Moms reaction to dead kitten

Question
Our mom cat had been acting strange this afternoon and following us around. Tonight when I checked the kittens, I found one of them dead laying off to the side by itself. They are about 4 days old. I removed it, but as soon as I did mama stopped feeding the kittens and started searching for the one I had taken out. I wrapped it up well in a paper towel and put it back in the box with the others and mom seemed content to lay back down and feed again. But obviously I can't leave the kitten there very long. What are my options? I really don't want to hand feed them if there's anyway I can get our 7 month old mama cat to continue. She got pregnant at her 1st heat. Yikes. She was only about 4 1/2 months. After the initial shock of labor she has seemed to do really well up to this point.

Answer
Hi Lori,

Sorry about the little one. Try this. Get a small stuffed animal and place that in the kitten's place. That might work. She might be ready for you to remove the dead kitten now. She should know by now that the kitten is dead. When you remove it she may search for it but it won't be for long. She will return to the others. If she was going to give up on the other kittens she would have already. If she still gives up on the kittens, write back and I will help you. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen