Momma Cat is Depressed?

I took in a stray 3 months ago (and her 4 mth. old approx., kitten) - found out she was prego., she delivered 8 days ago - in the middle of the night she came and got me and we delivered 6 healthy kittens - in my 2 year old's closet! 2 days ago a kitten passed away - it was the smallest of the litter, but was starting to thrive very well. She seems sad? She looked for it a bunch yesterday. My 10 year old and I gave it a proper burrial. She is not interested in nursing - I have to sit with her and make her do it. If I leave the room she will stop and walk away from them? She was grooming them earlier and nursing some. Any suggestions? She stops nursing before they kittens are done - they are still hungery and cry often. I have put a heating pad in with them on low and comforting them as well as I can. Last night she took off for the whole night! I cold not find her anywhere. I am going to get her fixed .. and the 4 month old male, as soon as she is able to have the surgery . HELP!
Answers:
Despite what some uneducated people will tell you, the kittens won't die without the mother's milk. That's like saying human babies will die if not breastfed. KMR is basically kitten formula. Pick up some of that and some small bottles (you can usually find them right there with the KMR in the pet store), and feed the kittens.

I don't know why someone would try to make you feel bad..it's not YOUR fault the kitten died.

Anyways, if the mom cat comes back, I agree with Old Cat Lady; keep her confined to one room with her kittens and with the essentials and give her time to see if she'll settle back into being a mom. Keep track and make sure the kittens are nursing enough (if not, feed them the KMR). If the mother doesn't take up her duties again, you're going to have to take over as surrogate mom. Here's a website that can offer some help;

http://www.petcaretips.net/orphaned_kitt.

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you may want to keep some kitten formula on hand. I don't know much about this you can consult your vet they will be able to tell you what to do.

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I suggest getting a formula for the kittens to eat before they slowly begin to starve. There is really nothing you can do to convince a cat to do something she doesn't want to do. For the meanwhile, try spending as much time with her as you can.. just letting her know she is loved and has family still.
I'm sorry about this =-(
Good luck~

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some cats and animals in general don't have maternal instincts.it doesn't necesarily have something 2 do with the dead kitten.all u can do is feed the kittens milk from a bottle.and it's a good idea about having the cats fixed.if the momma cat doesn't have the instinct 2 nurse her kittens it's a lot better that way.good luck!

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If you don't know any history on Mom please get her to the vet..she may be ill ,thus the kitten dying and her not nursing.

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Without the mother's milk, the kittens will die one by one. She has anti-bodies in her milk that will keep the kittens from getting sick and dying. You might want to try keep the mom and her kittens in one room and be sure to keep them there until the kittens are weaned. Good luck

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Shes looking for the lost Kitten you removed it too early.. ( shame on u haven't you been reading this page lately ).. What to do.. ( no don't dig the dead kitten up ). You may have to hand feed the kittens for a while.. the big problem with kittens this small is that they dehydrate.. so they need regular feeding.. pet shop.. kitten food and syringes and a lot of time and effort..When the mother cat shows interest in feeding the kittens again.. back off.. but show her the milk and the syringes etc.. ( explain to her.. in a cat way ). There is stuff you can get.. to burn in an oil burner for cats that are feeling 'depressed' you might need to ask ur vet about that.Good luck..

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Get some kitten formula or you can use evaporated milk and you can feed them with an eye dropper. I have had momma cats get depressed after losing a baby sometimes it takes a couple days for them to adjust to their loss. Getting her fixed would be a good thing, some momma cats just don't make good moms.

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If you cannot get her to nurse her kittens you are going to have to start using the KMR or kitten milk replacer you can get at a pet store.

This will be a very difficult and time-consuming operation to undertake with six kittens, feeding around the clock for at least four to five weeks till you can wean them to canned cat food.

I would not let her outside at all -- she can get pregnant again before you have a chance to spay her. That would be her third pregnancy in little more than a year's time -- very detrimental to her health. I would confine her to a room with her kittens and the necessities, food, water, litterbox and only let her out of the room for some breaks from the kittens and certainly not let her out of the house, She may attend to her "duties" better if she is confined with the kittens for the better part of the day and through the night.

Good luck!

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Please don't give up encouraging the mama cat to nurse. It's best for the kittens. If you have to sit with her and encourage her do it, then by all means do that if it works. Stroke her, give her, a treat and place the kittens near her nipples. While it's not unusually for her to walk away from them from time to time, during the first couple of days, she should be with them more than she is not. If she's disappearing, however, you might want to consider confining her indoors. The heating pad is a great idea, just make sure it never gets too hot. Maybe she just left to look for her missing kitten, but she will forget about it in time, especially with her remaining kittens crying for her. While some cats have no idea how to mother a litter of kittens, I believe you have an experienced queen with you. Just keep on encouraging her. Give her some privacy and keep her older 4 month son away from her and the litter. She doesn't need him around pestering her. Also, switch her to a kitten food. Mama cats need lots of calories to produce milk and kitten food is higher in calories for growing kittens and nursing queens. Please post updates. I hope she returns to them and is a good mama. Good luck.

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She is probably searching for her lost kitten. In the mean time get some milk formula from the vet for the other kittens and posiibly some vitamins. Just be there for her-juz coz she's an animal doen't mean she does not deserve to grieve.