Newborn kitten born with intestines on the outside of his body =(?
By day I’m a human nurse & by night I’m a cat rescue lady. Something happened over night that I’d like to share to see if anyone has ever seen this. When I rescue a momma cat and she is far along enough that an abortion will result in live births – I never proceed with the spay. I have the momma checked out by my vet (who is a god send by the way) & help mom to bring her young into the world. At a later date I have mom spayed & don’t adopt her kittens until they spayed/neutered and fully vetted. I’ve seen it all in my experience with rescues and births of kittens. Some are still born, some die shortly after birth – just recently I lost two kittens from two separate litters from what I think after research is surely feline distemper & promptly consulted a kitten expert for treatment as my vet doesn’t do much for kittens until a certain age. Now they are all quarantined and responding to treatment. I’ve had kittens born with cleft palate that die within a few days of birth – premature kittens that can’t survive beyond a day or two because of underdeveloped lungs…
Around 4 this morning my latest abandoned mom gave birth first to a still born, then three lively screamers arrived – We got her out of her hiding place and cleaned the screamers up and got them all nested in a nice little kitty bed and warmed them while the births continued – another lively screamer came & then the shock of all shocks – she gave birth to her final kitten – A live screaming little guy whom she wasn’t to in a hurry about separating him from his cord – I know how to help when mom gets tired so I got my supplies and thought his cord looked weird? Upon closer inspection – just about to tie off the cord and cut it to my disbelievment his intestines were protruding from his abdomen and attached to the cord. I was able to seperate the cord from mom and remove the placenta. I thought this kitten would die momentarily as he bled a bit so I took a warm moist baby wipe and bundled his insides close to him and wrapped him around his mid line and secured it so the intestines weren’t flopping around. This little guy immediately began the lively wailing newborn kittens do and headed straight for the boob? I was shocked – so I decided not to remove him from the litter and just let nature take it’s course. Okay so at 10am this little guy is still moving around & nursing & I’m baffled – called my Vet. He called a specialist at the emergency clinic and people guess what – this kitten has undergone a procedure where the intestines were safely placed back into his abdomen & our problem now is infection – and of course whether or not the intestines will function – my keeping them moist saved them from becoming necrotic. WOW!! It is now 1pm & he is still alive at the 24 hour ER with a kitten specialist. I’m so amazed by what a Vet can do to save a life – I just had to share. I know his chances for survival aren’t that great – but we had to try & I couldn’t leave him just flopping around with his litter till infection set in and killed him. I know .. I’m INSANE when it comes to my love for cats – especially when there are so many unwanted little things out there. Just thought I’d share this experience and see if anyone else ever had this happen and what kind of outcome you experienced. Hugs.
Hi Everyone… Sadly the little guy passed away later Saturday afternoon. Just to much for a tiny kitten & if you don’t think people have hearts… The Vet didn’t charge me a penny for bringing him to the ER (it usually costs an arm and a leg).
ocimom – I guess you didn’t read my entire post. I do have all the cats I rescue spayed. The only time I won’t do it while she is pregnant is if the abortion may result in live births. I’m in the business of saving lives – not taking them. As far as the kitten I allowed the ER vet to work on – if the ER vet thought he should have been euthanized on the spot I would have allowed it as to make him suffer.
Tagged with: abdomen • cat rescue • certain age • cleft palate • hiding place • Intestines • kitten • kittens • kitty bed • litters • little kitty • live births • momma cat • placenta • screamer • screamers • shocks • spay • spayed • underdeveloped lungs
Filed under: Intestines
Denisedds (88)
Oh wow poor little guy,i have rescued many cats myself and mostly pregnant ones so have seen all sorts born,from cleft lip to cleft palate to premature and one even had deformed legs,he lived but because of his legs used to hop instead of walk,vets said nothing could be done for him but assured me he wasn’t in pain,
but never had one with his intestines on the outside of its body thankfully, or i would have panicked,you sounded calm in a crisis! but you saved the little guy well done you!,it goes to show how tough they can be even from birth,they fight for life,
and keep up the good work,bless all cats!
Wow!!! thats really something
i love cats as well though ive never heard of a kitten being born with his intestines out.
i hope the little guy lives!!!!!!1
IMO its kinder to put the little one to sleep and not go thru surgery to fix anything. Spay mom when the kits are 8 weeks old
I’ve seen this–both on a kitten, and on a baby rabbit. I actually saw a kitten once who had this happen to him and somehow got stuck to another kitten before we could rescue the group from under a porch. Tragically, none have ever lived long enough even to have a vet perform a procedure such as that.
This is amazing–prayers to you both. I hope the little guy pulls through.
I am amazed about how special you are for caring so much for that kitten.
I am glad you knew to take it to the vet ER.
I have never seen this before and thanks for sharing i t.
This is a relatively common deformity.
I am so upset as I delivered four kittens yesterday to a mum who was barely 6 months old and sadly the little runt of the litter was born with mutiple intestines hanging out. I made a terrible mistake and cut one of the intestines in error thinking it was an umbilical cord. The kitten then suckled into its mum and I noticed its breathing became problematic, I took him and all the other kittens to avet and they gave him the sleeping jag immediately. I cannot help but blame myself, I feel beyond heart broken, the other 3 seem fine and I know I should concentrate on the 3 healthy kittens but I will never forget this experience, it will haunt me forever.
Hi, my year old birman gave birth to 4 gorgeous kittens this morning, 6am. I found 2 with her, feeding, although one still had placenta attached. I snipped and tied, then place it back with mum. About an hour later, while sitting by the box, I heard a meow from behind me, I then found 2 more kittens under a cupboard. Not sure how long they had been there. The one meowing was placed with mum, placenta still attached, whilst I retreived the other. It was still in its sac with no sign of life. I rubbed it clean and even tried mouth to mouth, but it sadly was dead. I went back to the other one which was feeding and when I looked closer, ready to snip the placenta (mother not interested), I noticed a mass of red intestines wrapped around the cord. It is,making noise and feeding but is weaker than the other 2. It is now 8 hrs and still alive. I’m about to take it to vet in the hope he with put it to sleep, but its heartbreaking. Just wanted to share my story.