Post birth Follow-up

Question

So momma cat has stopped panting and seems physically fine today, but one of the kittens died early this morning. It was the runt and seemed to be born premature compared to the other three. His head was half the size of the other kittens and he had little fur and scaly/dry skin when born. I thought he would be okay since he immediately attached to the best teat. This morning he was very cold, weak, and not moving, I tried to bottle feed and warm him, but it was too late or maybe he didn't know how to suck?
I'm concerned for the other kittens, even though they seemed to be born much stronger and more developed to start. What is the chance that the momma cat is not producing enough milk or that I should be bottle feeding the rest of the litter because one died.

I believe this is her first litter. This is the very young stray cat (9 months maybe) I took in to foster.

She was really upset when we took him away crying and looking all over the house and hiding the other kits. I think she blamed us for not fixing him. =(

Answer
Hi Kristy, that is too bad about the little runt . the best thing to do at this point is to start weighing the kittens twice a day. they should be constantly gaining weight and sometimes it is really hard to tell when you are looking at them. Get a diet scale or little postal scale and keep a pen and paper by the nest. Just write down the weight of each kitten and then let me know what they are doing over the next 24 hours. Then you will know whether she is producing enough milk for them and if they are doing ok. Teresa