moms and kittens

Question
I have a cat that had its first litter. she only gave birth to 2 kittens one was born about 7am and then the second one did not come out til the next day at 11pm and that one was still born. mom did not seem to care about the second one being dead. she did not feed the first one right away. i had to show them. also mom wanted to keep following me every where. can cats have premature kitten? the kitten is 4 weeks old and it is like it can't really see is that correct at its age and how different would the kitten be if it had other siblings to be with? is there anything special i should do for this single kitten. this is the first time i have had a litter of kittens. any good advice you can give me?

Answer
Hi Shana,

Congratulations on your new kitten. I'll try to answer your questions. Yes cats can have premature births. But most times they don't. The mom doesn't care about the loss of the dead kitten because they don't have the type of attachment to their offspring as we do. Sometimes cats do need to be shown what to do especially if this is their first litter. I have also seen cats who want nothing to do with their young ones after they are born. Remember, your female can go into heat again, event though she is nursing her kitten.
Mom sounds like a cat who is not too interested in her kitten. You will have to keep an eye on the little one. Kittens need food and warmth. Try to keep the mom and kitten in a warm part of the house. Because there are no littermates for it to snuggle against I would put a heating pad in the wherever your cat is keeping the kitten. Place it under a towel, set on low. Make sure there is an area on that towel that doesn't have the heating pad under it so the kitten can move out of the heat if she gets too hot.
Kittens open their eyes at about 8 days and are fully open by about 14 days. Their ears open by day 5-8. A kitten will start to orient itself by sight and sound around day 25. At 4 weeks it should start walking and its teeth will begin to come in. This is also the time when it can really start to socialize. This is the time when I would spend more time with the kitten and having it get used to you. A lot of good bonding between owners and pets go on at this time period. By the 5th week the kitten will move towards an adult sleep pattern. It will also start grooming itself and using the litter pan. Make sure the pan you have is low enough for her to get into it. I use the cardboard box thingee you get when you buy a loose case of soda.
If you are adopting out the kitten she should be ready to go by 10 weeks.
Not having a littermates shouldn't affect her too much. In fact it should help with you bonding with her. Good luck with your new little one. I hope I have helped you. If you have any more questions please write back.

Ciao, Karen