Sometimes, when my phone rings during kitten season, I am reluctant to answer it. The stories that come my way are at times unbelievably sad. This morning, I learned of a litter of 6 kittens born of a 6 month old kitty. The story goes that they were going to get the kitten spayed and she escaped outside and came back pregnant.
At midnight last night, the kitten had 6 babies. I was told that the kittens were still in the sac with the umbilical cords still attached! The woman went on to say that she went ahead and went to work in the morning because after all- with the umbilical cords still attached, the kittens were still feeding off the mom, so what’s the harm?
That’s not how this works- if you don’t break the sac immediately and give the kittens oxygen and clamp and cut the cord, the kittens have no hope. I questioned if they were all still (before the woman went to work) still attached in the sac and learned sadly that they were. I tried to find out if the kittens were all inside another sac which would mean the mom expelled more than just her kittens and I was told, no the kittens are just all “stuck together.”
Needless to say this did not end well for young momma and the babies. I swear some people should only own paper dolls or goldfish.
5/9/2015- Please see the updated comment below about this situation. Thankfully, it was not as it was explained to be and mom and babies are doing fine.
Oh no, did the mother not make it too? So the babies came out of the mother at midnight and the woman didn’t do anything all night and the next morning and went to work? Just left her suffering cat like that all that time? I have no words, honestly, it breaks my heart.
Did the woman call you herself in the morning before she went to work, and you found out later that they died?
There are no words! “with the umbilical cords still attached, the kittens were still feeding off the mom, so what’s the harm?” how does she think with them being outside the mom they are still feeding off of her? I am dumbfounded.
The call of distress was from the sister of the woman who owns this cat. She was calling me because she was so distressed and wanted my input about the situation. She couldn’t get into the house until her sister got off work so this was all third party relayed information to me. I told her to get over to the house as soon as the sister got home and told her all she needed to do- but in my heart I knew too much time had passed and the kittens were dead and mom was in danger. She said if I didn’t hear back from her the worst had happened to the family. I’ve not heard back from her and I can guess why- she is heartbroken that her sister didn’t call her immediately upon the birth of the kittens. 🙁 and she can’t or is unable to talk about it. She was super upset with her sister.
Oh Thank the Lord! It was all a terrible miscommunication! I caught up with the gal who initially called me this morning in town and asked her the outcome. She said that when she got there, the sacs had been eaten by the mom but not the umbilical cords. She was able to save all the kittens and only one was in real danger. The cord had wrapped around the foot of the kitty and the kitten’s foot is now blue and dead. But mom and babies for the most part are doing just fine.
I asked her about all the other stuff about the kittens being stuck together, the sacs not being torn and she just shrugged and said something about her sister and a drama queen!
Thank God this was only a melodrama that played out in someone’s head and not the real thing. I just couldn’t fathom how someone could leave a litter and a mom in such a state and just go off to work thinking everything will be just fine in their absence.
Thank goodness! I’m glad to hear it.