Is My Cat Going To Give Birth Soon? She Has Milk!

[VeganCatMom]

So, I rescued a neighborhood stray cat about 3 weeks ago, and I noticed she was pregnant then so I am guessing she's having them soon. Her nipples are larger and longer, she has lost the hair around them, and last night I checked if she had milk and actually got a drop of milk out of her, but from her bottom nipples only.
I've been checking her a lot and have not seen any vaginal discharge whatsoever. So she's either very good at cleaning herself right away, or she's just hasn't got any (yet?). I'm not sure if all cats get discharge.
She has been sleeping more than usual, and she's still eating, but not as much as she was when I first got her. With dry food she only takes small bites, but frequently. She will however still eat a whole can of wet food in one sitting. She's a small cat, and she's not THAT big, so I don't believe she's having more than four.
I don't have a thermometer, and I honestly think it'd stress her out if I did get one and used it. So I won't know what her temperature is.
She was a stray, and she's a rather friendly cat. She'll let me check on her belly and vulva for a few seconds before she gets up, walks a few feet away, and lies down again.

This is my first cat pregnancy, I have been through 3 foster dog pregnancies before. So I'm just a little impatient and nervous. The dogs I had were so easy to tell when they went into stage 1 labor.

So, any guesses of when she'll have them? I've heard that it can be between 24-48 hours after they get their milk in, but does the tiny little drop I got out of her count? I've also heard it can take up to a week in some cats after they get there milk!!!
Also, do all cats get vaginal discharge at the end of their pregnancy?
I hope she has them soon. She will be spayed when the babies are 8 weeks old and have found homes, and she will be an indoor only cat staying with me.
Here is a picture of how big her stomach is, it's not huge, but again, I don't think she's having very many.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Thank you for taking her in!

Do you have any idea when you started feeling the kittens move?

You are correct that mom should be spayed at 8 weeks, but kittens should stay with mom for 10-12 weeks at least.

Do you have kitten supplies assembled? Powdered kmr, a needleless syringe, and a small scale are all very helpful.

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like she is very close. Milk can come in up to a week before labor and delivery. She will have discharge at some point, but you may or may not see it.

Thank you for caring for her and giving her a forever home!

Here are helpful links:

How Do I Know When My Cat Will Give Birth?

Pregnant Cat? What To Prepare For The Birth

Help! My Cat Is Having Kittens!

Please keep us posted!

 

[VeganCatMom]

Thank you for taking her in!

Do you have any idea when you started feeling the kittens move?

You are correct that mom should be spayed at 8 weeks, but kittens should stay with mom for 10-12 weeks at least.

Do you have kitten supplies assembled? Powdered kmr, a needleless syringe, and a small scale are all very helpful.

I actually didn't feel the move until about 3 or 4 days ago, and last night they were moving like crazy. Though a week ago I thought I felt something, but it could have just been my mind play tricks on me. I know for sure I felt them 3 or 4 days ago though.

I will be keeping the kittens longer then, thanks for letting me know.

I have all the kitten supplies you mentioned besides the KMR, I live right next to a 24 hour store that carries it, so if I end up needing it I can just run in there and grab it. I have also set up multiple nesting areas for her to use. She has been nesting for about a week now, she's been checking out nesting boxes I set up, and sleeps in them sometimes. But she really hasn't chosen which one to use yet I think.

 

[VeganCatMom]

Oh, and also. The last two days she's been stretching A LOT! She'll lie down, stretch and sometimes do a slight role over. I think she's getting the kittens lined up but I'm not sure. I know when my foster dogs were close to birth they would stretch a lot and lie on their backs all the time. She doesn't really lie on her back, but she sure is stretching and does a slight role over, but never gets fully on her back.

 

[VeganCatMom]

Here are better picture of her stomach and nipples. My phone camera isn't very good so they are a bit lighter than they should be. Her bottom two nipples are closer to red than pink.

 

[Sarthur2]

Put coconut or olive oil on her nipples to keep them from chapping and getting sore.

 

[VeganCatMom]

Put coconut or olive oil on her nipples to keep them from chapping and getting sore.

Oh that's a good idea!!! and I have some of that, so will do!

