I am a vet tech student and we adopted a cat that was pregnant from an otherwise terrible fate. She was in really bad condition (I will spare you the details) but otherwise may not have made it. We all took turns caring for her and my turn was this weekend...the weekend she was due!
Sure enough I came home on my lunch today and she had delivered 2. Both rejected. One cold to the touch and going stiff. After 30 minutes of care he was warmed up and moving again...really didn't nthink he was going to make it but he did. The third one came and was the only to be accepted as she ran off with that one and left the other 2 to my care.
It has been 8 hours and the other three are not here yet. The mother has no milk, we cannot even stimulate it so we "reciped" up a milk replacer and force fed them. One has a cleft palate bilateral meaning the nasal cavity and the mouth are not seperated. No roof of the mouth! In animals it usually means they will not survive as they cannot suck and are a high candidate for all kinds of medical problems. There is nothing we can do which is hard but getting easier to accept as the day goes on. We are force feeding that one until a vet can humanely euthanize or the other option would of been starvation or worse.
If she hasn't delivered the rest soon we are going into emergency surgery to c-section the rest. It has been a hard day and an even harder one on her. Hopefully we will get the rest safe and sound and find homes for them all.
Wish Shimmer (the mother) luck!