Litter questions....need help! Sad post

[Dianeapril]

I have three queens and one male. I breed ragdolls. I breed them because we have young children and they have never scratched any of them and love them like crazy....my 1 queen had a litter with beautiful healthy kittens...then her next litter they all were born and looked ok but one by one they died. They weren't suckling...my other two have each had a litter and the exact same issue...one by one the kittens died over a few days. They weren't latching on. Mama's stayed with them but they died...does anyone have any ideas as to what is going on?? Please help

[fjm]

I am more familiar with the problems with dogs, where fading neonate can be strongly associated with canine herpes. As far as I am aware the issues with kittens are different, but if you have had several litters of fading kittens, things I would consider are:
Health and genetic compatibility of both parents
Maternal health during pregnancy, especially nutrition
Haemolytic anaemia
Ambient temperature - kittens cannot maintain their own body temperature, and if their mother leaves them for long they can very easily get chilled.

Breeding can be a complex and heart breaking business - it may be a good idea to talk with the breeders of your queens and get their advice. This looks like a helpful summary of Fading Kitten Syndrome: https://icatcare.org/advice/kitten-deat ... g-kittens/

[Ruth B]

Having had a Ragdoll, I can agree that they are wonderful cats. unfortunately I know nothing of breeding so can only make very basic suggestions.

Was your male cat the Father of the 3 litters that died or did they go to the same Stud?

Are all 4 cats kept together in your house, is a Queen with kittens separated?

Have all 4 been checked by vets for any possible medical cause and did they do a post mortem on any of the kittens to try and identify the cause of death?

Have you contacted the breeders your cats came from to see if anyone else has reported problems?

Are you registered with a Ragdoll breeders Association, other breeders might be able to shed more light on the matter than we can here as very few of us have any experience with breeding.

Finally I will say how sorry I am that you have had to go through this. I understand that any good breeder does love all their cats and kittens, even if they are destined to be sold, so having so many slowly die must have been heartbreaking for you.

[Mollycat]

I don't know any more than I can find by googling but just to offer sympathies for this awful sad situation.

My Raggie boy was a retired stud and the breeder who retired him to me told me about her heartbreak every time she lost a kitten. She said she almost gave up when she lost so many especially in the early days. She said with experience it gets better, maybe that's a hopeful comment, I don't know quite what she meant.

I guess girls who choose their kittens' sires are looking for different qualities than we humans are in controlled breeding so with the best care in the world maybe it's not possible to avoid some losses ... each one hurts, I know.