kittens

Question
QUESTION: i have a litter of kittens after i took in  stray on taking cat to vets for examination its believe she may have feline asthma or been exposed to herpes virus and will have flare ups of uri through out her life, i suggested to vet if it may have an effect on kittens would it be kinder to have the pregnancy terminated and have her spayed the vet insisted she would be fine, as i know many family to bring kittens up. however the labor was lengthy and tough a deformed kitten and a still born and very harsh vet that encouraged the pregnancy but then didn't want to offer support or help when a deformed kitten came out his response was we don't deal with breeding "sounds like the kitten needs putting to sleep to me" in any case mum has 5 healthy kitten now, its been three days i did notice she wasn't cleaning them very well they had poop on their back ends and i cleaned them off with some sterile warm water and cotton wool. but i don't see her cleaning them i don't know whether its because of her uri her nose is congested she is having saline nasal drops to relieve this. i am checking them and have every few hrs will do the same with a damp cotton wool bud help them pee they are peeing heaps when i do this just no pooping so because im not with her all the time do you think there is a possibility because they are not dirty anymore shes started cleaning them, i just don't want them to get blocked up and have health issues as a result of not going to the toilet. hope you can help any advice will be greatfully recieved,

ANSWER: Hi Karen
If the kittens are clean then it is possible that she is cleaning them correctly
Can you confirm that they are suckling that is are they getting milk from mum?
If they are then they will be pooing and peeing because they are getting the milk.
I am sorry that your vet had the strange approach to the cat.
I would suggest that once she has suckled them and they reach about six weeks old you get her neutered so that she cannot have any mre kittens.
What you can do as well is to rub their bottoms with the damp cotton ball and see if that males them poo.

Regards

C

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: they are getting milk from mum their bellies are getting nice and big they suckle and then sleep for awhile i would imagine they would cry alot if they were not? they seem content . i just worried as i had to clean them up the first day and then nothing thought they might not be going or being stimulated to go when i do it they always wee but no poo.
we have changed vets not only was he strange un sympathetic and heartless are words to describe him i personally voiced my concerns about the mother cats health and yet im no vet but to not even offer advice on the situation was horrible have booked kittens in for a check up in a couple of weeks as dont want to stress mum out because of her illness. but she will be getting spayed just hope she decides to stay with us, but never in my life have i ever experienced such a heart wrenching experience at having to chose to have that beautiful but badly deformed kitten put to sleep a wake up call to anyone that doesn't get their animal spayed when u don't know what ur doing, i never want to experience it again and hope to god my 5 remaining kittens make it however theres a chance they may not :-( thanks for your reply

Answer
Karen
Kittens are pretty resilient so they could well survive.
I would suggest that you obtain some TRIGene and use that to disinfect yourself when going into and away from the kittens. You should be able to buy it on line. Also donot let others play with the kittens unless they have also cleaned their hands firt.
Kittens would need vaccinated at about 9 weeks and again at 13 week.
I would also suggest that your new vet consider 'early neutering 'of them after their second vaccination before they are rehomed.

They are very nice little creatures and desire love and affection. Do alos remember to take lots of pictures of them playing OK

Good luck