Current Events > The cat I'm caring for smothered her kitten to death and I'm devastated

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Me and gf have been feeding a stray for a few months. About 12 days ago, while feeding it, I went in and came back to find a newborn on the floor. Eventually 3 were born. Today was their 12th day. Cutest things I've ever seen. Indescribable.

Everything has been going great. I put the mother in an old cage in the large closet where she's just been chilling and really enjoying her babies for about the past 2 weeks.

About 3 hours ago, I got up to go to sleep and check on them one last time. I saw two of the kittens just chilling. I didn't see the third, so I got the mother to get up and that's where I saw a smushed up body. I grabbed it and it was already partially hard from rigor.

I kind of went into shock after that. I stood there for maybe 45 minutes just frozen, replaying everything over and over again in my head.

What could I have done to save her? Maybe I should have checked earlier? Last I checked was 8 and everything was fine.

I don't even know what to do or how to feel or what to do with the body. This is the second cat that has died. First was years ago from FKS. Also if anyone remembers, I took care of another stray last year that had babies and the mother had attacked/accidentally scratched it and I came here to get help saving her. I did with help from several people here and it was the biggest relief since I thought she wasn't gonna make it.

I never thought this would happen. It wasn't even an attack or anything. She just sat on her. I know I've only known her for barely 2 weeks, but still. Especially since she was already both of our favorite.

Another thing that's scaring me now is, will she do this to the other 2? Is something wrong with her?

There's no real way to seperate them, so I left them with her. I keep watching them but I'm several hours late for sleep. Really paranoid.

Sorry for the long post. I'm really angry right now and I just need to vent a little. I've been kind of waiting for my gf to wake up and tell her what happened.

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Yikes. How unfortunate.

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I'm so sorry. I don't even know what to say. I've never had to deal with something like that. Maybe you should separate the babies from her though, I don't know.

InfinityMonster posted...

Me and gf have been feeding a stray for a few months. About 12 days ago, while feeding it, I went in and came back to find a newborn on the floor. Eventually 3 were born. Today was their 12th day. Cutest things I've ever seen. Indescribable.

Everything has been going great. I put the mother in an old cage in the large closet where she's just been chilling and really enjoying her babies for about the past 2 weeks.

About 3 hours ago, I got up to go to sleep and check on them one last time. I saw two of the kittens just chilling. I didn't see the third, so I got the mother to get up and that's where I saw a smushed up body. I grabbed it and it was already partially hard from rigor.

I kind of went into shock after that. I stood there for maybe 45 minutes just frozen, replaying everything over and over again in my head.

What could I have done to save her? Maybe I should have checked earlier? Last I checked was 8 and everything was fine.

I don't even know what to do or how to feel or what to do with the body. This is the second cat that has died. First was years ago from FKS. Also if anyone remembers, I took care of another stray last year that had babies and the mother had attacked/accidentally scratched it and I came here to get help saving her. I did with help from several people here and it was the biggest relief since I thought she wasn't gonna make it.

I never thought this would happen. It wasn't even an attack or anything. She just sat on her. I know I've only known her for barely 2 weeks, but still. Especially since she was already both of our favorite.

Another thing that's scaring me now is, will she do this to the other 2? Is something wrong with her?

There's no real way to seperate them, so I left them with her. I keep watching them but I'm several hours late for sleep. Really paranoid.

Sorry for the long post. I'm really angry right now and I just need to vent a little. I've been kind of waiting for my gf to wake up and tell her what happened.

Nope, this is normal. Some mommy cats are more clumsy than others and after being exhausted from feeding little ones, they can become really tired and just collapse. Probably started off cuddling just keeping each other warm and she probably just didn't notice the kitten start to struggle and eventually sufficate.

This happens with humans too, you know. It's a threat to any mother that sleeps in bed with her newborn child. Especially fatter women. They can roll over on their babies without noticing a thing if they are the heavy sleeper type.

You should absolutely do something to prevent this from happening again. I'd suggest a bigger bed area for the cats so that they can move around as needed without feeling cramped and potentially not realizing that she is sitting on her baby. Obviously not the brightest cat in the feline family, so you gotta be pro-active to ensure she doesn't do it again.

or don't. If it tears you up, do something and if it's not that big of a deal, just put it out of your mind and let nature do it's thing.

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You might want to consult a pet owner's forum or subreddit or something. While it's upsetting, a part of me wants to say that nature is ugly and that this happens sometimes. Like sometimes - spoilered for your consideration, as it concerns animal death - animals like hamsters eat their newborns.

I can't speak with any authority, so please seek out a platform where people will be able to give you more solid advice. But I wouldn't necessarily say that this reflects on the cat's state of mind. Maybe it could, or maybe this is an example of how ugly nature can be.

I'm not saying this to be glib or upsetting - but if the mother cat kills another one, then by all means save the last one. But until you have a range of informed opinions from other pet owners or an expert source like a vet, I don't know if this should reflect poorly on the mother cat or not.

Sometimes, animal offspring die at the hands of their parents. Sometimes it's a product of violence or malevolence that you can prevent, and other times it's just nature.

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Nature is cruel.

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Flauros posted...

Nature is cruel.

Sometimes, but in this case, it was more like "Nature was tired and exhausted" and wound up adding to the statistic of preventable infanticide.

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would she have eaten it if left alone

nature is metal

Sometimes nature is like that. I fed a few stray cats and kittens and sometimes that happens. Don't dwell on it too much; it's just how nature is. You get used to it >_>

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So,

The thing with this is... shes a wild cat. Being held in captivity is likely confusing for her, and irritating. Stray cats can be notoriously difficult to domesticate, and they are prone to abandoning or even eating their young especially in this sort of situation. The best thing would have been to remove the young from the mother, IMO.

Lol

Xethuminra posted...

So,

The thing with this is... shes a wild cat.

This, she's acting on instinct. Kill one baby to increase the survivability of the other two.

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DocDelicious posted...

This, she's acting on instinct. Kill one baby to increase the survivability of the other two.

Why is this the theory everyone is leaning on? Just because the cat is wild doesn't mean it's survival of the fittest and every cat for itself. Nature can be just as stupid/clumsy as it can be cruel. Cats are not given guides on how to parent their offspring. You can say "instinct" all you want, but I've seen the confusion in a new mother cat's eyes as she wants to get up and leave and the kittens are like, "the hell you are, give me back those tits" A bad mother cat will continue to pull away, drag her kittens by the teet over to the box or whatever and literally walk all over the kitten to get out of the box and away from hungry little mouths.

Being a parent is pretty universal for all mammals. It's exhausting for freshly minted mothers. I'm sorry, but CEman will never understand the intricacy and nuances of nature. They will only point out what they are interested in, not what nature actually does.

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Yes.

She may have been simplifying the equation or attempting to reestablish dominance, or maybe she just freaked the out.

another possibility is the kitten simply died of other causes

If you keep interacting them without domesticating the mother, then there is a strong chance she will turn on the kittens.

You don't necessarily know that she smothered that kitten. It could've died from some other issue and then momma attempted to warm the baby as it got cooler. Stiffness takes quite awhile to set in, so that baby had most likely passed a few hours before. Sometimes kittens just go for a lot of other reasons. Momma might actually be a best mom, but she's still just a cat.

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