newborn kittens and mom leaving them

Question
My cat just gave birth this morning to 2 kittens ... it is her first litter and she is almost 1 yr old herself... she doesnt want me to leave her alone... she seems happy with the nesting box and if i am in the room with her she will go to the box and clean and nurse the babies... once i'm out of her view she follows me.... if anyone goes into the room she will go in there and see what it is were doing but not go in the box unless i sit on my bed where she can see me .... shes fine with me holding the babies and i had to assist with the delivery as the 2nd kitten came out foot first and once pushing was done the face was still inside the mother and she started cleaning it i was worried it would start breathing and inhale fluids so i simply gave a slight pull to get the face all the way out and gently turned the kitten without tuggin on the cord to where the mom would be able to lick the face and stimulate it... about 30 min after it was born i took both out the box and put them on my chest while i cleaned out the box and put fresh towels ... then returned the 1st kitten to the box and mom and just did a quick check of the breech kitten that all limbs were ok as when it was presenting it was 1 foot protuding from the vagina...
i thought mom cats with newborn kittens didnt leave them alone for the first 3 days ... is there anything i should be concerned about or do to keep her in the box.. i have fed her and she has food close to the box... will her instincts kick in and she stay in the box .... i figure if i can get her in the box every 2 hrs then she can nurse and clean them till they get older.  
any ideas ???

Answer
Dawn,

Given that one of the kittens presented as a footling breech I think that it would be wise for the whole family to see the vet just to be sure that all is well. In some cases the behavior you are seeing can signal things like post birth complications or infections in the vagina or womb. I am concerned that the mama cat won't stay with her babies unless you are right there, it makes me think that she either doesn't understand what she is supposed to be doing (she is still pretty young so this is a possibility) or that she is on the verge of rejecting those kittens. I would strongly suggest that you try to keep mom feeding those babies every hour or two just to be sure that they at least get the antibodies from her colostrum. If she rejects the babies you are in for quite a bit of work so the longer you can convince their mom to take care of them the better. If this pattern of rejection continues you will have to look at fostering the babies with oral syringes and kitten formula, but be aware this is a last resort. If the kittens seem discontented they are probably not getting enough to eat. Just because mom is out of the box so much you may want to consider taking a heavy bath towel and folding it into 4 then placing a heating pad on medium under the towel where the kittens won't get burned by it. This will take care of one of the babies'  most pressing needs but make sure that there is a spot that the heating pad doesn't cover under the towel so that the babies can move away from the heat if they are too warm. If you can convince mom to help you raise the babies by feeding them a few times throughout the day and keeping them clean then if you have to step in and supplement with formula it will be less of a challenge. You will want to pick up a few oral syringes (the kind from the pharmacy made for giving infants liquid medications) and a case of the premixed liquid kitten formula or a tin of the powder (more economical). I use a formula called KMR, I find it easy to use, and it seems to be adequate nutritionally. You should pick up a scale that measures in grams up to two pounds even if you are opting to try to let mom do the care. If the kittens are slow in gaining weight or they just aren't gaining weight you will be able to track that and step in to make up for the missing nutrition. If you have to step in and feed these kittens you should know that they will be looking to be fed approximately every two hours....When they are formula fed you have to remember to feed them with all four paws facing the floor otherwise you risk them inhaling their formula and drowning. It would be best if the mother cat was willing to at least clean them and stimulate them to go to the bathroom before and after each feed so that they are naturally stimulated as kittens can take awhile to pee and poop when they are being stimulated by a human with a clean washcloth or damp cotton ball. You will want to wipe from the genitals to the rectum so that you don't cause a urinary tract infection by spreading fecal bacteria to the genitals if mom won't help or shows no interest. I would very strongly advise that you have mom spayed when her milk dries up (about 2 weeks after the last nursing that she does with her kittens) because often a cat that rejects her babies once may do it again. There are other good reasons to spay her including a diminished risk of mammary and reproductive infections and cancers. The most obvious benefit of spaying is that there is one last cat producing kittens who may end up in the shelter system and be euthanised simply because there are just not enough homes for all of the stray, surrendered and abandoned mixed breed cats out there. Good luck with mom and her family. I hope that all goes well with mom and the babies and that mom decides to take a more active role in raising the little ones. If you find that the mom doesn't want to spend the time that she needs to with her babies try to at least see if she will keep them clean as natural stimulation is the best thing to keep them healthy and clean. I am sure that you will have a few questions over the next little while particularly if you need to formula feed these little ones. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again. Please keep me updated, I would be interested in hearing about how your mom and babies are doing.