Pregnant Kitty

[sunshine]

My cat Sunshine is pregnant. We think she is within 2 weeks to her due date and have set up a "kitty room" where she has free roam in and is safe for kitten delivery. My question is : Is there any way to tell for sure just how close she is to delivering? Lately she has gone from an extremely affectionate, easy going cat to a nervous, highly agitated state. She's barely eaten at all today and seems more agitated than usual.

Is there any behavioral changes I should be looking for as a kind of "get ready flag"?

Any info is greatly appreciated

Thanks

Sunshine's Mom

 

[sandie]

From what you are describing she may be really close. They can do this for several days though. The only sure fire sign really is when she goes into labor.

 

[gayef]

I agree with Sandie, I'll bet those kittens are here pretty soon now. *smile*

She may be feeling some sporadic contractions, and this could be what's making her feel anxious.

Has she been spending any time in her nesting box at all?

Let us know how things go?

Gaye

 

[sunshine]

She's been in and out of the nesting box that we have set up for her. I guess we are gonna have to set up a kitten watch soon.

 

[sunblazn]

Hey Sun~
My cat recently delivered and one sign that she gave me was she could not make up her mind if she wanted to go out or stay in. She would go outside for a little while and then she would get in her "safe" place and then go back outside. It almost seemed similiar to a pregnant woman...very indecisive on what they want. Her belly also dropped.It was a neat experience. Hope this helps!

 

[sunshine]

Well still no kittens as of yet. Here lately up until today she took another 180 on us and became extremely affectionate. Well today she seems rather apprehensive and seems really indecisive about what is going to make her feel better. So it should be any day now.

LOL, and for those who don't know.. never try to rub a pregnant cat's belly. Pre preggers she was usually a huge fan of that and today I almost got scratched and good.

Will keep you posted.

Later

Sunshine

 

[crimson]

Sunshine,

My baby girl (I still consider her a baby - she's only 1 year old) just had 4 kittens last night. Yesterday she threw up a few times, then went into my room and went under the bed, and only came out when I went in there. Unfortunately, I could not get the bathroom ready for her quickly enough and she crawled up into my box-spring mattress and had her babies in there. (And now that means I have to replace the fabric underneath the box-spring because it's very messy.)

She was the runt of her litter... very tiny. She could hardly hold all 4 kitties inside her... she couldn't lay on her belly like she used to and sometimes even slept on her back, which was very cute!

She trusts me very much, since I've been around her since birth, and she let me move her and the kitties to a safer place in my bathroom where I can keep the daddy away and provide food, water, and a litterbox for a few weeks until the kitties are ready to be let into the rest of the house.

This morning, I carefully allowed the daddy, "Pepper" to visit his "children". I held onto his collar so I could pull him away if he tried to hurt the babies. He had been crying all night because he was lonely with "Honey" locked up. He did not show any aggression at all and sniffed the kittens a bit. Honey was not aggressive towards Pepper, either, so I'm hoping that means the 6 of them will be able to live together in harmony until I can find homes for the new babies. I only have a home for one of them so far.

Honey did not mind at all when I held one of her kittens this morning. She was up and about less than 6 hours after giving birth and ready to roam the house, even though I thought I read that she'd stay with her kittens for a few days. I hope this doesn't mean she'll lose interest and not feed them. She did everything else correctly. Gave birth with no troubles, ate all the afterbirth and attempted to clean up her mess. I've left her locked in the bathroom with kitten food, water, and a litter box today.

How long after giving birth can she go into heat again? I don't want her to have any more kittens... I didn't want her to get pregnant the first time, but due to my ignorance and procrastination she went into heat. Neither of my cats are fixed. How soon after giving birth can I have her spayed?

Does anyone have any other advice to give a new "grandma"? I've never been through this before...

I took some pictures that I might post on here later... I found this site last night as I was trying to learn everything I could about this process so I would know what was going on. I'm glad I found this place! I've learned a lot!

Christine
Mommy to Pepper, Honey, and now 4 new un-named kittens.

 

[sandie]

Sounds like she is doing just fine. She needs to stay with her kittens until they are fully weaned at about 6 weeks. That is even a little early for me. So she cant get spayed until the kittens are old enough to be on thier own. They can go into heat right away after giving birth. Have you given any considerationt o neutering the male right now and then spaying the female once the kittens are old enough? She may complain on occassion because the kittens are driving her mad. Just watch them all and make sure they are eating and growing. If you can, you may try and put her in a room larger than the bathroom. They will be spending quite ahwile together.

 

[crimson]

Thanks, Sandie,

I think I will just get Pepper taken care of. He's taken to the occassional spraying which I could most definitely do without...

The bathroom is very temporary... maybe just until their eyes open and they're ready to leave the "nest"? I'm only concerned that Pepper will hurt the kittens... anything I should watch for? Can I make a decent determination of his behavior towards them after a few supervised visits? He's a very sweet kitty... but I can't be too careful.

