any chance of kitten surviving

Question
my cat gave birth to two stillborns they looked premature. through the night she gave birth to 3 more stillborns.i am wanting to know whats the chance of her having more inside her and carrying them to full term and them surving or is it likely if she has more inside they too will be stillborn

Answer
Jackie,

Although it is upsetting to have stillborn kittens, there is usually no way to know the cause (unless there is an obvious abnormality) without sending the fetus to a pathology lab for a complete autopsy. Even then, sometimes there are no answers.

It could be congenital defects, viral and bacterial infections, the mother's hormone level, an injury during pregnancy, incest (mother and son mating, father and daughter mating, etc.)

It is not uncommon for one or two kittens in a litter to be stillborn. Sometimes, a stillborn kitten will disrupt the mother's labor, resulting in dystocia (difficulty delivering). At other times the dead kitten will be born normally, and the mother will continue with her labor and the delivery of the rest of her litter. But it doesn't sound like she will have any live kittens, though it is possible.

She DOES need to go to the vet! You need to make sure there are no kittens left in her that did not, or can not, come out. That will result in a very serious infection and could be fatal. Also she needs a shot to dry up her milk if she has does not have any live kittens. If not, she will get mastitis from having milk and it not being expressed. She will get get full nipples that are VERY painful and it will lead to a serious infection from the milk getting bacteria in it if it is not expressed or dried up.

You should also get her spayed in case the cause of the kittens being stillborn in a genetic defect It is not good for her or you to have to go through that. AND she can come into heat again in as little as 14 days!

Let me know how she is doing and if she delivers any live kittens.

Carol