Cat abandoning kittens, what can I do?

Ah, yes, the miracle of birth!

You will now become the surrogate mother for the kittens you allowed your cat to have. You will need to feed them every two hours, round the clock, for a few weeks. Your alternative is to watch them die. You allowed them to come into the world, and you are responsible for them. Read this link on raising orphan kittens:

http://www.kittenrescue.org/pages.php?pageid=15

You need to act quickly - as in NOW - to start feeding the abandoned one.

Remember that your cat can - and will - come back into heat even if nursing a litter of kittens, and can get pregnant again. Keep her confined indoors and away from all unneutered males until you can get her spayed.

We recently went through this, my cat had 4 kittens first was still born, the second she stayed with in the night the next day was not at all interested she then went on to have another 2 which shocked us and another was still born. The first survivor died and with one left she did start to show that she would look after it, she moved it from the box and put it behind some baskets we have. My cat wasn`t interested in the kitten then and kept leaving it. The vet said a cat can tell if there`s something wrong and will just pretty much ignore the kittens that have problems, very sad but that`s just what they do. The last kitten died too, was very upsetting and now she is getting done in-case she has problems with being pregnant.

The best thing you can do is go to your local grocery/pet store, get some replacement milk and a "baby animal" bottle, specifically made for feeding young kittens or other animals when this type of thing happens. Tiny newborn kittens (like newborn humans) need to be fed every two hours. Give the kitten as much milk as it wants every two hours for the first two weeks, at three weeks you can give it every three hours, and at four weeks every four hours until it is six weeks old. I know this sounds like a lot but if you want the kitten to survive it is absolutely necessary. If you have an electric blanket, water bottle, heating pad, or something similar it is also essential that you keep the kitten warm. They lose their body heat extremely quickly and need their "mother" to keep them warm. Abandoned kittens have a very small survival rate. Of course it is possible that the mother cat just isn't comfortable in her box that you gave her and wants a more private place since she's going behind the sofa. You might want to make a place in the closet or somewhere she feels she has more "privacy." Good luck!

So, she moved the same kitten away and abandoned the other both times?

If she moved the same kitten both times, it means there's something wrong with the abandoned kitten.

Cats instinctively know when something isn't right with their babies, and will abandon them. You need to get the that kitten to the vet pronto. There's probably little to be done for it, but there's a possibility of treatment.

Moving kittens to new locations is also instinctive. It's no big deal to move them back. If she's showing no preference between the kittens, just keep putting them back in the box where you want her. Eventually, she'll give up the fight and take care of them in the box where you want her.

TIP:

She's more likely to stay in a clean box that doesn't smell like chemicals or other animals.

i took in a stray cat 8 weeks ago and 7 weeks ago she had her kittens. she had 3, one of who she left in the sac and walked away. we had to remove the sac and rub him gently. She like yours hid under the settee. i rang a lady i had spoken with from the cats protection, (if your in england please contact them as they were brilliant )i managed to loan a puppy pen that night from this cat rescue and we got the mum cat in there. we put the kittens in a box in the pen and hoped she would go to them. next morning our hopes came true and she was in the box feeding them. i had been told it would be very hard to hand rear the kittens from birth-a few week old they have a good chance of survival. anyway she had gone on to have another kitten during the night.she was a feral cat who is only about 8 months old herself and cat rescue told me she could have been frightened at being trapped or just in experienced and didnt know what to do but by putting her in a cage or pen where she cannot escape her instints came back and she cared for her babies. her kittens are 7 weeks old today and all is happy here.i hope yours is the same.

She's not mother material. Not all cats are.

Do everyone a favour.

Be responsible, take over the care of the kittens, and take her to the vet first thing in the morning for a spay. Most likely she will just let them die.

you will need to get vetinary advice about this, have you got homes for kittens, they are not having a good start to life, u should not let your cat out, and u should also have got it spayed a long time ago, the people who answer here are generaly answering for the sake of the animals, benifit, even if cat does not get out because of medication,she still must get fixed, as the operation can only be good for cat, as their health improves, so medication or not get CAT FIXED, as there are other benifits to cat getting fixed as well as stopping pregnacys, if she is fit to get pregnant she can have operation to get fixed, as having kittens will take it out her more than a operation

when a cat abandons its kittens that usually means its sick. if she abandons them again you'll have to be mommy. you'll have to feed them once every 2 hours even if they're sleeping. you have to feed them formula and cut an x in the nipple. you'll have to wipe their butt and privates with a warm wet wash cloth so they can use the bathroom.

Well, If the mommy don't look after the kittens then you look after the kittens, Feed them with the bottle/ Bribe the cat into looking after them...lol

Good luck with the kittens

cut the long answers.

snappy ones are the most informative.

VETS...