Is it ok that I gave abandoned newborn kitten to a breastfeeding queen?

[Anonymous]

I have a stray cat that has a 2 week old litter of kittens. My friend found an abandoned 2 day old kitten in her backyard, the mom didn’t come back for it so I told her to bring it over and we gave it to the stray.

She didn’t reject the newborn but she didn’t embrace it either. It was crying making it’s way to her and now it’s breastfeeding. But she’s not making any effort in claiming the kitten. I just thought this would be the best option because if it was left alone it would die for sure.

Was it a bad idea? I’m scared I’ll wake up tomorrow to find the newborn dead bc of neglect :(

[purplepoppy]

You need to get the scent of her own litter on the new one. Try rubbing it with their bedding or just letting the other kittens play with it.

A good trick I use on the farm when a lamb dies is I skin it and drape the fleece over a lamb another mother can't handle. The surrogate mother usually accepts it. It'll probably work with cats should one of her litter die.

[Asker]

I didn’t know that. All I did is make sure I didn’t touch the newborn so it wouldn’t have my scent on me. But the newborn cuddled with the older ones when it was done breastfeeding after the first time. This cat lives in the shed in my back yard, she’s feral so she won’t let me get to close to her or her kittens.

[purplepoppy]

It's worth checking with local cat charities, some will neuter feral cats and give them a medical. It's often possible to rehome them on farms as barn cats as micers

[20yearsolder]

Absolutely, hopefully you kept an eye on it and the mama cat adopted the abandoned kitten

[Asker]

Thank you that makes me feel better. The way it was crying, probably a boy, reminded me of a new born baby, so heartbreaking!!

[20yearsolder]

As long as that mama kitty let's that kitten eat it'll all be good