Thank goodness for foster homes that can bottle feed

Friday was a sad day.  Friday before heading off to work, foster mom checked in on the mama cat and babies and all were doing well.  Friday night I get a call from foster mom and I could tell it wasn't good news.  I thought for sure it was about the one weaker kitten.  But mama cat had passed away while foster mom was at work.  After warming the babies and wrapping up mama cat to drop off at Rollins Laboratory for a necropsy, foster mom headed into Apex to bring us the babies - while working to keep them warm.

Three little babies born only Tuesday need around the clock feeding about every 2-2.5 hours and that's not an easy task for anyone. But thankfully Christi and her husband were up to the task - even though until we got the results of the necropsy from mama, extreme quarantine measures needed to be taken. 

Rollins Lab was able to do the necropsy overnight and we were called with the results early Saturday morning.  The likely cause of death is sepsis, mama had an infection that the c-section to deliver the babies that weren't coming out worsened.  She also had a rather large cyst that contributed.  We are still waiting the histology report but it appears that mama did not have a contagious disease.  We are thankful mama was trapped before she had the babies -- most likely, mama would have met the same fate but with us, the babies are safe.

The good news is the babies are doing well and have very hearty appetites.  And thanks to Christi and Brian for feeding around the clock.