Hi Tillysmum,

I have just been reading this thread & I am so sorry for your loss. It is natural that you feel like you blame yourself as I would be the same. I can see why you took Laurens post the wrong way as you will be feeling I suppose the word is paranoid, that others will be blaming you. I took Laurens post in the way that she came on to explain, ie information for others who may have a litter due soon & how important it is to have these things to hand.

I hope you are feeling better today R.I.P Little man sweet dreams xx

__________________


www.abooksigunbengals.com

Oh Tillysmum, I am so sorry. I have been reading all your threads and it breaks my heart you lost one. You did all you could hun and nobody on here is being critical about your handling of the situation at all.

How are the other lovelies doing? Cant wait to see pics, will understand if you don't want to put pics on at the mo.

Take care, thinking of you.

__________________

Serena x



Slave to my furbabies..Boo,Eddie,Hegry and newest addition Twinkle.

re post #13 - tillysmum

i am so very sorry - poor tot. :---(

but it could have been any number of things - in the womb, their O2 + nutrients are provided for them, so is waste-disposal, detox, etc, via mums bloodstream.

he may have dehydrated, but starvation takes longer than fluid loss - heart valve or lung malformations, maybe inhalation pneumonia from inhaling birth-fluid, a kidney shunt, liver-shunt, gut-abnormality, a rampaging infection via the stump of his cord, he got CHILLED early + mum did not notice?...
there is no way to be sure what took the tyke, without a necropsy.
who knows, poor babe.

do not beat Urself up, the other infants + Mum need U!
that little angel left others who are healthy + thriving.
all my best,
--- terry

terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, IPDTA, TDF

re post #30 - saikou

>>
The % of kittens that die in the first week of life is worryingly high in a survey they took of pedigree cats the average was 25% mortality rate, which is quite shocking really. <<

yes, that is true - in dogs it is an average of 30%, so a puppy born or kitten born alive, is no warranty that they will ever open their eyes, sadly.

and this may not be ANYthing that anyone *does* --
i have heard vets theorize that some fading pups or kits have a low-grade infection that their immature immune systems are incapable of fighting, but whatever the causes (i think there are more than a single root), this is often Not! Any bad reflection on the care or the competence of the midwife!
:---( we can do as much as we can - and hope and pray!

i hope Ur heart can find some happiness in the other kits,
--- terry

We've already been told what the problem was. The kitten was born with a defect whereby its tongue was attached to the roof of its mouth, so there was no possibility it could have fed or taken on fluid.

This was discovered after death, but even if it had been discovered earlier, it's very doubtful anything could have been done, and even less likely it would have had a successful result even if surgery was attempted.

__________________


The GCCF Supreme Cat Show - UK's Number 1 Event

"Love a lot, trust just a few and always paddle your own canoe"
"Who is the greater fool - the fool themself or those that follow them"

I may be wrong but I have never heard of a defect where the tongue is attached to the roof of the mouth.
You get tongue ties where it is attached to the bottom of the mouth, but not to the top.

In cleft palate the tongue can also adopt a strange position due to the palate defect, but is not really stuck to the roof of the mouth.
As Saikou says drying of the mouth due to dehydration can cause the tongue to stick to the roof.

If anyone has any more info or literature, I would like to see it.

__________________
Lauren

This is why i think it was more likely a cleft. The strange cry is also a classical sign of a cleft kitten too. Its very sad, but you did everything you could.

__________________
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” Martin Luther King Jr

“Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS.” Gandhi

The mama knew something was wrong with him, and that is why she pushed him out. It's nature's way of ensuring "survival of the fittest". Because of you the little baby knew love before he went, and he is at the Bridge waiting to thank you. I doubt the little one suffered much, if at all, his little brain most likely shut down fairly quickly.

I know it hurts, all the same

xo

I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Poor little mite. You did all you could.

__________________
- Spiffy
Owned by: Sully (tabby male cat) and Megan (tortoiseshell female kitten)