My favorite foster kitten died overnight and I feel so guilty
Maple was about 3 weeks old and she was the runt, only 200 grams.. Her little face was so cute and she had the sweetest little purrs. She would often fall asleep towards the end of feeding, I don’t know if this was a red flag or if she was just content and had a full belly. She didn’t eat as much as the others but we got her to eat an appropriate amount for her body weight. The kittens have been having diarrhea so I have been trying to feed them smaller amounts more often to keep them hydrated. But they were still losing weight. We brought in her foster mom last night. Maple was happy and purring with her mom and siblings last night. But when I checked on them this morning, I found her body under her mom. I feel so terribly guilty that I didn’t give them an extra feeding last night. I guess mom wasn’t producing very much milk (only a little milk from one nipple that the biggest kitten was hogging) so we are back to bottle feeding regularly. I felt so relieved and comfortable to have her mama back with them, I thought she would be safe. I still don’t know if she passed away from dehydration or low blood sugar or if her mama accidentally suffocated her- she was smaller and weaker than the others. I can’t stop feeling horribly guilty that I didn’t do enough and caused her death.