2 Very Pregnant Foster Mamas, Couple of Questions

[Umerwhat]

So starting a new thread for a few questions. The mamas still are pregnant, but one has her abdomen rippling this morning. Is this the kittens moving or contractions?

Next question. The other mama started with a runny eye a couple days ago. Last night I noticed a scratch under her eye. This is not a cat I can give eye drops. Should I be giving her antibiotics or something? Anything else I can do for it?

As always any advice or info is greatly appreciated.

 

[di and bob]

Her eye will need an antibiotic salve, terramycin, on Amazon, from the vet, or on pet med sites. you don't want her to lose her eye. Put some on the end of your finger and try to swipe it across her eye. It will be hard but you have to try. The correct way to do it is to gently pull down on the lower lid until it forms a pouch and squeeze a ribbon of salve in that pouch, but putting it on the outside would help. I got my cats used to messing with their eyes by gently putting a warm wet washcloth across it. They quickly learn after repeated attemps that you won't hurt them. If she just won't let you, ask the vet what to do, if she will need an oral antibiotic. You can hide a pill in a cat pill pocket (mine like the salmon better) or if it is liquid put it in a lickable treat like Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors.
Rippling can definitely mean labor, watch ehr closely. If she si calm, not pacing and meowing in distress, she is fine. please keep us informed!

 

[Umerwhat]

Unfortunately the one with the eye problem is the more feral one. I have amoxicillinon on hand. Would it help for this? Will the antibiotics affect the unborn kittens at all? I'm going to try calling the shelter today, but they don't have much staff on Mondays as they're technically closed.

 

[di and bob]

Get on the internet and research it. If she is close enough to delivery I wouldn't think so, but you need to really get hold of a vet, perhaps another in town that is open, and see. You may have to wait until she delivers.

 

[Umerwhat]

My vet office doesn't really handle ferals, especially ones that bite(she bit someone at the shelter last time). The shelter also won't unless their person specialized in feral cat wrangling is there. She is a feisty one. I wonder if I could sneak a drop of terramycin from above, but I would have to see if the ointment from last year expired.

From looking online, it does sound like vets often prescribe amoxicillin in pregnant cats. Going to wait and see if the shelter gets back to me today or if anyone else has suggestions on here.

 

[di and bob]

Yeah, reading it says that Amocicillin is used for eye infections. Now just find out how to give it to her, the lickable treats or tuna juice, what ever she likes. I like the liquid myself, unless she is food driven and will take a pill in a pill pocket. my cats sure are, they think it is a treat!

 

[StefanZ]

Excellent advices so far!

Re the rippling. Has she dropped as yet? Ie suddenly seems less pregnant? If not, my guess is its the Braxton Hicks contractions. A way of Mother Nature to prepare the muscles for the oncoming hard work.

Re how to put on a paste... A perphaps possible variation is to held her by the neck; roughly as a momma carries kitten - or a tom holds the female... Its a reflex causing they tend to be passive when held by the skin on the neck...

But fluid antibiotica is probably easier yes.

 

[Umerwhat]

Thank you both for the advice so far. I'm hesitating on the antibiotic because Elizabeth's eye looks way better tonight. Weird, but the runniness and red around her eyes looks to have gone away. Maybe she actually just got something stuck in her eye lid and scratched it? Will keep watching her closely. Well as close as she lets me. Unless someone thinks it's worth giving her the amoxicillin as a precaution. What do you guys think? None of the other cats in the house have signs of a URI or anything.

As for other mama, Ella, I kind of thought she looked smaller earlier today, but maybe it's more so that she looks bigger lower down? Like maybe it's the milk coming in as she looks more droopy. I'm guessing Braxton Hicks as it has been 15 hours since I saw the ripples originally.

Perhaps a bit last minute to be asking this, but what signs should be a warning if the mamas need vet assistance during labor? Obviously I'd rather avoid this because of the whole halfway feral thing, but I want to at least know what to look for.

 

[StefanZ]

Typically it would be if the pushing phase is prolonging, without results. 45min -1 hour is the longest; usually its much shorter. If so, they must have vet help.

ps. If the kitten commes halfway out and is stuck: sometimes its possible to help to draw it out; you wait till momma pushes, and you draw carefully simultaneously...

Not nice, but what to do in an emergency?? We had forumists whom managed with this. the ideal is surely to grab a mild hold, but the kitten is probably dead, so its more important to just get it out withouth hurting momma, than to actually save its life.

Another problem may be weak labor, caused perhaps by too little calcium in the blood. Which may happen with strays whom had bad nourishment.
So a try to prevent this is to give momma calcium rich food; whatever you have at home and she accepts. Cant hurt, may help.
goats milk, mild youghurt, cheese, kmr, fine powder crushed egg shells (this contains lotsa of calcium)


ps. As you describe it, Lily has prob dropped now, looks smaller but heavier down.

 

[Umerwhat]

Thank you Stefanz for the labor info. It seems Ella has faked me out, as she looks even bigger now. Both of them look like they're lugging around small cantaloupes. Luckily, Elizabeth's eye healed on its own. Looked great by the next day. The mamas were being fed pretty well outside and they've been getting KMR at least once a day this week, so I'm hoping they're ready at this point.

Also, the lady who takes care of this colony found out that one of the males doesn't look so much like a male now that its belly is dragging on the ground. I'm going to see if I can go trap her tomorrow, but I don't think my odds are great. This also means that there is only one unneutered male in the neighborhood. So we're expecting lots of gray kittens now. Hopefully that'll make telling them apart easier.

