Goodbye Baby Runt and Orangie....

I have never posted on here before. Usually in Cat General and Cat Rescue...but I think this belongs here.

I rescued a momma cat and her one kitten about two months ago. The momma, Dottie, was very pregnant. She gave birth on July 13th to five fisty healthy babies. We have grown to love them as they have grown and change so much. But suddenly past Sunday one passed. Dottie stopped nursing. We realized how skinny the babies were so we got them to the vet...but it was too late. The tiny little orange girl passed yesterday. Everybody on pet talk had nick named her Orangie. Rest in peace little girl.

The vet said they were a little underweight but if I stepped in to take over feeding formula and baby food they would be okay. He was wrong. After the little orange one died, that left us with a very weak little black baby, another orange female and another black male. Well, the little black kitten died this evening. The surviving two are eating from their mom agian, eating baby food and kitten food. They are very thin still, but in better spirits. I am heart broken. I went to the store to get pedialyte and Karo syrup to make a mixture to help nurish the little guy, when I returned home he had already passed. I was only gone 20 mins. I feel like a failure. Rest in peace little Runt.

OHHH, That is so very sad. :( And , I am so sorry that after all your love and attention, another kitten passed away. How discouraging for you. :(

Sometimes, even when we apply our best effort, God has another plan .

You are not a failure, in the sense that, you deeply care and you haven't given up hope on helping Dottie with the surviving kittens.


May Orangie and now, Blackie, Rest in Peace.

Thank you. It is just so discouraging. I just hope the other two and Itty Bitty make it. Thank you Dorothy!

Oh, Tracy...those dear babies, knowing love and care from birth, however short their lives were.

Keep us posted, and pics of the wee ones...I believe they will do well, and the thrill of watching them blossom and grow will help heal the hurt....

Prayers and hugs to you and them!

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Originally Posted by Catty1

Oh, Tracy...those dear babies, knowing love and care from birth, however short their lives were.

Keep us posted, and pics of the wee ones...I believe they will do well, and the thrill of watching them blossom and grow will help heal the hurt....

Prayers and hugs to you and them!

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Thank you Catty. I am still worried about the other black one, whom we have called Jersey. (I felt as if I should name them now.) He seems so weak. I am hopeful for the orange one, Sunshine, she is the biggest of the two left. She eats on her own occasionally, drinks water, and just a bit ago I changed their litter box and she was in there playing with the litter. So, Iike I said, I am hopeful for her. Itty Bitty is eating well. Still seems weak, but we are hoping he makes it as well. I just hope the Jersey is okay. Thank you for all your warm wishes, hugs and prayers. Pictures coming soon...I promise.

You did a fine thing by rescuing Dottie and the caring for her babies!!! You gave them LOVE which if they were not rescued, they would have never known. Those wee ones sleep softly, are healthy, and playing with all our friends that have gone ahead to the Bridge. Praying that Jersey and Sunshine will do well.Please keep us posted!!! Take Care...

I just do not understand it. I fed the babies at five in the morning...and at nine Jersey and Itty Bitty were dead. I took their temps early this morning, Jersey was low, so I put the heating pad on to meium and put a hot water bottle in there, but Itty Bitty was perfectly fine. My fiance found them and told me it looked like Dottie killed them. I couldn't bear to see them. I have see three die in the last week.

Dave said that Jersey was all wet and his paws were positioned as if he jumped off a building and killed himself. Itty Bitty was limp...he just passed when Dave found him. Dave said that his mouth was all wet as if Dottie was either licking him or suffocated him. Were they sick? Did she know? But Itty Bitty was doing so well and he seemed as if he was going to make it. I was so hopefull. I know he was only three weeks, but he was eating so well and so vocal...he even purred after we fed him. Was it all just a spoof? Or did Dottie just kill him because he was not hers and she knew that he wasn't? I am so baffled on this one...and so heart broken as well. Poor Dave...he was a bit attached to Itty Bitty, though we only had him for about four days.

Sunshine is all that is left. Her spirits are better then that of the others. I have not seen her nurse off of Dottie. Sunshine has not eaten this morning either....not on her own. I syringe fed her some baby food. I am afraid that Dottie may kill her as well....if she did indeed kill the other two. I am thinking of just taking her away from Dottie and soley caring for her myself. Any advice?

Rest in peace sweet Jersey and Itty Bitty. You are deeply missed. :(

A (very bad) picture of our only baby left. Sunshine. Six weeks old as of yesterday. Still very weak.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../Aug25_001.jpg

Hang in there with Sunshine and know that you are doing the best you can. I do have one question, what kind of baby food are you using. Last year this time I was fostering five kitties that were not quite 4 weeks old. Our TNR organization that I work with told me to only use "gerber" baby food and stage one at that. I would actually mix it with the KMR and they thrived on it. Two of them were in really bad shape when I found them and serious dobuts about one in particular. Today our "Slick Willie" is a thriving huge cat. All five survived, thank God, and I kept all five so I am the proud meowmie of 10 in my house. I will keep you in my prayers.

I was sad to read about Jersey and Itty Bitty. Have any of the kittens been to the vet??? This sounds very similar to when back in September 2003, we adopted a 6 week old kitten. Two days later, she died of distemper. And yes, maybe Dottie knows they are ill. Our vet told me, that when a kitten or cat is ill, and the other cats really are horrible to it(for the lack of a better choice of words), it is natural for them to "help" the ill cat to die quickly. Maybe that is what Dottie has done. I have seen the above behaviour in our house when one cat was sick. I recall how awful I thought my usual kind and loving cats were acting towards this one cat. Will keep little Sunshine in prayers....You take care...

I have nothing to add but my prayers to you, the mommy cat and the one surviving kitten. Only God knows what happened. You are being asked to endure a lot right now, and it must be painful. Hang in there. Sometimes our best is just not good enough.

