Expert: Marcia Owen - 2/8/2009

Question
My DSH cat just gave birth to a litter of kittens. Two are "regular" kittens, one is completely tailless, and two others failed to mature and were born as lumps of tissue.  According to my research, the no-tail guy would be called a "rumpy" - no stub at all.  They are two days old now, and when he crawls around his back feet are "knuckling" instead of extending like the others.  What should I do or expect?

Answer
Hi Vicki

Not quite sure what you mean by 'knuckling' but some kittens are born with their feet turned at an angle and massage helps with these and they grow up with no evidence of problems.  It might be a good idea to use massage with this kitten, just gently straightening the feet into the position they should be in.  Do this quite frequently and hopefully his feet will come right.

Marcia.