# Kitten Mortality Rate



## Gratch (Aug 22, 2010)

I know this isn't a particularly pleasing subject but it is something that sticks on my mind when reading through threads on new kittens quite often. There seems to be a rather high rate of kitten mortality, either through stillbirth or deaths within the first 4 weeks of life, particularly the first two weeks. I've always understood that cats are pretty much expected to have little difficulty provided they're fed, watered and sheltered but that doesn't seem to be the case. I quite often read through threads where a kitten was born dead and another was found dead 24 hours later or something. I don't want to upset anyone by bringing up such sad events but I was just curious as to why there would seem to be such a high rate of death in kittens, even on a forum with prepared breeders dedicated to giving the kittens the best start (even before conception).


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## Cerridwen (Jul 26, 2008)

In animals that give birth to several babies at once you expect a few to die. Having multiple babies is an evolutonary strategy to compensate for the natural mortality. I think we often believe that purebred cats have more problems wth kittens being stillborn or dying but then we forget that moggies often give birth on their own so no one knows how many were born, only how many you've found. 

Of course a breed can have a higher mortality rate than expected due to inbreeding problems, endemic infections etc. but keeping good records and educating yourself can help you both prevent that kind of problems as well as dealing with them if they occur.

And last... you usually discuss problems in a forum such as this. That'll make it look lite the members have a lot of problems and few things going well for them.


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## Alaskacat (Aug 2, 2010)

I think the answer is given really clearly above. I sometimes wonder if it is because if a foetus is unviable it may still be carried to term in cats whereas a human is likely to suffer an early miscarriage in this case. Sadly approximatly 1 in 4 human pregnancies ends in miscarriage and I know cats can reabsorb an entire pregnancy or miscarry, but I wondered whether what feels like high losses in cats is due to the queen carrying the whole pregnancy because some kittens are fine so the unviable foetus are also born.

Nature is imperfect, not every seed planted will flourish and it is tragic when any young life is lost. I expect pedigree and moggy rates are similar. In farm cats you do see a pregnant queen end up without a kitten at all sometimes, whether that is due to predators though is unclear. I know all those involved in the birth of a litter try their best but for each life, it is so sad that some don't make it, but makes those that do more precious perhaps.

Katy


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> And last... you usually discuss problems in a forum such as this. That'll make it look lite the members have a lot of problems and few things going well for them.


That's the first thing to take into consideration. People come on forums with problems far more than they do with tales of a lovely big litter doing well. It gives a disproportionate view.
You also have to take into account a much bigger picture and look at animals in general to see what is 'normal'. In general, the more offspring an animal is capable of producing the more there will be losses. A cow or a horse can produce one a year and they tend to survive. A dog 'could' breed twice a year and produce multiple offspring each time so the odd loss wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Cats - well we all know how cats can multiply. They mature quickly and can produce multiple offspring three times a year which will also be capable of breeding within months. Looking at it in terms of survival of the species it's amazing any of us ever have successful litters without losses - but we do most of the time


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## sharonchilds (Jul 7, 2011)

havoc said:


> That's the first thing to take into consideration. People come on forums with problems far more than they do with tales of a lovely big litter doing well. It gives a disproportionate view.
> You also have to take into account a much bigger picture and look at animals in general to see what is 'normal'. In general, the more offspring an animal is capable of producing the more there will be losses. A cow or a horse can produce one a year and they tend to survive. A dog 'could' breed twice a year and produce multiple offspring each time so the odd loss wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Cats - well we all know how cats can multiply. They mature quickly and can produce multiple offspring three times a year which will also be capable of breeding within months. Looking at it in terms of survival of the species it's amazing any of us ever have successful litters without losses - but we do most of the time


Just thought i would say that many many years ago while i was living at home, our female cat had 7 beautiful kittens, all boys and all black and white. She waited until (this is what i believe) mum and myself came home from work (we did nights) jumped on my lap and her waters broke. We stayed with her and watched the birth, it was truly amazing and she was just the best mum. She was taken to the vets and "done" once the kittens were old enough.


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