about four weeks ago. She had six (three boys, three girls). Four of them are tail-less (momma cat has a tail?) two have tails. Okay..All except one are very healthy. She is the runt of the litter and seems to be crippled. She can't walk, or hold her head up by herself for very long. We have to feed her with a bottle and use milk supplement. She isn't growing at all. Oh! and she is one of the tail-less ones. Any help would be great!!

Answer 1

The tailless thing is just a genetic mutation. I wouldn't worry, I had cats that were like that. We didn't have the momma cat spayed because we wanted to have a family of cats that grew up together, but she was spayed as soon after the birth as possible. Also, the other person is right, she's the runt and oftentimes the others won't let her feed because she can't be aggressive enough to shove to the front of the line. Try letting her and the mom be separate from the others so she can have some alone time, but continue also to try and get her to feed from the bottle. She should fatten up, but she will definitely need extra special care and attention. You may want to take her to the vet ASAP just to confirm that she doesn't have a disease, though. So far you seem to be doing a good job, though.

Also, FYI, calico cats are more likely to have anomalies in their genes. They themselves are an anomoly because it's HIGHLY HIGHLY rare for a calico to be a male(gene quirk). So don't worry about the lack of tails.

Answer 2

I believe it was already said but keep a close on the "runt". tails have nothing to do with it, the momma could have mated with a tail-less cat. You need to get the mother and all the kittens to the vet very soon to get them their shots and make sure they are all ok and while you are there make an appointment to get her ( the mother) fixed. if you keep the kittens mark your calendar and get them fixed at 6 months before they go into heat!

Answer 3

I've seen this many times with the many litters of kittens we had on the farm. Who knows why nature acts in that way, but just keep feeding it. Perhaps it will come out of it.
Incidentally, the cat I have now was the runt of the litter. I've had her since 2002 and with a lot of attention she's grown into a beautiful, healthy cat.

Answer 4

If she's the runt of the group then watch her when she's trying to feed and the other kittens may be preventing her from feeding from the mother cat. You should take the mother and the runt away someplace from the other kittens and see if she can feed then if she starts to feed give her a week and see if she gets better if she doesn't get better after a week take her to the vet and let them know what's going on and they can give you a solution. If you take the mother and her away and she still doesn't feed take her to the vets sooner than a week.

Answer 5

Poor little moma- most cats only have 4 to a litter. As for the tailess one's- one of the males she mated with is probably an manx breed. A female can have more than one suitor. This means that the kitten's can look like more than one kind of male. She is weak- best advice is that it sounds like you are doing right. Are you feeding her every 3-4 hours? Is mother kitty feeding her at all? If she is not then it is probably cause she knows that something is wrong with it. Such a baby. I would take her to your vet/ animal shelter for medical help. Hope she gets healthy. God Bless You! [e-mail]

Answer 6

i think that since she is so little things are harder for her the tail has nothing to do with it but runts are always having a hard time she might not survive but most litters don't have all healthy cats but then she might grow up to be the pick of the litter!

Answer 7

spay your cat already.

obviously she has a genetic defect that causes her kittens to be born with a serious cerebral defect and she will need to be put to sleep.
i'm going to give you the same lecture that everyone in the world needs to know.....


-did you know that when a female reaches her first heat cycle, she is 3 times more likely to get breast cancer?? THIS IS MULTIPLIED EVEN MORE IN CATS!!!!
-when a female has her first litter, it increase her chances FOUR FOLD of getting pyometra, an often-fatal uteran infection that causes the uterus to fill with pus and eventually burst, causing a fatal toxicity!!!
-an intact male dog (or cat) past the age of 4 is 3 TIMES more likely to develop testiculal tumors and prostate enlargement and cancer!!!
-repeated heat cycles can shorten a cat's life by YEARS.....

there are 20 MILLION puppies and kittens who are put to DEATH every year because they don't have homes. the SPCA offers very reasonable and safe spay/neuter procedures for a good price, on some days they will neuter a male under 20 pounds for a nickel. DON'T BE ANOTHER IRRESPONSIBLE PET OWNER!!

Answer 8

Get the glucose level up with corn syrup.Use an syringe or dropper. Give the kitten little back massages and attempt to get some mothers milk for it. Do what you can and research it on the Internet

Answer 9

You probably need to take them to the vet right away. If something is wrong, you will want to know before getting too attached to them. Plus, is it has a virus or something contagious, you might end up with them ALL getting ill, including the momma!

Answer 10

Have you checked to see if your kitten has a clefted pallet? The roof of their mouth doesn't fully developed. One sign is that the milk comes back through the nose as the kitten is drinking its milk. Sorry I couldn't be of better help.