dead kittens

Question
One of the wild cats that i feed recently had babies. Every day I would check on them as she did not have them in a very good place. Last night I found one outside of the bedding with both front legs ripped off and the body was cut in half very cleanly. The other two were dead as well but i cant tell from what. What would have done this? The mom is a very young mother.

Answer
Hi Cheryl,

Sorry to hear this. Are you in a city or country side? I wouldn't be able to know without seeing or more info from you, but I can tell you mama would of heard their cries if she was out to hunt and would of ran back to fight and defend them. So is she hurt too? How old were they?

There are so many things that kittens can die of from a respiratory infection to panleukopenia to poisoning. My question for you were they healthy and thriving that day? Did you see them the day before you found them killed? Were they with runny eyes, lethargic, snotty noses? were they nursing with no problem? Is the mother healthy?

Due to not seeing nor knowing anything other than 2 are dead and one had a clean cut with 2 legs removed, I can only speculate.
If they were healthy here are some thoughts...

If wildlife was looking for a meal, she would of fought back and probably have been hurt, also, the kittens would of been eaten so i do not suspect wildlife.
If a hawk came to gather them they would of been scooped up and taken to the nest, so the fact that they were left behind makes me think of the most cruel animal on the planet.
I hate to think but my suspicion could be a very sick sociopathic person has harmed them? I am not intending to upset you or start rumors but the amount of factual animal data i hear about at the hands of people is just overwhelming. Heck, with the Supreme Court ruling last week lifting the ban on trafficking animal torture videos how much faith can one have in people??
If you live by a humane society call them and ask if they can perform a necropsy on the kittens to find out. So if heaven forbid it was a person, you can get the word out for others to protect their feral colonies.This is a very important step, put them in blankets in a box and drive them and tell them, they should not charge you if it is an investigation. The clean cut part is suspicious.

People/kids that harm animals have been factually known to then show a propensity to harm people so this is social responsibility for the animals and others.

That is a very disturbing sight for you to see.
Can the mom cat be taken for spay/neuter at your local feral fix dept? Humane society or aspca?
So as not to populate?
Please keep me posted
and let me know which part of the country you reside in,
Shanti