 

[Umerwhat]

Whelp, I actually caught mama cat #3, Harriet. She must have been really hungry, as she hopped in the trap before I drove away. Problem is, this mama is almost fully feral. Is there really anything I can do for her other than keeping her well fed, warm, and dewormed/deflead? I doubt I'll be able to do anything with her kittens til they're starting to wander around.

Adding a pic of her, but the photo makes her look way smaller than she is.

 

[Umerwhat]

Still no kittens. Elizabeth looks smaller today, but I don't much faith in that.
Not sure if this is anything to worry about, but Harriet has her tongue sticking out at most times. After talking to the lady who cares for them, this is not new for this cat. This is not the typical cutesy cat sticking its tongue out after preening thing either. Reminds me more of what old dogs often do. Does Harriet just have an underbite? I don't get the impression she's very old, but who knows.

 

[StefanZ]

Whelp, I actually caught mama cat #3, Harriet. She must have been really hungry, as she hopped in the trap before I drove away. Problem is, this mama is almost fully feral. Is there really anything I can do for her other than keeping her well fed, warm, and dewormed/deflead? I doubt I'll be able to do anything with her kittens til they're starting to wander around.

Adding a pic of her, but the photo makes her look way smaller than she is.

If she is that ferale and defensive-agressive as you hint, you will contend yourself with basic service. She will anyway be better off than alone outside, with the risk of loose dogs and mean kids. Do have thick gloves and googles on!
But with any luck, when she lands and calms herself, she may adapt and copy.

One of my very first cases as online advisor was similiar. The caretaker described a similiar situation, I gave similiar advices... But later on she reported momma recognized the caretaker was a docile and friendly person, there wasnt nothing harmful - and let her assist when the delivery time did come...
It was a BIG eye opener for me.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree with StefanZ that she may calm down over time. She has been on her own and is now likely very frightened. She will want to protect her kittens when they arrive also, but she may come to realize that you are no threat. Many feral or semi-feral moms calm even more after spaying. For now, speak softly and move very slowly around her.

 

[HeyKat]

Whelp, I actually caught mama cat #3, Harriet. She must have been really hungry, as she hopped in the trap before I drove away. Problem is, this mama is almost fully feral. Is there really anything I can do for her other than keeping her well fed, warm, and dewormed/deflead? I doubt I'll be able to do anything with her kittens til they're starting to wander around.

Adding a pic of her, but the photo makes her look way smaller than she is.

Kitten Lady has a video that may be helpful on fostering a feral mom with kittens.


As for the tongue sticking out, maybe she's missing some teeth in front? Stray/feral cats can sometimes break or lose teeth eating inedible junk, even if they aren't old.

 

[Umerwhat]

Ella had her kittens this morning. I haven't been able to get a good picture yet, as Elizabeth keeps laying in front when I come in. I'm attaching one from the camera, but it's hard to see. 2 brown/black tabbies, 2 gray tabbies. The lighter gray looks like a runt.

I hope I can weigh them soon, Ella has been extra protective of them and even hissed at me this morning. I'm worried if I touch them she'll try to move them, but should I even be worried about that? Worst she can do is move them behind the toilet, so maybe I'll lay some fleece out in case she tries that.

Will keep trying with Harriet, but she has been running around the crate like a mad lady(she's separate from the other mamas as she wasn't quite part of the colony). HeyKat, thanks for linking the video. Did not know the kitten lady had one for feral mamas.

 

[Margot Lane]

Kitten Lady has a video that may be helpful on fostering a feral mom with kittens.


As for the tongue sticking out, maybe she's missing some teeth in front? Stray/feral cats can sometimes break or lose teeth eating inedible junk, even if they aren't old.

What an encouraging video! Love that she gave the kittens names from The Jabberwocky. I would add step “10A” to the video, that another reason we always want to get kitties spayed is for the sake of other species, some endangered, that ferals might eat. But this is very helpful, esp. how to clean the cage and the kitten spatula.

 

[Umerwhat]

I've been watching the 2 mamas over the camera most of the night. I've noticed some are nursing off the still pregnant mama. I would think she's within a couple days of giving birth. Should I be worried if the kittens are wasting their energy trying to get milk from her? I don't really have a way to know if she's producing. They do seem to latch on for at least 20 minutes though. What would be the signs if they're not getting enough milk? I'm hoping she'll let me weigh them tomorrow or the day after, but if there's a sign that something is up, I'll intervene sooner. The kittens seem to mainly mew when the mamas reposition themselves. It never seems to last more than a couple minutes, most times only a couple mews.

 

[Umerwhat]

Elizabeth must have had her litter overnight. I think there's 9 between the 2 moms, but it's hard to tell. Unfortunately they both decided to stay in the cardboard house instead of using the nesting box I fixed. I helped them tear the one wall down in hope it gives them enough room to maneuver. Not sure there's any easy way to convince them to upgrade their nest.

 

[StefanZ]

I've been watching the 2 mamas over the camera most of the night. I've noticed some are nursing off the still pregnant mama. I would think she's within a couple days of giving birth. Should I be worried if the kittens are wasting their energy trying to get milk from her? I don't really have a way to know if she's producing. They do seem to latch on for at least 20 minutes though. What would be the signs if they're not getting enough milk? I'm hoping she'll let me weigh them tomorrow or the day after, but if there's a sign that something is up, I'll intervene sooner. The kittens seem to mainly mew when the mamas reposition themselves. It never seems to last more than a couple minutes, most times only a couple mews.

The only sure way is to weigh them every day. Very experienced persons are often able to notice by the looks - but that is extra class.
Of course, if mommas dont let you weigh them, try and observe... If you notice someone seems to struggle in wain, or doesnt get visibly bigger while the others gets visibly bigger...
IF so, you will probably be forced to handraise.