Hi All

Obviously as breeders we encounter the horrible reality of stillborn kitts and deformed ones.

I know its probably a horrible thing to talk about - but what do you do when you are faced with a dead kitten? And also, what do you do if you have a deformed kitt?

I know this is going to be quite sensitve for some so please accept my apologies - but I spoke to a few breeders and i literally cry when they tell me what needs to be done in these circumstances. And every time I even think about it I cry. Obviously I am going to encounter this at some point as a breeder and I need some advice on how to deal with it.
If I am this bad now when they are not even my kittens that I hear about - how am I going to cope with it when they are my own?

Sorry if anyone is offended with this post. My intention is purely to understand how to cope with this situation and the determine the best course of action

I would be interested to know this too Saffron - it would be interesting to know what advice you had been given in the past too, in case this may be helpful or informative here.

I might give them a viking funeral (but without the longboat) and bury their ashes in my back garden, then plant some pretty flowers in my flower bed over them.

If the kittens were deformed (luckily not had one of these yet) or more than one dead kitten, I would not do the same mating again.

The advice that I was given was along the lines of the best way to end the life of a deformed kitten. I was utterly shocked when i first heard it but I guess its something you face as a breeder.

But nobody has told me what to do with one thats already dead. But even so, advice on what to do with a deformed kitten would also be useful

my georgie is in the garden under our tree.

I bury them in the garden. deformed ones are pts by vet then buried.

I have more dead kittens buried in my garden than I care to remember :-(

PTS?? What does that mean?
Also does the vet charge you for taking them?

Sorry to say this but either bury them yourself, leave at the vet and allow them to dispose of kitt. It's horrible and it doesn't get any easier-but if say it's still born or it passes in the first few days-it's easier to harden and move on than if you've fought for a number of weeks for a kittys survival and it doesn't make it
And you do because you have to for sake of your girl and other cats-and if they can-you must

So if you have a deformed kitten that needs his/her life to be ended do you just take them to the vet?
I have heard that some people sort this out themselves eek:

Sometimes yes-sometimes they die pretty much straight away,PTS means put to sleep btwSorting it out yourself so to speak may mean that if the kitty is fading and you know their is nothing down for him/her, then you make him/her as comfy as poss and pray it's as quick as poss, but with a good mum she usually will let you know when somethings not right with a kitt as she'll ignore it and/or push it to a corner or something-sometimes they do get it wrong but in my experience mums do know best and our girls have taught us that in instances such as this-trust them