Pregnant cat tired and panting

[HarkinDelen&Sowenna]

Hi All,

I'm just hoping for a bit of advice (and reassurance!). Long story short I took on my cat Sowenna about 7 weeks ago and since she has been with me we have found out she is pregnant. We are now at the very end of her pregnancy (she will be spayed as soon as possible once the kittens have been born and weaned) and today she has started in the early stages of labour. She has been very restless, passing mucus from her vulva and being very vocal. This started early yesterday morning (we're in the UK and it's currently 1am so technically a new day ) However, in the past couple of hours she has become much more tired and just wants to sleep and is breathing rapidly. This is the first time I've ever had a pregnant cat so just not sure what is normal! Is it normal for cats to get quite tired during the first stage of labour? I just really don't want anything to go wrong for her.

Thank you so much!!

 

[di and bob]

Breathing rapidly and panting is normal in labor, but not after 24 hours and no kittens. She may have too weak of contractions. That could indicate a lack of calcium. i would get her some goats milk, or better yet if she will drink it some KMR (kitten replacement milk) Both at Walmart, and see if that helps. Panting and breathing rapidly both indicate first stages of labor, also licking herself a lot. Has she had contractions that you can see? Rippling down her sides or tightening of her abdomen. i just read on a site this can take up to 36 hours. I would call a vet and see what they say......I will tag some on here that are very experienced in this and see that they get in touch with you. Sarthur2 and StefanZ

 

[HarkinDelen&Sowenna]

Thank you so much for your response! She finally started with contractions at 7.15am (UK time) and had a kitten just after 8. I did ring our out of hours vets last night just for a bit of reassurance but luckily it seems she has managed it ok. There has only been 1 kitten and no sign so far of any others but she seems quite relaxed now. Does anyone know if just having 1 kitten is quite normal? Unfortunately when the vets confirmed her pregnancy they weren't able to say how many she was carrying.

Thanks again

 

[di and bob]

It can take a while between kittens, sometimes a lot, like days. Congratulations! If this is her first litter it can be small but one kitten is unusual. As long as she is relaxed and taking care of the kitten, she is ok. If she gets distressed and paces, meowing, that is not.

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, cats can have just one kitten. They can also rest and delay birthing the others by hours and even days.

 

[HarkinDelen&Sowenna]

Thanks so much everyone I've attached a photo of the little one!

 

[catapault]

Sweet! Thank you for the photo.

 

[StefanZ]

Luck it seems to solve itself. The advices were excellent.
Aside of trying to give calcium rich, nourishing fluids, another tip can be to give some glucose sugar / dextrose. Perhaps in form of white caro sugar. Depending on what you have. A trifle on the gum inside of lips.

of course, labor IS tiresome, as the name says... So the cat becomin tired and needing some rest, isnt peculiar... But the situation is touchy...

 

[di and bob]

How precious! A little tuxedo!

 

[fionasmom]

I had a feral who only ever had two kittens. She was exceptionally hard to trap and TNR, so there was unfortunately more than one litter.