My cat was just killed by a car. Do I let her 5-week-old kitten's sniff her goodbye?

I guess it’s o.k. even animals have to face death…
I’m sorry about your cat. :(

There’s no need. Cats do not have a cognitive understanding of death.

You will, however, need to make sure that they are adequately able to eat and drink. At five week, unless they are particularily advanced, you will need to mix some kittem milk replacer (DO NOT use cows milk) into soft food to make a mush that they can eat.

How often do I need to feed them?

At least 4–5 times per day. It really depends on how big they are.

I’m really sorry to hear about your cat! I think the best thing to do is to bury your beloved cat as quickly as possible. If your deceased cat has been dead for a while it might be crawling with bacteria that you don’t want your beloved kitten to get.

Also consult a vet about a diet.

Not for you, for the kitten.

syz is a vet. But having yours actually look at the kittens wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Thanks for the promotion, johnpowell, but I’m just a lowly tech with lots of years of experience.

That’s so sad. Poor kitty.

How tragic. I actually tried the sniff thing when I had to put one of a pair of cats raised together to sleep. The other cat was totally disinterested. I would not do it again.

It seems to be different for dogs. Mine have definitely mourned for a lost pack member.

Well, my dog is definetly disturbed, they were pretty good friends. I did let the kittens see her, as she was still warm and limp, but then they tried to suckle and that just broke my heart so I took her away. They took right to some warm wet kitten food so all is well there I guess. Long live the next generation. RIP Fancy…you were one of a kind.

To Fancy!

Bye bye dear Fancy. You must have been a good mama, because you grew your
babies up fast enough to eat big-cats’ food VERY FAST. Syz, is this too soon?

@nocountry- amen, RIP.

I’m so sorry about your cat. RIP Fancy.

KIttens aren’t considered weanable (word?) until 6 weeks old. You might want to get some kitten baby formula (at a pet store) and give it to the kittens for another week or so. Poor Fancy.

So sorry about your cat.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

We just had an adult cat die with two other cats in the house. We let them both see the dead cat. One hissed at it and the other didn’t care at all.

I’m so sorry about your cat! That is so sad! My cat was hit by a car too…. It sucks. Good luck to your kittens :)