My cat ignores her kittens. Is that normal?

Question

The mother cat has been sick this week, congested in her nose. The kittens are really young - about a week or two old. I don;t think sge is feeding them. She may when I'm not home, but I don;t ever see her tending to them. She definitely doesn't clean them.

It's odd because at first she would move them around everywhere, and clean them and pay lots of attention to them. Now she just sits around and sleeps, and sneezes.

I'm worried about the kittens. Any suggestions or insight?

Answer 1

This is very serious. I would take the whole family to a veterinarian. He may be able to help the mother and he should be able to tell if the kittens are still healthy or if you need to start bottle feeding them.

I think you really need the veterinary intervention here.

Answer 2

Consider this an emergency. No this is not normal!

First, the mom sounds sick. I hope she is not an outdoor cat & doesn't have leukemia or FIP. She definitely has an upper respiratory problem.

Second, kittens this young can not survive if she is not feeding them. The only way to know is to get a scale that weighs in grams. They should have been between 75 to 125 grams at birth & should have gained 10-15 grams per day of life until now. If they lose any weight, you may lose them. You can bottle feed them KMR or First Born kitten milk replacer or if you're *really* brave you can ask your vet to teach you how to tube feed them.

Please get to your vet ASAP! And good luck.

P.S. Kitten mortality is about 25%, so don't dally on this.

Answer 3

I would call a vet as soon as you possibly can. Something may be very wrong with her, and that is not normal. Both your older cat is in harms way if professional advice is not sought out, and the younger kittens are in serious danger if not being cared for properly. The fact that she doesn't clean them is a big warning sign.
In the meantime, there is special milk you can bottle feed to these babies and ways to keep them warm and protected. I wouldn't mess around for too long trying to figure out if it will get better. Also you will want to make sure they are properly socialized as time goes by, since usually the mother generally helps this along and is not. And most importantly, after consulting a vet about her current health, GET HER SPAYED!!!!!! There is no reason why cat overpopulation should be ignored, as tens of thousands of cats are killed every year. Why anyone wouldn't spay or neuter a cat is beyond me. Go figure. Breaks my heart.
Good luck with the kitties.

Answer 4

You may want to take the kittens to the vet to have them examined,she may be ignoring them for a good cause. If she is not feeding then you will need to feed them, There is kitten formula and bottals for kittens,Just talk to your vet,they may be able to give you the stuff for the kittens. Remember they are just like a human babie, you will be up at 2 and 4 in the am feeding them . They will have a stricked feeding schedule that you must follow for them to live. How old is the mother?? this may have bearing on the age of the mother.

Answer 5

The mother is probably sick and knows it and it in turn trying to protect her kittens by not letting them drink her milk and contract her sickness. You should take the momma and the kittens to the vet and possibly bottle feed until the mother is well enough to feed on her own. If this is the case and you do nothing, you risk losing the kittens and possibly the momma too. Get them checked out.

Answer 6

Doesn't sound good. Has anyone touched the kittens? I think the mother cat will ignore them if they were touched by a person. Other than that, you might want to check with your vet. Maybe you can get the mother cat healthy again so she can take care of her kittens. Otherwise you may have to start feeding them with a bottle. Good luck.

Answer 7

Sounds like momma needs to see the vet if she's congested that bad. It could be something she could pass on to the kittens. If the kittens are staying chubby, she's feeding them. Some momma cats feed and are'nt that good about cleaning. And maybe she just does'nt feel well. Make an appointment.

Answer 8

It's not normal, it means something is seriously wrong. If she's not feeding them, you can get a special bottle and milk replacement formula from a pet store. I think you should take you cat and her kittens to the vet and find out if it's something serious. Also, mother cats who are less than a year old don't always have the mothering instinct that they should.

Answer 9

Sounds to me that your mommy cat maybe sick...What you need to do is call your vet and tell him or her what is going on and what mommy cat was doing at first and now just wanting to sleep away from her babies...I would get some nursing bottles and some powder cats milk and start feeding them very 2hrs.until you and your vet can figure out if she is sick or just doesn't want to feed her babies...The vet may have that milk you need...But the kittens need to be feed every 2 hrs.,If you want them to live... GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND...

Clowmy

Answer 10

take momma to the vet, you might want to take the kittens with her also , get for the babies the kmr and a bottle they sell them at the pet stores or at walmart bottle feed them, don't give them reg. milk because they cant digest the sugars in it, also to help sooth the kittens take and put them in a box with a baby blanket on the bottom put a wind up alarm clock either inside or on the out side of the box and let it run, also put a towel around a heating pad and put it under the box to keep them warm, put it on low if it feels warm then your fine. if not test the med setting or high setting till you find the right temp. for them

another thing did you handle the babies to much ? the mother will abandon them if you did, one sign of that is when she starts moving them from place to place and doesn't leave them in one spot because she doesn't think its safe for them to be there