Saturday 3/21/2020 - with the shelter in place and working from home, I let my rescue know that I was open for bottle babies. They asked me if I'd take a mama cat with seven day old babies. YES! My mentor let me know that the mama was terrified. She had a poor experience at the shelter and was extremely stressed out. She recommended that I set up the crate to lead directly into their kennel and basically leave them alone for at least 24 hours. Mama had food, water, and a litter box.
I got them set up and talked with the mama, who was very hostile and protective of her babies. The next morning, she was still in the back of their crate, huddled over her babies. There was no evidence she had left to eat, drink, or use the litter box. When I reached in to put food and water in the crate, she attacked, but briefly. As I talked with her, she calmed fairly quickly. I started dropping small handfuls of food off every hour, getting closer and closer until I could hand feed her, then touch her.
Finally, around 24 hours after arriving she let me touch her babies (2 days old). I was able to take them out and take some pictures... but there was a problem. There were only 6.
I pet and nudged mom until she moved and found the last little bean. I named him Kerchak. Mama had smothered him in the back of the kennel. I gave a futile attempt at CPR but he was too far gone.
By the following morning, she had smothered a second and two more were lethargic and dropping in temperature. While Seth took care of the second baby, I named Tala (I sadly didn't get a final picture of her), while I contacted my mentor and attempted emergency treatments. My mentor came over.
The two gray kittens were not responding to treatment. Both were limp and cold, breathing slowly. I had them on a heated stuffed dog and wrapped in a blanket, and she recommended that we make them as comfortable as we could and let them go. She would take them to the vet to be euthanized when she left.
Meanwhile, the 3 black kittens were still attempting to nurse and active. One was a big chunk, one average sized, and one was a tiny runt. My mentor was confident we could care for the two bigger ones but warned me that the runt might also not make it. The mama cat was not caring for her babies. My mentor said this is sadly common when mama cats are too young- they don't know how to care for the babies or they don't want to be mama cats.
In the end, my mentor remembered that another foster had taken a different momma cat that had 2 babies on the same day. When presented with the 3 orphans, this mama rolled over and let them feed. They're thriving with their new momma. The gorgeous black mama was taken back to the shelter to be spayed. They'll find her a forever home where she can live her best life.
My heart broke and I worried that my inexperience caused those kittens to die. My mentor assured me that I had done everything I could. Maybe I could have reacted sooner or recognized that the mama wasn't caring for them after the first one died. But I know I gave them a better chance than they had with their mama, and 3 should grow up to find a loving forever home. I didn't want to let them leave, but, as a foster, I know that to love them means I need to let them go.
I beg of you... get your cats fixed. There are so many kittens born every day, and not enough foster homes and adoptive homes to give them all homes. As much as I love fostering, my wish is for my services to no longer be needed!!
Correction:
I forgot that my mentor took the runt to the vet before the other mama, and they decided to tube feed. She took the little one home to continue tube feeding but it didn't survive either. One of the others that went to the momma started to fail. They tried to tube feed, but it didn't make it either. They don't know what happened to this litter, but at last notice only one kitten is surviving.
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