Why did my cat abandon her premature kitten? When should I see a vet?

Consider having it physically examined by your veterinarian. A mother's instinct is strong and the kitten may be sick or injured. If the exam is clear, it may be a case of abandonment and you will need to hand raise the kitten yourself. A kitten milk replacement, such as KMR, can be bottle fed for the next week or so and then you can begin weaning to solid food. This is done my mixing kitten food with KMR to make a gruel slurry. Gradually decrease the amount of liquid over the next several weeks until the kitten is eating canned food by 8-10 weeks of age.

I recommend to begin deworming the kittens at 4 weeks old and have them examined at 6 weeks old. The following link is aimed at caring for abandoned kittens but has a lot of great information: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-raise-orphan-kittens/ I hope this helps.

Hi there. Some cats are naturally good mothers, and some aren't - especially when they're so young. A one-year old cat is still barely more than a kitten herself. So this is a sad situation, but not all that uncommon. I would recommend having her spayed now to prevent any further litters in the future.

Poor Kittens. You can try to clean them up and take them to her with the rest of the kittens. If she still rejects them then I would try to start bottle feeding them with KMR kitten formula. You would need to feed them every 2-3 hours. You can use a syringe or a kitten bottle. You will also need to stimulate their rear ends using a damp warm cloths after each feeding to help the pee and poop. Just be forewarned that kittens that are bottle fed from day 1 take a lot of nurturing and sometimes do not survive. I hope this helps!

It is possible that the momma cat thinks there is something wrong with this kitten, that it doesn't smell right, or that she isn't a great momma cat. I would continue to watch and see if she will claim the kitten within 24 hours. If not, you may have to take away the kitten and bottle raise it. If you do, I would have the kitten examined by a vet for any possible congenital abnormalities that the momma cat may have picked up on. Here is an article for raising orphan kittens (if you need it!): http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A

This is very unfortunate, I'm sorry to hear your momma cat has lost her kittens. I would suspect that there was something affecting the mother that infected the kittens in utero. There is probably not much you can do to save the 2 remaining kittens at this point. You may want to consider taking them to the vet to be checked out and see if it is something treatable. At home just continue doing your best by supplementing their feedings if necessary, stimulating them to potty if the momma is not, and keep them warm and dry. I hope this helps. Best of luck with the remaining kittens. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor thing. Sometimes mama cats can sense that a kitty has some sort of defect, so they will neglect them and focus on the healthier kitty. Also, if somehow the kitty was touched by a person and the mother no longer smells the kitty's scent, but instead a human, this too will cause the mother to neglect said kitty. Give it time and continue to monitor this kitty closely to see if she is getting fed and stimulated to pee and poop on her own. If she isn't, then it may be a good idea to separate the kitty and nurse her yourself until she can be weaned onto kitty dry food, which is around 3-4 weeks of age.