Early Death in Kittens

What Causes Kittens To Die Early? 

Sometimes, there is a syndrome known as neonatal mortality, or fading syndrome, which involved the death of a poor kitten at a very early stage of life. This usually occurs when the kitten is between the ages of two weeks or younger, and can be a very hard moment to go through seeing this happening to them. In most cases, this usually occurs because kittens are prone to various infections and diseases in their early stages. They are prone to certain things located in their nutrition, metabolic, and environment. These are serious issues that sometimes cannot be fixed, but there are ways in trying to catch this issue at hand right away. 

What Is Going On During This Process?

During the first two weeks of their life, they are still at the building stage in their bodies, leaving them a bit on the weak side when it comes to catching certain type of illnesses or disease. Their immune system is very weak while young, and sometimes their system isn't strong enough yet to completely get rid of any type of infection, resulting in death for some kittens.

Another thing to consider while they are still young, is that their body temperature is still adjusting to everything and this can fluctuate profoundly depending on the location of where the kittens are, so its always best to try to keep them in a warm location rather then in a cold area. If your cat gives birth to kittens outdoors, its best to bring them inside where they can be taken care of properly. Your kittens may also catch hypoglycemia, which is seen in a lot of cases. This type of issue is due to glucose control, which is something that may allow the kittens glucose levels to fall below a normal range due to nutritional reasons, which can lead to shock and death if left untreated. Their sugar needs to be at a certain level at all times, otherwise this type of situation happens often. 

What Are The Symptoms For This Issue?

If you recently had kittens and want to make sure they are all well taken care of, you should always take them to the veterinarian to get checked out. Some issues you might notice that should be watched for is if your kitten was born with extremely low weight, and if they are eating, always check and make sure that they are gaining weight.

If they aren't gaining weight at all, and also happening to lose weight, then there is a serious issue at hand. The main issues involve their weight, and if decreased activity occurs along with being lethargic or fatigued, then this is something that needs to be taken care of immediately, otherwise there would be serious consequences resulting in the death of your kitten. Some other issues that may occur maybe be diarrhea along with their body temperature may be on the low side. 

What Your Veterinarian Will Do

Once you take your kitten to the veterinarian, she will conduct a full physical examination to get to the root cause of this problem. There may be blood testing to see if anemia is involved, along with blood cell testing as well. There are several things that the vet would look for to get to the cause of the problem, and usually once the issue is fixed, your kitten will then be alright and you wont have to worry about this happening again.