LABOR STOPPED! and I can feel more kittens inside her!

[bonnieanne]

Please bear with me as this is happening now . . .  I took in a cat abandoned when neighbors moved about a month ago.  The sweetest litttle (maybe 8 mosnths old) girl you could meet & also pregnant.  I found her with 2 kittens already born in a tall narrow mesh laundry bag last night @ 11:00.  I had to "rescue her from the bag twice last week as she couldn't  get out (kept falling back in as sides collapse awkwardly).  I couldn't feel any movement of other kittens inside her and she had never got tha big around, so I thought she was done and moved her and kittens into one of the box nests I had made for her so she wouldn't accidently fall on & possibly kill them.  Then I went to bed.

  This morning when I got up she kept following me and whining and would not stay with her kittens.  So I moved the box to a  place she's show a lot of interest in lately.  She still wouldnt stay and was behaving so oddly.  I checked her sides again and felt movement--and I realized then that there are more kittens.  So, over the last 5 hours she has had a few contractions with panting and licking herself a bit.   In the end I moved the box and kittens to the corner beside my bed and Im sitting on the floor by it.  If I get up at all she follows me ...   Aslo, she never stopped eating yesterday and has been drinking a lot today and snacking some.  I'm worried that moving her delayed the labor, that her youth makes it less likely she'll recover from the interuption,  that something's gone wrong  and I have no money for a vet visit ---And I'm not exagerating about that at all...  I'm living hand to mouth at the moment and barely scraping by..  I adore this cat ..but a vet bill today means I'm homeless next month.  I don't know what to do!! 

 

[Willowy]

Can you call a cat rescue, see if any know someone who's knowledgable about birthing, or maybe they have a vet bill assistance fund? Or see if the vet will take payments or let you work off the bill? If she's laboring actively with no results she really needs a vet. . .

 

[bonnieanne]

I will see what I can find in the area that might provide wmergency care.  I know there are very low cost spay/shots providers because I looked that up when she first showed up and was planning to have it done on the 12th...but then I realized she was already pregnant.  Both of the place I found which do the very inexpensive spay point out that they are not emergency vet care. 

  I guess I'm hoping that its just her being young, nervous and upset about being moved out of the bag.  The contractions that she has had seem sporatic.  If I sit with her she will have one every so often...but if I go to the bathroom or something she will follow me and they stop.  I'm perfectly willing to stay with her all day, I just was wondering if anyone else had a cat do this and then settle bagf done and have the rest of the kittens without complications....? 

 

[bonnieanne]

....every rescue organization I've called only has answering machines...so far no one has called back. 

 

[StefanZ]

Cats can have a pause, both hours and even days. If she is contend, happy etc, it is no panic.

But she doesnt has a clear cut stop, she does some labor, even if it is not intensive.  So lets hope it is not crash emergency, but it is no peaceful pause...

Can you at least find some good vet answering phone questions? The vet will know which follow up questions to give, can decide if it is such a wait and see (while making sure she has it comfortable and feel safe), OR if you must do your outmost to find a good vet asap...

Good luck!

ps. Have you seen this thread with links?  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/155462/cant-afford-a-vet-please-read

 

[eb24]

I'm just seeing this now- what has happened since you last posted?

 

[bonnieanne]

Good Morning....and Thank You to those who posted,

  Update:  Willow gradually stopped freaking out.   I sat beside her box all day yesterday while calling around and web-searching for answers.  I never found anyone with no cost/ low cost emergency care.  I had managed to borrow almost 2/3  of the c-section cost....but by the time I managed that, Willow was calm --eating and drinking and being a good momma to the 2 already born. Based on her much calmer behavior (once she realized I was going to stay with her constantly), what I was reading about interrupted labor online, the fact that I could distincty feel 2 very wiggly (very alive) kittens in her, and that a friend told me it had taken their cat 3 days to have 6 kittens- I decided to wait overnight before surrendering her and the 2 kittens already born to the local shelter, which seemed to be the only option.  They would have then either helped her or euthanized her, but wouldn't say which (depended on how extensive her problems were found to be) .   And while I know some might say I should have taken her anyway on the chance she may have been helped, she could have just as easily been put down  as well...and what would have happened to her babies?  I had helped my mother once save a 3 day old kitten found in a ditch so I have a little experience and  was willing to wake up 5 times a night to feed them and help them wee and poo, but i don't think a shelter would have done that.  

