My Cat just had babies on tuesday and they are losing weight...

Question
is this normal? Angel the mom, had 5 babies in march. after about 5days, one baby became very weak and stopped fighting to get a nipple. My mom and i nursed it back to health and now has a great home. the other's were fine! Now she had 4 babies and because of what happened last time, we got a scale for we can weight them. well i weighted them the first night and one was about 4.0oz another 3.8 and the black ones where 3.6. now one of the black is only at 3.3oz, now i'm getting scared. They are so cute and angel is being a great mom. please write back soon!!!!!!!

Answer
Carrie,

It isn't normal for newborn kittens to lose weight. Kittens normally gain weight quite quickly. Given that this is the second litter that Angel has had problems with I would recommend that you take her to the vet in order to rule out serious medical complications like infections of her womb or mammary glands or even the possibility that she may have another kitten still inside her womb that is decomposing and making her sick...It is important that you bring the kittens along when you take Angel in to be assessed by your family vet so that the vet can examine them and determine if there are any medical or congenital defects that could be causing the kittens to lose weight. If your vet finds a deceased kitten inside Angel's body he/she will perform an operation to remove the kitten...I would highly recommend that you allow the vet to spay Angel at the same time to prevent her from contributing anymore to the serious overpopulation problem worldwide. Due to the fact that this is the second time that Angel's kittens haven't fared so well I do think that it is in her best interests to not become pregnant or have another litter. Angel may simply not be able to produce enough milk or nurse the kittens properly. Sometimes milk supply issues in nursing queens can be related to improper nutrition. Pregnant and nursing cats must be fed as much of a good quality kitten food as they want free choice so that they can maintain their own body condition and cope with the needs of their rapidly growing babies.

It is important that you keep the litter of kittens with their mother as much as possible. I usually recommend that kittens remain with their siblings and mother for about 10-12 weeks. Angel will wean her kittens on her own when they are about 6-8 weeks of age. During the next 2-4 weeks Angel will teach her kittens how to be well adjusted cats and they will learn important skills such as bite inhibition, how to stalk, pounce and kill prey and how to eat solid foods. Once Angel has weaned her litter you can have her spayed about 2 weeks later. Spaying Angel will allow her to live as long and healthy a life as possible. By not allowing Angel to continue becoming a mother you will prevent any kittens with health issues from being born. Not only will that prevent any further contributions to the serious pet overpopulation issues that are worldwide, but spaying Angel will have medical and behavioral benefits. Angel will not develop ovarian, uterine or vaginal cancers. Spaying Angel will also substantially reduce her risk for developing infections or cancer in her mammary glands. I feel that it is important for you to realize that allowing Angel to continue delivering kittens that don't grow, develop and thrive as they should will mean that you will potentially have to see kittens that fail to thrive and ultimately die of starvation or make some heartbreaking choices if kittens need to be euthanised to prevent them from suffering and fading away slowly. All too often litters of kittens, pregnant queens, intact male cats and cats with behavioral issues are euthanised by private veterinarians or admitted into shelter systems worldwide each year...Some will find new homes and have a second chance at life, the majority will be euthanised simply because time or space ran out. Spaying and neutering saves so many lives every year and prevents many common behavioral issues from becoming a problem. Cats that are spayed and neutered are far less likely to use urine or feces to mark their territory, defend their territory and sustain injuries while fighting, require treatment for injuries sustained in a fight with another cat or attacks by predators, human cruelty, being hit by a car, accidental or intentional poisoning and many other serious issues. Cats are extremely territorial and spaying or neutering prevents potentially serious behavioral and medical problems from developing. To be completely honest I believe that it is in Angel's best interests to prevent her from becoming pregnant again due to her history of kittens that fail to thrive for whatever reason. I would recommend that she not be allowed to have access to any intact male cats and she should be spayed as soon as possible. Your family vet may not be able to provide you with an answer as to why Angel's first litter had one kitten that required special care in order to survive and why this litter seems to be faring so poorly.

Hand rearing kittens is a last resort, and you need to be aware that raising a whole litter of kittens by hand (which may be necessary) is incredibly time consuming and expensive. If you and your mother do need to hand raise the kittens and allow Angel to care for their other needs here are a few useful tips. Kittens that need to be hand raised shouldn't be given cow's milk or human baby formula because they don't have the proper balance of fat, protein, calories, vitamins or minerals to support the nutritional needs that kittens have. It is a good idea to have a good quality kitten milk replacement formula on hand, I have found that KMR and Mammalac are the most widely available and they can generally be purchased from your local pet store or vet clinic. It is important to mix the formula according to the label's instructions. Some kittens will not be willing to take formula from the bottles sold in pet stores for hand raising orphaned kittens. I have found that an oral syringe (the kind used to give human babies medicine, don't reuse ones that have been used for that purpose though as many human medications are highly toxic to cats) works quite well. Kittens should always be fed with their four paws facing the floor to prevent the possibility of them inhaling or choking on their formula. If the kittens need to be hand raised it is important that you allow Angel to be as involved as possible in caring for any other needs that the kittens may have. If it is at all possible to avoid the kittens being fed 100% formula then I would recommend that you avoid doing so. Any antibodies that the kittens can get from their mother's milk are better than none at all. It is very important that anyone handling the kittens wash their hands thoroughly before handling them and in between handling each kitten to reduce the risk of viral or bacterial infections. Kittens that are this young are at an increased risk for developing serious illnesses including distemper and other upper respiratory infections and conjunctivitis (eye infection). It is important to know that kittens this young are very fragile. Their bodies, immune systems and neurological systems are very immature. If these babies get sick it is quite possible that they will die or have permanent effects (head bobbing, and other neurological symptoms) from some infections such as distemper.

I wish Angel, her kittens and your family the best of luck. Hopefully the kittens will be healthy and thrive so that they can be placed in good homes. It is a good idea to end Angel's days of motherhood so that she remains healthy and no longer has litters of kittens that need to be placed for adoption. I do believe that Angel will enjoy her freedom from raising multiple litters and by spaying her you will hopefully be able to love and care for her for many years to come. I do hope that you have found this information helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, or you would simply like to send an update or some pictures my way, please don't hesitate to contact me again.