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.
