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- Mar 18, 2016
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I am currently fostering a pregnant mama cat that we have named Violet. She was brought to animal control as one of a few friendly cats in a basically feral cat colony in a lady's backyard. The lady had been feeding the cats for years, but apparently had not gotten any of them fixed, so when the husband got fed up with the many MANY cats in his yard, he started trapping them and bringing them to the shelter. Most of the females from the colony were pregnant when they came to us. Only a couple of them (including out Violet) turned out to be friendly and tolerant of human handling. So that's the background on her. We essentially know nothing about when she mated. That being said, when she came into the shelter she had about 2 weeks left before the big event, by our estimate.
I have everything set up for her, and have experience with pregnant cats since I work at an animal shelter, however I have not had one give birth in my house before. I know what to do, what to look for, etc, and know the classic signs of impending labor. BUT. This cat is holding onto her kittens for dear life, and I know she's super close. Any day now. She has milk. She has a slight bloody discharge occasionally. I can see the kittens bouncing around in there. And she is SO pregnant. She waddles. She pretty much sleeps all day. I'm pretty sure if she sneezed, the kittens would shoot out. (lol jk) Everything seems pretty much normal.
Here's my question:
She is obviously very close to giving birth. However she hasn't been going for any of the lovely soft nesting areas I have set up. She attempted to set up shop behind the washing machine about a week ago, but I put a stop to that. She will NOT sleep on anything but a hard floor. She'll sleep on the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor behind the toilet, in the bathtub, etc, but not on anything soft. Do cats always make a "soft" nest? I don't know if maybe it has something to do with the fact that she has lived outside her whole life and has never had nice soft cuddly things. Is it possible that she is "putting off" labor because she can't find a nesting spot that she likes? Should I give her a plain hard box and see if she likes it? I just don't know what to do. I'm tempted to lock her in the bathroom and tell her "you can come out when you're not pregnant anymore."
Would love some general advice and input.
I have everything set up for her, and have experience with pregnant cats since I work at an animal shelter, however I have not had one give birth in my house before. I know what to do, what to look for, etc, and know the classic signs of impending labor. BUT. This cat is holding onto her kittens for dear life, and I know she's super close. Any day now. She has milk. She has a slight bloody discharge occasionally. I can see the kittens bouncing around in there. And she is SO pregnant. She waddles. She pretty much sleeps all day. I'm pretty sure if she sneezed, the kittens would shoot out. (lol jk) Everything seems pretty much normal.
Here's my question:
She is obviously very close to giving birth. However she hasn't been going for any of the lovely soft nesting areas I have set up. She attempted to set up shop behind the washing machine about a week ago, but I put a stop to that. She will NOT sleep on anything but a hard floor. She'll sleep on the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor behind the toilet, in the bathtub, etc, but not on anything soft. Do cats always make a "soft" nest? I don't know if maybe it has something to do with the fact that she has lived outside her whole life and has never had nice soft cuddly things. Is it possible that she is "putting off" labor because she can't find a nesting spot that she likes? Should I give her a plain hard box and see if she likes it? I just don't know what to do. I'm tempted to lock her in the bathroom and tell her "you can come out when you're not pregnant anymore."
Would love some general advice and input.