 

[sandie]

You know, one can never say for sure. Everything can be fine and then all of a sudden they may get a little too rough with the kittens. It is usually best they stay seperated from other cats until they are at least 10 weeks old. By then they should have had thier first set of shots and big enough to run and hide if frightened. It is usually in everyones best interest to keep them in one room until then. They can get into EVERYTHING if left to roam the house. Not to mention that when they are young, giving them too much space will allow them to forget where the litter is and have accidents everywhere. Really this is the best advice I can give you.

 

[sunshine]

I really appreciate all the information I have been given about my sweetie. I was NOT aware that she could not be spayed until after the kittens were old enough to be on their own. Thank you for that tidbit. Now I know. She is my first cat and this is the first time we have been through this. So needless to say we are both a bit nervous. This is an awesome forum! Thanks to the admins for such a wonderful place to come and post our concerns about our babies. Thanks to everyone for making it a comfortable area to come and chat.

Sunshine

 

[sandie]

I am glad you all have come here for advice. There are alot of experienced cat owners here. I think between everyone here there must be one of any situation possible!! I didnt see that I had posted it, but I will now. The reason I say not to spay until the kittens are old enough to be on their own is because once spayed mom can't produce the milk the babies need. Good luck to all with babies!! I am sure you are all doing fine. All new questions you can keep posting in here if something comes up with the babies.

 

[crimson]

Here is a picture of my new kitties.

P.S. The stains are not blood stains. They're sleeping on a shirt that I used to wear when I dyed my hair. Just in case you were wondering.

Sandie, thanks very much for the advice. I'm going to get my tom neutered asap.

 

[sunshine]

Well I checked on her today and to my surprise it looked like she was bleeding.. did some research.. and we are 12-24 hours away from kittens. She has definitely been in and out of the nesting box, moving things around. Wow!! I am so excited!! Will come back and post again once she has them

Sunshine's Mom

 

[crimson]

Sunshine,

Congratulations!

That's so exciting!

My kitties' eyes are starting to open. Their necks are getting a little more stable. One of them likes to run off, pushing herself on her belly across the floor until mama brings her back to the others. I can't wait until they start running around!

 

[harriet]

Some cats are spayed right on the delivery table if they had a caesarian section and the breeder doesn't want to use them again. I was surprized by this also as I thought it would interfere with milk production? Most vets say it's ok to do that.

A sign I look for in my cattery that the queen is going to deliver soon is that the belly ' drops.' It all of a sudden looks smaller and lower as though the cat is reabsorbing the kittens! I think it happens as the babies start to 'engage' in the uterus.

A lot of queens will go off their feed 12 hours before delivering. Some of my big fat girls go on eating till the first labour pain!!

My cats live as household pets so the Tom is always around the kittens. He is an important 'coach' to the new mom as he seems to sit beside her and keep her company. When I first started breeding cats, I was told to always keep the tom away from the kittens. Many years ago, when my first queen delivered, I was not expecting it yet. I came into the house to find the tom cat licking the queen's forehead as she was in labour. After witnessing that scene, I would never break up the family unit. Having said that, PLEASE do be careful if you do not trust your tom.

What is really ironic is that I have two full age breeding Toms in the household. One of them is only capable of producing certain colours so I know whose kittens they are. Both toms clean, play and babysit all the kittens. Persians are very gentle souls.

 

[sunshine]

Well she started having the kittens either sometime late last night or early this morning. We went in to check on her, after the kids telling us that she had started having them, and found out that we had lost the first two.

We are hoping that she has the rest and that they are all okay. Will keep everyone posted. Beginning to wonder if we shouldn't call the vet. It's now 2 hours after the discovery, and still no more kittens. She doesn't act like she's in hard labor or at least it isn't apparent, she just seems really confused and upset.


Jennifer

Sunshine's mom

 

[sunshine]

Sunshine, my mommy kitty to be lost the entire litter. They were all still born.

I have a question for the breeders though: Would it be a good idea to get her fixed ASAP or not? My concerns are this: I do not want her to have to go through this again, but at the same time I do not want her to grieve forever for the kittens she lost and her not be able to have anymore. I am also worried about the possible change in her disposition. She is a very well tempered cat and extremely lovable. I would hate to lose that in her.

I do know that she could go into heat any day now so there are absolutely no plans to let her outside.


Thanks for everything!
Jennifer

 

[crimson]

Jennifer,

I'm so sorry they didn't make it!!!

My

goes out to you and your little Sunshine.

I'm far from a cat expert, so I can't recommend anything... you should be thankful she was able to deliver without problems to herself, so you didn't lose Sunshine, too.

I'm very sorry to hear you lost all your kittens.

Christine

 

[sandie]

That is such a sad thing to happen. Sometimes nature knows what it's doing though. She can get spayed at anytime now. She should be just fine after a week or so. Cats are pretty prepared for everything. I wouldnt worry about her personality. If it changes, it may be because of the spay. It is usually very slight though.