Newborn Kitten Emergency- Anyone???

[canoehead]

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I am fostering for the SPCA, and have a cat with 8 week old kittens, one with a 10 day old kitten, and one who just gave birth tonight and is not turning out to be a good mom.

I heard sounds of fighting, and went to investigate. The mum had her baby dangling from the umbilical cord and was trying to get away from it by jumping on the cupboard and back down. I caught her, wrapped her and her baby in a towel, and tried to settle her, but she wouldn't stay still. Eventually the placenta came out and mom was gone, I cut the cord and brought the baby upstairs where I thought mom had goen. That's also where she has nursed her sister's kittens, so I know she knows how to do it, and thought it would eb a good place for them to bond. Mom pooped in the litter box, and then went into a bedroom and had a wash, ignoring the kitten's cries.

I let that go on for about ten minutes, thinking she needs to do it in her own time, and the other mums were responding to the cries, but took a sniff and knew it wasn't theirs. Then I brought mom over to the kitten lay her down and rubbed her (she was contented with that. Then brought the baby to her, and was able to get the baby to latch on and nurse. I stayed with them for about 10 minutes, and they seemed OK, baby was still latched but not sucking much. I went downstairs, and mom got up and followed me, baby left crying in the cat bed!

Ok, I don't want to force anything, or interfere too much because nature works things out. I also don't want to (and can't with 12h shifts) be left bottle feeding a kitten from birth. Mom's contractions have stopped, it's been 30 minutes so probably that's the only kitten.

Does anyone have advice? Should I wait, try to bond the kitten with one of the other moms? What?

I've called the SPCA supervisor and she is not home.

[catshowlady]

I dewormed all my adults yesterday, so that may help. I agree it's too many, but my supervisor was slammed with pregnant females. We all know how they multiply if left in the original home.

You can deworm for roundworms starting at 3 weeks with pyrantel pamoate. You can do the babes every 2 weeks; do moms along with babes. At 6 weeks, they are old enough for Panacur, which will cover some other intestinal nasties like Giardia in addition to the roundworms. I believe they need to be 8 weeks to treat for tapeworms.

[judybsn]

Do any of you cat lovers out there know what to do in this situation? My sister adopted a lovable female cat that someone had dumped. She already has 3 male cats (all indoor). The new cat hides under the bed all day and hisses when any other cat comes near and there has been some terrible cat fights, especially between the female and a younger male. My sister has had to get stitches from getting bitten while trying to separate them. She feels bad that this cat really has no life as it spends it hiding under the bed 24/7. This has been going on for many months now. This hissing cat is totally lovable with humans and dogs, just hates other cats. Any suggestions? She does not want to put it back outside.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

If it's been a few months the cat may need it's own room permanently. Try fixing everyone (spay/neuter), and let the new cat get some time where she feels safe and secure. Unfortunately this may be the exact reason the cat was dumped in the first place.

You may end up taking the cat to a shelter so she can get a home with an elderly granny and get 1-1 loving all day.

[catshowlady]

Canoehead, that's exactly what I would have said!