Cats are very good mothers, careful and gentle. They carefully look after the kittens: feed them, lick, bring up. But there are cases when cats refuse the maternal duties, and then responsibility for life of defenseless kids entirely falls on the owner.
Lazy cat
Unfortunately, cases when the cat refuses to feed the posterity just because of laziness are frequent. The house favourites spoiled by owners to impossibility just do not want to charge themselves with responsibility. Having got used to the coddled life, such cats are not ready to performance of difficult maternal duties.
The spoiled cat can be morally not prepared even for first labor. When fights begin, she goes for the owner or the hostess, shouts, complains of pain and requires attention. There's nothing to be done, pets, the millennia living near the person, forget about the natural essence and lose instincts.
Owners should help the cat with everything: to render assistance during childbirth, to help to wash away kittens, to enclose kids to nipples. If owners behave correctly, after a while the maternal instinct joins, and the cat begins to understand what she needs to do with these peeping lumps.
Impractical posterity
The cat is much closer to the nature, than the person. Instincts prompt it behavior model in different situations including in case of the birth of impractical posterity. Mother just refuses to feed those kids who have no chances of life. Cases when all kittens in "party" are impractical, are extremely rare. It happens only when the sick or old cat gives birth. More often one-two kittens get to "refusal". It is impossible to help such kids as to feed artificially sick kittens very hard and senselessly. If the mother rejected own children, it is better to leave them on favor of the nature.
Danger and wrong behavior of people
During childbirth the cat feels psychological shock. Especially often there are such cases when childbirth happens for the first time. After a psychological trauma the woman in labor can be negative to "responsible" for the pain and refuse to feed them. As a rule, such behavior is temporary, and after a while the maternal instinct prevails. Sometimes owners are guilty that the cat behaves not as it is necessary. They do not pay due consideration to the woman in labor, allow to the place where kids, children, strangers or pets lie. In such circumstances the cat can feel danger and refuse to approach own kittens. In this case owners need suit the woman in labor and newborns in other, quieter and safe place.