Pregnant Rescue Cat.

[Abbiescatrescue]

Hi! I own a quite new cat rescue and have a pregnant cat in, this is my second pregnant cat but first time experiencing possible labour etc as the previous pregnant cat lost her kittens and developed pyometra.
Ivy came to be 4 weeks ago and was approximately 4-5 weeks pregnant at the time. Confirmed by vet and ultrasound scan. She is now 8-9 weeks pregnant, absolutely huge and the passed couple of days her mammory glands have swollen, no milk coming out but she has definite ‘pouches’ around them. Since Saturday at approx 1.30pm she started heavily breathing and purring quickly. She sits in her bed like that and then 5 mins later she’s eating her food, which has increase since Saturday too. She stopped over night and started again Sunday afternoon, we took her temp its 37.3C but I havent taken it before so I dont know her norm. This evening she’s been rearranging (nesting) her igloo bed and ripping up the puppy pad I’d put in there. She likes having her belly stroked which she didn’t previously. Is this a sign or labour? Should I be worried that its been 34 hours from when that started until now with no progress? I’ll add some pictures of her, it wont let me add videos so if you have Instagram or Facebook and are curious of what I mean I could send them via there c

 

[Beaglelover1980]

I would definately say she is prob getting herself ready to have her babies anytime it depends on whether this is her first litter or not which i know that you have no way of knowing this she might be conditioning herself for it if it is her first litter it may take her a little longer to get herself ready and give birth. If you feel that it has been to long call your vet and just ask when the exact time should be. Bless you for taking her in your a good person for that. Keep me posted on how she is doing and please post pictures of the babies when you get the chance. Her belly will drop dramatically when she is gonna be giving birth and the size of her feeding tunnels lol i would say very soon. If she lets you touch her belly see if you can feel the babies and feel what position that they are in if they are heading down then its within a few hours after they drop

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Thankyou for your reply! No im not sure if she’s had a litter before unfortunately! I’ll maybe give the vet a call in the morning for some advice if nothing has changed, I felt her stomach, there is alot less movement than yesterday and its mostly in her belly rather than her sides/ribs. She cleans around her nipples often but not really her bum area, im not sure she can reach! I make sure its clean and I havent seen anything yet. She seems to stop when I leave her and the purring, breathing fast and nesting restarts when I return x

 

[Beaglelover1980]

Your welcome. If there is alot less movement then that could mean she is definately gonna be getting ready soon they dont move as much when they are about to be born. Maybe she feels more compfortable with you around she may want you to be present when she gives birth if possible. If you see her heavy breathing and rippling her stomach(moving the muscles in her tummy) she is in the process she may also move around alot while she is giving birth that is normal but hopefully she stays in the bed you made for her. Once she is gonna be ready she will also start cleaning her area more. Keep lots of cold water nearby just in case she gets thirsty. When my dog had puppies a long time ago i fed her ice chips while she was giving birth

 

[Sarthur2]

Everything sounds normal. She’ll have them soon!

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Still no babies! She is still eating quite alot, she does the purr thing, rolls over and I stroke her belly and she gets up and gets in her igloo bed and starts nesting, thats as far as we’re getting at the moment! She’s super needy, and brushing her face against mine etc, hopefully she hasnt got long left as I’ve been watching her none stop all weekend

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Some new pictures of Ivy! She’s quieten down alot over the last few days, last week she was none stop playing! She’s still eating quite alot. But still purring quite fast with her eyes closed or third eyelids slightly showing. I havent seen any other signs of labout progressing. Its day three since the purring and nesting started.

 

[Sarthur2]

Hopefully she will have kittens soon. Poor gal must be in misery!

 

[Beaglelover1980]

Some new pictures of Ivy! She’s quieten down alot over the last few days, last week she was none stop playing! She’s still eating quite alot. But still purring quite fast with her eyes closed or third eyelids slightly showing. I havent seen any other signs of labout progressing. Its day three since the purring and nesting started.

If she is not as active as she was that is another good sign she is getting ready for her jelly beans ro come out lol. She loves you and trusts you which is awesome that means she will prob want you there during labor/delivery. Hopefully she will be having them soon her milkers look huge so she is producing milk for the babies and she still looks huge so i hope its not a huge litter you will have your paws i mean hands full lol. Its possible the vet could have been a little off of her delivery time not un common since they didnt kmow her from the beggining. She sure is a beautiful cat. I would let her eat normal till she is ready might even try and get her some can cat food because of the moisture in it she wont have to drink as much water. Please keep us updated i am excited for the mommy just hopefully its not to many i once had a cat when i was growing up she had 15 kittens(sorry not trying to scare you lol) and they all lived. I hope you can find homes for all these fuzz balls because now a days people just open their doors and abandon them and then they end up feral or worse dead it makes me so sad to see all of these kitties everywhere afraid of humans it is so sad

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Yes, all she does is sleep and eat haha, im not surprised though, she’s huge and it mustn’t be comfy! I really hope she doesnt have too many poor girl, i do have back up plans and milk replacement, bottles etc just in case! She is eating pouches and biscuits which i keep topped up for her, I always prefer to feed meat due to getting water into them, I have a male cat who used to get uti’s because he refused to drink, so now he has water mixed in his food too! Wow 15!! I hope not, I imagine feeding them every two hours you’d have to start again by time you’d finished haha! We have had quite a few applications for kittens so hopefully we have a few homes lined up for them! I know its awful thats why I decided to help rescue cats

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Ivy hasn’t toileted in over 24 hours, im a little worried should I get her to the vets?

