I Rescued A Pregnant Torti

Good morning. The people (I am using that term loosely) next door decided they no longer wanted a cat, so they put her outside. We have a large population of strays in the area. We don’t have animal control or anything equivalent. I do the best I can to get them vetted and spayed/neutered. It seems to be a never ending battle. Back to Callie... I brought her inside as soon as I could. I have big dogs, so they needed time to get acquainted. By the time she was coming in and out comfortably, she was very obviously pregnant. I didn’t have a litter box, so I bought one and got it set up for her. At 4:00 this morning she was in active labor. So far we have three sweet babies. Momma and babies are doing well. I don’t have a lot of experience with cat labor, but I know enough to keep an eye on her. She refused to get off my lap while she was in labor. I was able to get a plastic storage tub on its side underneath her right before she had the first kitten. Is this behavior normal? I was under the impression that she would want to hide.

Giving birth can be scary for cats, especially a first litter. I've heard people question if they really realize what is happening at the time. If a cat has a human she trusts it is fairly normal for her to want that human with her.

If you have a little kitchen scale you should weigh the kittens daily. That will give you a good indicator that they are growing and healthy. If anyone's weight starts to slip you may need to help Mom out some.

Yes, you are her savior and she trusts you. As long as she is actively caring for her kittens and is not stressed and crying everything is all right. First litters are usually small, 4 at the most. She can get pregnant again almost immediately, I had one get pregnant when her kittens were one week old! So definitely keep her in till you can have her spayed when the kittens are old enough. But the main thing is, watch her for how she is acting, calm and nursing, good, pacing, crying bad, needs a vet. Very good idea to weigh the kittens, we just had one lose a whole litter on this site because of nursing problems or no milk.
PS my 'neighbors cat' is sitting on my lap right now, spayed and happily inside!

I think it sounds like everything is going well! I agree with Kieka, that you should weigh the kittens daily, just to be sure that they’re all getting enough milk from mom. This article is very helpful: Weighing Newborn Kittens (and How This Could Save Their Lives)

Kieka said:

Giving birth can be scary for cats, especially a first litter. I've heard people question if they really realize what is happening at the time. If a cat has a human she trusts it is fairly normal for her to want that human with her.

If you have a little kitchen scale you should weigh the kittens daily. That will give you a good indicator that they are growing and healthy. If anyone's weight starts to slip you may need to help Mom out some.

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Thank you. She is currently sleeping and all 3 kittens have been nursing. I don’t have a scale, but I will get one ASAP.

Thank you all so much, I will get a scale ASAP! I am happy to report that she is doing great. She is currently sleeping and the kittens have nursed, and are warm and comfortable. I am looking forward to watching them grow and thrive.

Welcome to TCS and thank you for the great update!

*Update*
Callie had 4 beautiful babies. She is doing well with them as far as I can tell. I bought a digital scale and recorded the weight of all 4 kittens. They all look exactly a like, so I hope the pictures I took of them will help me know who is who. I will post some pictures of momma and babies in the next few days. Thank you again for all the support and kind words.

Congratulations, Team Callie!!

You can use food dye and dip dye the tips of tails or a toe or put a tiny dot on the inside of an ear. It won't last very long but as they grow they will start being easier to tell apart.

So adorable!!! And Callie looks so relaxed, all stretched out, knowing her little family is comfy and safe.