RSPCA caring for mum and kittens following complicated birth

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The kittens had become tied-up in the umbilical cord

The RSPCA is caring for a mum cat and her newborn kittens after they became tangled in the umbilical cord during a complicated labour, resulting in the death of three kittens with another injured.

The RSPCA was contacted after the cats were taken to a vet practice in Derby on Thursday (12 September). The mum cat, a white and brown tabby cat called Dora, is just 11-months old and had given birth the day before to eight kittens when they became tangled in the umbilical cord. Sadly, they were not taken to a vet for 24 hours leaving the kittens in a poor state without intervention for a long time.

Two of the kittens were already dead on arrival at the vets, another had to be put to sleep to end their suffering due to a strangulated limb, and a third kitten lost their foot as the umbilical cord had cut off circulation to their paw.

RSPCA Inspector Pamela Bird said: “These poor cats were in a terrible state. The young mum had tried her best giving birth to her kittens but sadly they had become completely tangled in the umbilical cord and needed immediate intervention; and sadly three ultimately died after they didn’t see a vet right away.

“Thankfully though, the rest of the kittens and their mum are now doing well and recovering in RSPCA care.

“The mum cat Dora is only young herself and this was an unplanned and unexpected litter of kittens. As part of responsible pet ownership, the RSPCA strongly encourages owners to neuter their pets. Neutering can help prevent illnesses, roaming, fights between males, unwanted pregnancies and some unwanted and undesirable behaviour too.”

The RSPCA and other animal welfare charities are seeing an unprecedented increase in cats coming into their care – and the public are urged to help tackle the overpopulation crisis by neutering their cats.

Over the last 10 years, the RSPCA has neutered a whopping 46,000 cats, however, Cats Protection’s Cats and Their Stats Report 2023 and the PDSA PAW Report found that 1.4 million (13%) owned cats are still unneutered.

Many people may not realise that cats can get pregnant so young, when they are really still kittens themselves, But that’s why the RSPCA and other cat and vet organisations support neutering cats from four months old to help tackle the cat crisis.

The kittens are now being cared for by an RSPCA branch and have been named Diego, Athena, Butterscotch, Finley and Ralph. Diego, who lost his left hind paw, has had the all clear from the vets and will need to have his limb amputated once he’s old enough. Despite this, all the kittens are doing well and gaining weight nicely. Dora is already proving a very good mum to her kittens despite her young age.

For more information on neutering visit: https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/general/neutering

To help support the work of the RSPCA, please visit: www.rspca.org.uk/give

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