I've raised cats for a very long time.

[raptor_rider]

This has been a first for me. The Mama cat has a stillborn, she know what to do. I have a Mama that had 3 kittens 2 weeks ago. Only 14 days old. I check on them multiple times a day.

I do not know why, however one passed away yesterday. 10 minutes after I checked on them. Something told me to check again, and it had crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. Of course I took it and tried so much to bring it back, however I was to late.

I buried it. I've been grieving. I cried for 3 hours. However, Mama is looking for it. You can talk to the Mama, tell her how sorry you are, that her baby just died. She is still looking for her baby. She is mourning, which makes me cry more. Searches for any scent that she can find, that was her baby.

For her, to look into my eyes, and know. I was the last person that she saw with her baby, and it is no longer there. However, trusts me to touch her other babies.

Cats love. Cats trust. Cats feel. They are just as human as we are.

I'm a married woman, and have 3 children. All born from me, so I know what it is like to be pregnant, and give birth to babies. However, for a Mama to trust you, so fully, to let you touch her remaining children, after one has passed and you were the one that took it away, is fucking amazing!!!!

[Jenoch]

1. Death is a difficult thing to confront and to survive.

I am quite sure your mama cat will continue to love you and your family.

Ou current cat is obsessed with water. She licks the shower door and licks the sliding door off our deck.

[nikto]

2. I love kitties--They teach me about life & stuff

Here's a video I made in tribute to my best kitty buddy of all...

(I can't watch it without tears)

http://wearenotsoulsofunknownorigin.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-great-and-wonderful-hb.html

[shenmue]

3. Sorry

I think you did the best you could.

[hamsterjill]

4. Major Hugs to both you and Mama!

Thank you for your kindness to her and your love.

I have a strong feeling that, while she may not know what happened with the body of her baby, she probably has a sense that something wasn't quite right about the one that passed. Cats are incredibly intuitive. Add to that the extra senses that all mothers seem to have about their offspring.

Please watch over the remaining kittens carefully.

[Arugula Latte]

5. Cats fill my heart up like nothing else.

Last night I was snuggling with two of mine and they were just so content and warm and purring and wonderful, I was filled with love.

I'm very sorry for the loss of the kitten, and for poor Mama.

[KamaAina]

6. The only mama cat I ever had lost her litter one by one.

I enticed her up my back stairs in New Orleans after many days of trying. I named her Satin: a black cat, and I had human friends named Terry and Velvet (srsly! ) It was not until she got inside that I realized she was expecting. Then she gave birth -- in a little alcove right next to my sofa chair!

Then she started moving the kitties around. Right next to the front door. Sweet -- until the old-school doorbell rang. On to the back bedroom, and so on.

Then the little gray tabby I named Tabitha stopped moving, and passed. One by one, the others followed, before I even had a chance to name them.

[LibertyLover]

7. I don't have cats, but I have dogs

For many years we had 5, 2 greyhounds, 2 whippets and a Siberian Husky. We lost our male greyhound first to a stroke. The other 4 looked for him both inside the house and outside in the yard. They moped, they wouldn't eat and they stopped playing, but not cuddling with us. Then we lost the older whippet and the same thing, the remaining three kept looking for him. Ditto the husky. a year and a half ago we were down to 2 - our old greyhound bitch and our slightly younger whippet. So we adopted another greyhound, a beautiful, big, red brindle, 3 year old boy named Fergus who was amazing. The other 2 dogs loved him almost as quickly as we did. The whippet became his running buddy and he cuddled with our old lady on the couch keeping her warm. We had had him 3 months when 2 days before Thanksgiving my little girl took him out to the back yard because he asked to go out. He ran around like a maniac, his usual style, then walked into the back porch and in front of her, toppled over dead. She started screaming for her dad and I. We went running, tried to revive him, but, like your kitten, it was not possible. Our greyhound and whippet watched the whole thing and once again were distraught and grieving. We knew we had to get another dog as quickly as possible and were able to adopt another greyhound named Finn. It took a while for our 2 other dogs to accept him. It was like they didn't want to become close in case he left them like their other pack members had. Now they are a pack again, but the whippet has congestive heart failure and won't be around much longer and our bitch will be 13 in a month. She's doing well, but realistically we can't expect too many more miracles with her health. So, in a few weeks' time we will hopefully be adding another greyhound to the family so that Finn has a playmate and more importantly, a friend and companion to see him through the tough times we know are coming. Nobody can ever tell me that animals don't have souls or don't "understand". They see and feel more than we do in many instances. I am so very sorry for you and for your mama cat and hope that the rest of her brood is happy and healthy.