 

[VeganCatMom]

Okay so, I think her belly has dropped, it looks lower today. The babies have been moving like crazy too! She will lay down and flick her tail all the time, she honestly looks very annoyed. She's still eating normally, though she doesn't really want to be around people right now. We have her closed in our room for safety reasons (We have two other cats and I'm afraid if she does go into labor they may bother her, or hurt her kittens, they also used to be strays). I was also watching kitten videos last night and she seemed really interested in the kitten noises, and was looking for them. I turned it off because I didn't want to stress her out. I bought some goat milk today to give to her after her birth so she'll have some extra calcium in her to hopefully reduce the possibility of her getting eclampsia.

 

[Sarthur2]

She sounds fine. Just continue to hang in there.

 

[VeganCatMom]

Okay so update. No babies yet, kinda worried since it's been almost a week since her milk came in. She's still acting normal and was eating still last night. I haven't seen her eat today but she probably has, going to be keeping an eye out for that. I haven't felt the babies move so much starting yesterday, they're moving but not as much as they were, and they feel further down now.

 

[Sarthur2]

Those are good signs! The babies have moved down near the birth canal. Once they drop there is less room for movement. She is getting very close now.

No worries. Sit tight!

 

[VeganCatMom]

No babies yet. But yesterday I thought I saw discharge on her vulva so I wiped it with toilet paper and a very very light brownish pink disharge was on it. It wasn't slimy but looking kind of dry, she did have a bit of poo on her anus so maybe some got on her vulva? Wiped it again today and same thing. So I'm not sure. She's eating half a can at a time now where she was eating a whole can plus some crunches at once. Right now she's acting weird, zooming around the house and very alert. She seems fine though, just running like crazy.

 

[VeganCatMom]

Okay, just checked her and she definately has discharge, it's wet and looked brown. But it's not a lot, just a little bit.

 

[di and bob]

She is so fortunate to have found someone like you, bless you for taking her in. Everything sounds perfectly normal, she looks like two to three kittens to me, when a stray I had been feeding (spayed now) had 6 and then 7 kittens 3 months later, she looked like a basketball on toothpicks! She honestly couldn't lay down without rolling.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree. This is all normal. My guess is kittens will be here in the next 48 hours.

 

[VeganCatMom]

I'm happy everything is normal so far, thank you all, especially to Sarthur2 for commenting and helping me. She still doesn't have kittens yet, BUT she has slowed down eating. She's not interested in wet food at all, but she's still eating dry food, but only a bite or two at a time. I check her vulva today and it actually looks more open than yesterday and more moist than usual, so I'm guessing she's dilating. She's been exploring boxes, drawers, and the closet for the past two days, but I honestly think she's planning on having them in my bed, since that is where she's spending most of her time at. She's been using her litter box more frequently too for the past two days. Her stomach is harder and pretty warm too. She still has very light discharge, and I've seen no sign of her mucus plug, though she could have lost it while going to the bathroom in the litter box. Hoping to see babies in the next 48 hours, or at least her being in stage 1.

 

[Sarthur2]

She has every single classic textbook symptom of being a day or two from labor and delivery. You will have kittens very soon!

 

[VeganCatMom]

Nothing yet, but today I was hearing weird sounds in her stomach, kinda like bubbles? I'm not even putting my ear to her stomach, I can here it a good 6 inchs away. When I put my hand on her stomach I definitely felt little things I can only describe as bubbles, maybe gas bubbles? I also did feel and see a kitten moving today, it was really low too but not so much back, closer to chest. So maybe it's one of the last kittens in line to be delivered, I'm not sure. She's still eating, and she's drinking a lot of water. She has a really foul smelling poo, and it's on the wet side, but not total diarrhea. This morning she was really alert and going into boxes, but for the last several hours she's been sleeping on the bed. She's not acting sick or in pain, and when I go in there she'll purr and get up for a little bit and get a bite of kibble.

Is it normal for cats to have milk over a week before delivery? 10 days or so ago it was more like a watery milk and only a little bit came out, but now today it's definitely milky white and a good amount comes out, I don't like to check to much because I know first milk is the best for kittens. I'm also pretty sure that this is her first litter. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since I've first felt the kittens moving.

Has anyone ever heard of a cat getting milk in over a week before delivery? Especially on their first litter? (I'm not 100 percent sure, but I really think that this is her first).

 

[Sarthur2]

This is all normal. She's really close. Hang in there!