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Never mind, she’s just had a giant wee

 

[Beaglelover1980]

Thats good that she is resting more she needs her rest for whats coming ahead yeah she is prob so miserable poor thing it is really hard on a kitty to be pregnant. Yeah thats great that you are giving her all that extra protein in her diet she is definately gonna need it for sge may lose alot when she gives birth she should have them by this weekend i would think but her due date could be off due to not knowing her from the beggining. As she gets closer she may not go to her box as often you may need to move the box to her temporarily so she wont have to go far in case she starts going into labor. But she may hold it a little. Yeah i had to bottle feed alot nust to help mommy out she was exhausted she could only feed 6 at a time she was so happy when they got weined lol. Sounds like tour ready for the babies she just has to pop them out lol. Your such a great person for starting up the rescue these fur babies need lots of help god bless you for everything your doing

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Thats good that she is resting more she needs her rest for whats coming ahead yeah she is prob so miserable poor thing it is really hard on a kitty to be pregnant. Yeah thats great that you are giving her all that extra protein in her diet she is definately gonna need it for sge may lose alot when she gives birth she should have them by this weekend i would think but her due date could be off due to not knowing her from the beggining. As she gets closer she may not go to her box as often you may need to move the box to her temporarily so she wont have to go far in case she starts going into labor. But she may hold it a little. Yeah i had to bottle feed alot nust to help mommy out she was exhausted she could only feed 6 at a time she was so happy when they got weined lol. Sounds like tour ready for the babies she just has to pop them out lol. Your such a great person for starting up the rescue these fur babies need lots of help god bless you for everything your doing

She seems so fed up and im not sure how I can help as she wont play so I cant entertain her, I just sit stroking her which she seems ok with but she’s so uncomfortable poor girl. She’s still not showing any signs of labour, she’s very jumpy tonight, its quite windy here and every noise makes her jump or she’s searching to see if theres any cats near and hisses and spits at them (they are separate but can see eachother)
Im not surprised, i bet you were happy when they weaned too!
Thankyou

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Some new Ivy pictures! You’ll have to excuse the state of her pen, she’s been nesting and reorganising by the looks of it

 

[Beaglelover1980]

She seems so fed up and im not sure how I can help as she wont play so I cant entertain her, I just sit stroking her which she seems ok with but she’s so uncomfortable poor girl. She’s still not showing any signs of labour, she’s very jumpy tonight, its quite windy here and every noise makes her jump or she’s searching to see if theres any cats near and hisses and spits at them (they are separate but can see eachother)
Im not surprised, i bet you were happy when they weaned too!
Thankyou

Was she jumpy before or did this just start? Was she always able to see the other cats before? If she is getting moody she could be going into protective mode. Do you have a vet that does house calls? Just asking just in case you may need the vet i am so surprised she hasn't started having them yet she has had so many of the common signs of possibly going into labor. Her nesting area looks great you did a pawsome job making it for her she is lucky to have you to care for her

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Its just started, yes she’s always been able to see the cats, she’s met them all through the cage but never really told them off. She is in a rescue pen so the bit you can see in the photo is the indoor heated area and then she has an outdoor cage attached, i close her in at night and that seemed to calm her down a little. She is also holding off going to the toilet until im around and she wont stop trying to cover that and her left over food up. I have to take the tray away and clean it straight away for her to leave it alone. Im not sure if they do but I may call for some advice today and see if they will. Thankyou!

 

[FunnyFaceFamily]

If the covering up food and excessive litter tray digging is new that's a good sign they will be here soon. My cat started doing this about a day or two before her kittens were born. I had no idea what or why she was doing it at the time. I later learnt it was to prevent predators from finding her nest and vulnerable babies.

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

If the covering up food and excessive litter tray digging is new that's a good sign they will be here soon. My cat started doing this about a day or two before her kittens were born. I had no idea what or why she was doing it at the time. I later learnt it was to prevent predators from finding her nest and vulnerable babies.

It’s fairly new, about 2-3 days! Just worrys me because she’s putting off going to the toilet for over 24 hours! I dont want her getting an infection or anything. She basnt been since yesterday morning, before this she used the tray regularly and I haven’t changed anything

 

[Abbiescatrescue]

Ivy was checked by the vets today, I rang up as I was worried and wanted advice and they decided it would be best to see her. Luckily all is fine, they scanned her and saw plenty of movement and ‘several’ heartbeats! They are expecting her to have them withing the next few days, fingers crossed! Her purring and heavy breathing was put down to her being uncomfortable and a little stressed. They arent worried about her tolileting issues as the vet said she will go when she cant hold it any longer but it shouldnt cause any issues. Its honestly a relief to know the pregnancy is going well and we’ll be expecting soon!