At any rate she woke me at 1:45 this morning to let me know things were starting up again and she now has 2 more little babies and all seem to be doing fine. 

So again, thank you for the concern and taking the time to help a stranger....

 

[StefanZ]

Wonderful!  Beaming!  Tx for the update!

So it was after all mostly anxiousness she felt, making her stressed up.

You did apparently quite correctly, working on several  traces simultaneously.  And one of them fell out luckily in the end.  

Good luck!

 

[bonnieanne]

Thanks,  and thank you for the link above about vet care....I bookmarked in case something comes up in the future.

 

[di and bob]

I'm so happy for your happy ending! I hope you can get us some pictures of you beautiful babies. I hope that you can keep her, and bless you for taking her in! I know that you don't have much money, but try to save enough to have her spayed, it curbs so many bad traits like peeing around the house, non-stop crying, more kittens, etc. She CAN"T get outside now, she can get pregnant almost right away.Once again, thank you for caring enough to take her in, I pray every thing turns out good, and congratulations!

 

[sarahjane669]

wow im going through this right this minute...and i have to say i think my young cat is trying to purposely kill 2 of her babys the last two.she has more inside i can feel them move.now she had the first three back to back literally on my lap.now she keeps trying to be held by me,and if i put her babes next to her she sits on them.i think shes stressed out and stopped labor on purpose.shes about 9 months old and she was a stray when i took her in.shes very spoiled as its only her and i always im worried.i cant afford the vet either.

 

[maewkaew]

I  doubt she is trying to kill them,  from what you describe it doesn't sound like it,   but she's in labor, she's confused and she may not totally realize WHAT she's doing.   

I would recommend you get a box just for the babies already born,  put a towel or blanket in it,  and some sort of warmth -- like a heating pad turned on low, wrapped in a towel and then inside a pillowcase,  or a bottle filled with hot water,  and wrap it up the same way  ( you don't want something TOO hot to touch them) and put it in the box on one side wrap the babies up and put them in there while the queen has the rest of them.

If she becomes calmer  try to get her to lie down,  pet her,  and  hold the kittens to her to nurse.   You may even need 2 people.    I know of a young cat who was agitated, confused, and actually had to be held,  petted, calmed and literally ( gently) held down to nurse at first,  but then later that evening,  the maternal hormones kicked in ( nursing helps that happen) and she ended up being a great mom.       and she might not settle down really until she has had them all.

If it goes many hours and she won't feed them you will need to bottle feed.  But they really  should nurse from her some within the first 24 hours,  to get the colostrum with the maternal antibodies so they can at least share a little immunity to some diseases.

 

[tanyah]

I've had this happen to my cat twice.....Thank God I ran into a lady at the vets office that bred Siamese  cats and it also happened to her.She told me to 

to go to the store and get raspberries  and tuna....and mix a little of the berries into the tuna and let her eat. It's something in the berries that acts like        pectocin for humans to start labor......gave her some, about an hour later her labor started again and she had her other 3 babies! 

 

[StefanZ]

 
I've had this happen to my cat twice.....Thank God I ran into a lady at the vets office that bred Siamese  cats and it also happened to her.She told me to 

to go to the store and get raspberries  and tuna....and mix a little of the berries into the tuna and let her eat. It's something in the berries that acts like        pectocin for humans to start labor......gave her some, about an hour later her labor started again and she had her other 3 babies! 

Tx for the tip!  I shall look it up.

Welcome to our Forums!

 

[artiemom]

Raspberries are a know labor inducer.....

Humane Midwives even suggest Raspberry Tea to induce labor in Pregnant Women....

Good luck...

I would say, any questions or concerns, please contact and visit a Vet....