[azurnoir]

8. Yes they do -back in the early 90's I had 2 mama cats both gave birth within a day of each other

1's kittens looked fine healthy cute kittens, the other mama cats looked odd sort of deformed and all 4 of them died within a few days, when the last one passed mama held on to it for almost 2 days -she would not let me take it-finally when she got up to eat or use the box I took it, when she came back she looked for it meowing rather mournfully. When she did not find it she went to the other mama cat and took one of her kitten-the other mama followed her back to the nesting spot, when she got there she sniffed all around and stepped back-she let out a series trills like I have not heard before or since, turned and walked away-she never bothered the mama about what had been her kitten again, the mama who took her raised the kitten as her own and did very well- it was like one mama cat understood what had happened and gave her kitten up

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Wow!

Cats

[MrMickeysMom]

10. rr… they are bundles of love.. all of them...

They unconditionally love those who love them back, just as you do. So, it totally made sense, what you said.

[joeybee12]

11. Good vibes to you and Mama Cat...

The poor little one probably had what is known as failure to thrive...they just can't do it, and there's nothing to be done...porr little one is in kitty heaven, I'm sure.

[niyad]

12. thank you for taking such good care of your furkids.

[raptor_rider]

13. Thank you everyone

Think I know what's going on. Mama kitty is a calico. She's 10 months old.

I checked on the remaining babies last night, and I'm on another rescue mission. The runt is a chubby little thing, however the other is skin and bones. Mama kitty is not able to produce enough milk to sustain life to more than one baby. So I'm hand feeding the other baby. Got kitten formula and bottles. I believed that the baby that passed on me starved to death, and that I just didn't catch it in time.

So, little Julius is with me. Likes to sleep between my breasts for the warmth, and hearing my heart. I feel very blessed to be able to do this.

[jrandom421]

14. And they'll never forget that

My wife rescued a little boy from a junk yard. He was scared, starved and only 4 weeks old. She bottle fed him and cradled him in her cleavage or "mom shelf" to keep him warm and to have him close by.

Fast forward 10 years, he's grown into a big, hefty tough guy, but when he's cold and scared, he still seeks comfort on the "mom shelf" to this day.

[raptor_rider]

15. I'm very, very sad to inform, Julius didn't make it

He passed at 10:00am. Now I know how to tell the difference if you have a tortie, or a calico. Calico's are not meant to survive, plus give birth to a surviving litter. Calico's are born with an extra X chromosome. If the live, they are never meant to reproduce. It's only ever by chance.

I hand fed the baby for over a day. He was even grasping the bottle. Just within the 3 hrs I slept, his body just couldn't hang on. My husband buried this one, since I'm very weak from the flu, and really, no sleep.

Found something perfect on Facebook this morning, after he passed.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152262232863673&set=a.191752613672.125818.190377228672&type=1&theater

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. I'm sorry about Julius. Sometimes those little kittens just aren't strong enough.

It's especially hard on them if their mother isn't producing enough milk. You did your best.

But, btw, it's not true that all calicos are born with an extra x chromosome; that's true only of male calicos, which are very rare and are usually sterile. Female calicos are perfectly ordinary cats who can reproduce normally with no more difficulty than any other cat. This calico might have had problems just because she was so young.

[raptor_rider]

17. Julius was a male calico

I really tried to save him, however, it wasn't enough. At least he passed, knowing he was very loved.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

19. RIP, Julius.

I thought that the mom was the calico, not the kitten. Anyhow - I'm sorry he didn't make it.

[raptor_rider]

20. Thank you TVO

They are both calico's. My husband buried him right next to his sibling this morning.

I so love this man. He was not attached like I was, however crying with me.

[mgcgulfcoast]

18. animals know when they are loved.

my cat still loves me even when i force a syringe of medicine down his throat, lol

[raptor_rider]

21. I believe, Julius held on

Just to pass with me loving him. I'm very privileged to have been the one holding him, loving him, when his soul decided to leave his poor body. He could have let me discover his lifeless body in the early morning. However decided to get his kisses, and laying in the best spot, (laying between my breasts,) that he loved. Miss him very much.

[davidpdx]

22. I have raised cats for a long time as well

I had three cats growing up, all of which were outdoor. Before we could get one of them fixed she got pregnant. I watched the kittens being born. We gave all of them away, except one which we kept.

The two cats we have now are both rescue cats. The male was actually rescued from a mama cat that was pregnant here in Korea that ended up dying. A gal rescued her and took her to the vet and only one of the kittens survived. He's a bit weird (and very aggressive because he bites) since he never had a mom.

The other cat was in our parking lot and my wife rescued her. She was in bad shape and my wife washed her and took her to the vet. That cat is VERY skittish and will only come close to my wife.