Mother cat won't care for her newborn kitten

Question

My cat Ylaya had her first babies two years ago. All of her kitten until now were/are inbreeding.

Her first litter was two cats, one of them was very sick and died. The other one (Yrwana) lived but died half a year later, the reason is not known.

About two weeks ago she had two babies, both premature, both died. Yesterday she got a baby again (Mini-Moi).

The problem is: She won't care for her baby, she hasn't done that with her first child either. I don't know what the problem is. Maybe Mini-Moi is sick and Ylaya knows that.

We have another cat (Mornie), who has just given birth to a beautiful healthy kitten (Namira, possibly inbred). Ylaya took care of Namira, because Mornie has lost a tooth and can't carry her child.

What can I do to keep the newborn cat alive? How do I get Ylaya to care of her kitten. How can I tell if the kitten is dying?

Edit: Mini-Moi died last night, as we expected.

Answer 1

When a mother cat senses that the kitten has little chances of survival, she usually neglects them.

As you said that the kittens are inbred, inbred kittens have higher chances of congenital birth defects, as well as being born underweight and with anaemia.

A classic case is that Ylaya is taking care of Namira, neglecting her own litter. It is because Namira has been born healthy and has higher chances of survival.

To make sure that the neglected kitten survives, you need to take it to the the vet, who can diagnose the diseases and prescribe treatment. You need to use kitten milk replacement formula and hand feed the kitten. Also you need to keep them warm as kitten are not able to regulate teir body temperature up to 3 weeks.

Also to prevent such cases in future you need to stop the inbreeding.