Quote:
Originally Posted by healed84
Died in the night  then I got home from work today and there is another one won't nurse, won't root around.. Tried feeding it the special kitty formula but won't do it. I don't understand! Momma gave birth to 5, one I think must have been still born, or something because it was still in the placenta thing when we found her. So three from the litter die in the first 48hrs, is that normal? |
There is about a 50% mortality rate in the wild. That rate is generally dramatically less if the mother cat is domesticated or being cared for, so no, that is not normal. Might be a result of how young the mom is. What did the vet say? Did he or she not think subQ fluids would help support the babe and build it up a bit so that she or he would nurse better?
The first batch of feral orphans we found were emaciated and two of the four were within minutes of death, according to our vet. We found two that were already dead. All four of the ones we found still alive lived, although the one had seizures and required the subQ fluids repeatedly and special, very frequent feedings. The second batch of orphans were much younger, only about two weeks old, and of those four, one died without ever looking or acting ill. She was the runt and vet said she probably had some congenital issue.