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Originally Posted by momtomany

Hang in there with Sunshine and know that you are doing the best you can. I do have one question, what kind of baby food are you using. Last year this time I was fostering five kitties that were not quite 4 weeks old. Our TNR organization that I work with told me to only use "gerber" baby food and stage one at that. I would actually mix it with the KMR and they thrived on it. Two of them were in really bad shape when I found them and serious dobuts about one in particular. Today our "Slick Willie" is a thriving huge cat. All five survived, thank God, and I kept all five so I am the proud meowmie of 10 in my house. I will keep you in my prayers.

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We are using Gerber, Stage 2, Turkey, Chicken, but mostly Lamb. I hope it works. I seperated the baby from Dottie. I don't know what else to do.... :confused:

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Originally Posted by kb2yjx

I was sad to read about Jersey and Itty Bitty. Have any of the kittens been to the vet??? This sounds very similar to when back in September 2003, we adopted a 6 week old kitten. Two days later, she died of distemper. And yes, maybe Dottie knows they are ill. Our vet told me, that when a kitten or cat is ill, and the other cats really are horrible to it(for the lack of a better choice of words), it is natural for them to "help" the ill cat to die quickly. Maybe that is what Dottie has done. I have seen the above behaviour in our house when one cat was sick. I recall how awful I thought my usual kind and loving cats were acting towards this one cat. Will keep little Sunshine in prayers....You take care...

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I took two of them to the vet on Tuesday of this week. The vet said they were too young for vaccines and they were just under weight. He said with good nutrition, they should be fine. I heard that too about cats....but do I chance Sunshine with Dottie? Or do I keep her seperate?

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Originally Posted by Cataholic

I have nothing to add but my prayers to you, the mommy cat and the one surviving kitten. Only God knows what happened. You are being asked to endure a lot right now, and it must be painful. Hang in there. Sometimes our best is just not good enough.

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I thank you for your prayers. I wish I knew what happened....I tried everything for those babies. Maybe I tried too late. I have to worry now about the surviving kit and my other rescues now. I have to get them to be okay. Thank you everybody for your kind thoughts and words. Love to all.

You did the absolute best that you could, and you should feel proud as there are not many people who would have done that much.
I know what you are going through as I tried to save 4 Porch Cats, and they are now Angels.
Those Kittens are Eternal Angels now, and because you tried to help them, they will be Your Kittens.
One Fine Day.

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Originally Posted by catmandu

You did the absolute best that you could, and you should feel proud as there are not many people who would have done that much.
I know what you are going through as I tried to save 4 Porch Cats, and they are now Angels.
Those Kittens are Eternal Angels now, and because you tried to help them, they will be Your Kittens.
One Fine Day.

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I am sorry to hear about your porch cats. Thank you for your kind words. They are much appreciated.

I know this has been so hard on you, it is real hard to take care of these new innocent little lives and have them not make it even though you do everything right. You did all you could and you did everything right but God had other plans for them. For whatever reasons, He wanted them to touch your life briefly, and they touched your life and ours. ((((HUGS)))))

Oh gosh Tracy I am so, so sorry that you lost these little ones. I would definitely keep precious Sunshine away from Dottie. It sounds like she stepped in and did the work of Mother Nature herself.

A few years ago, my shoemakers cat had 5 kittens and they were doing really well for about 2 weeks. I was going to bring home one of the kittens, when she got older. Going on 3 weeks old now, I went on a Monday to see the babies again, the shoemaker, Sabby, told me that one of the babies had died that morning. We didn't know why, as when I went in the back of the shop, the momma, Angelina, was in the box with the babies and the rest of them seemed fine. Then when I went on Wednesday, 2 more had past on. It was so sad, so I tried everything I could to save the last 2, as one of them was the one I was going to take home with me, but they both passed away on Friday. We never knew why. I was totally heartbroken but I knew at least I tried to save them.

Despite your efforts Tracy, God obviously needed these little ones on the RB for one reason or another. You did everything you could to save them, but unfortunately it just wasn't meant to be. This has to be one of the hardest part of being in rescue. Please think of it this way, that they passed on knowing warmth and love, instead of being cold and unloved away in a bush somewhere. Bless you for all that you have done and are still doing for these little ones.

Rest in Peace Littles Ones and have fun on the RB.

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Originally Posted by rg_girlca

Oh gosh Tracy I am so, so sorry that you lost these little ones. I would definitely keep precious Sunshine away from Dottie. It sounds like she stepped in and did the work of Mother Nature herself.

A few years ago, my shoemakers cat had 5 kittens and they were doing really well for about 2 weeks. I was going to bring home one of the kittens, when she got older. Going on 3 weeks old now, I went on a Monday to see the babies again, the shoemaker, Sabby, told me that one of the babies had died that morning. We didn't know why, as when I went in the back of the shop, the momma, Angelina, was in the box with the babies and the rest of them seemed fine. Then when I went on Wednesday, 2 more had past on. It was so sad, so I tried everything I could to save the last 2, as one of them was the one I was going to take home with me, but they both passed away on Friday. We never knew why. I was totally heartbroken but I knew at least I tried to save them.

Despite your efforts Tracy, God obviously needed these little ones on the RB for one reason or another. You did everything you could to save them, but unfortunately it just wasn't meant to be. This has to be one of the hardest part of being in rescue. Please think of it this way, that they passed on knowing warmth and love, instead of being cold and unloved away in a bush somewhere. Bless you for all that you have done and are still doing for these little ones.

Rest in Peace Littles Ones and have fun on the RB.

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I am sorry to hear about the shoemaker's kittens. That is so sad. I know I tried....and they were loved. I hope Sunshine makes it. Thank you for your kind words.