Stillborn kitten

[sunny091]

I took in a new foster cat last week and (surprise!) she is feral and pregnant. She received her distemper vaccination last week since we didn’t know she was pregnant. Last night she gave birth to one kitten without hair. There is a few drops of blood on the floor, but otherwise she is acting “normally”- meaning, she’s eating well, using the litter box and sitting on her cat tree.
What is the possibility that she has more kittens? I’ve been reading about potential complications and I’ve been watching her closely on camera. I can’t touch her since she tries to attack me. I have a spay appointment set up tomorrow for her, and then eventually we will place her in a barn cat program. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[StefanZ]

I took in a new foster cat last week and (surprise!) she is feral and pregnant. She received her distemper vaccination last week since we didn’t know she was pregnant. Last night she gave birth to one kitten without hair. There is a few drops of blood on the floor, but otherwise she is acting “normally”- meaning, she’s eating well, using the litter box and sitting on her cat tree.
What is the possibility that she has more kittens? I’ve been reading about potential complications and I’ve been watching her closely on camera. I can’t touch her since she tries to attack me. I have a spay appointment set up tomorrow for her, and then eventually we will place her in a barn cat program. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

If the kitten looks premature, she can have more kittens, and with a little luck, they may be delivered alive and healthy in their due time...

 

[happykitty]

I personally would hold off on that spay and wait a couple weeks to see what happens, so long as she seems healthy. It is very possible there are living kittens in there, but since you can't place your hand on her abdomen then you wouldn't be able to feel for movement. In the next 2 weeks you should know for sure if that is the case. However, going ahead with the spay tomorrow has valid points as well, but personally I don't spay them after the 6 week mark.

 

[Silentstar03]

Yes please hold off on that spat. When I worked as a vet tech I can't tell you how many times we had people bring in ferral cats to be spayed that ended up being pregnant. The kittens were almost always too premature and we would lose them. If a kitten dies in utero, the mother is very much able to give birth to it before giving birth to the rest of the litter. If you have her spayed and there are more kittens at the same stage of development than those kittens have 0% survival chance.