Pregnant Cat

[Dawn Eason]

I finally got this stray cat into my house and she is pregnant. How can I tell how far along she is? How do I know when she is about to give birth?

Thanks,

DAwn

[Cynthia]

Dawn,

You need to take the kitty to the vet to check on her pregnancy. If her mammary glands are swelling and you can see the kittens moving around in her abdomen, she is likely within a week of giving birth. I have fostered many pregnant cats and there is no real way to tell when they are in labor - some will get very active and jump around a lot, others will go hide, etc. Often the first warning that they are in labor is when the first kitten pops out!

Here is an excellent article on labor and birth that will help you: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1366&arti...

The best thing you can do for mama right now is to make sure she is confined to one room, and to put a box in a safe corner (away from traffic and noise) with some comfy old blankets or towels in it (make sure they're ones you don't care about). Keep the temperature in the room above 75 degrees. Kittens can and do die if they get chilled. Be careful if you elect to use a heating pad or a warming lamp as it is very easy for the kittens to die from too much heat. Kittens cannot regulate their temperature like older cats can.

Keep kids and other pets out of the birthing room. Mama is in a new environment and will be very protective of her babies. She may act out against other animals or people, and if threatened, might try to kill her babies for survival. So it is very important to give her space.

I recommend the book "Kittens for Dummies" by Dusty Rainbolt. It is the most comprehensive book on the subject. Good luck and thank you for taking in this mama and her soon-to-be-family!

[Dawn Eason]

Thanks for your help. I have had her in a spare bedroom. She seems to be the most comfortable on the bed. I have cleared out the closet and put a blanket and a flannel sheet down for her. Her food is also in the closet on the opposite side. I can't tell if she is depressed or very content. She loves to have her belly rubbed. I was surprised at this. I can feel the babies moving around inside of her. Sometimes she lets me just keep my hand on her belly and purrs. This is when I can feel the movement. She has been using the litter box that I had on the patio for her and her first litter which she uses. Should I be giving her anything in addition to the food that she has? She has been eating Iams dry food since summer. She also gets 1 can of fancy feast daily. Now that she is inside she will not be getting anymore birds. When I first saw her in my back yard she was very thin and didn't look like she felt so good. She was snagging about 2 birds a day. After a couple of weeks when she came over the fence, much to my supprise 4 kittens followed her over. They were so small sometimes they had to take 3 tries at getting back over the fence. I finally caught them 2 by 2. They went to the vet and had checkups. The first 2 were about 5 weeks. They had their first shots and deworming. Then they were given flea control. I found them homes and it has taken me this long to get Mama. I had named her pumpkin. Her picture is on the first messege that I sent. The past 2 days she has started crying a little. I don't know if she wants her belly rubbed or out! I have a 17 yr old cat and 2 conures. Do you think that if she got out she would go after my birds? Or are they too big for her?

[Cynthia]

Pregnant and nursing mothers need to eat kitten food. It's high in nutrients and the developing and nursing babies need it. At the ASPCA we feed pregnant and nursing mothers 3 times a day. Usually a small can of Iams Kitten Food (purple can) and some dry Iams Kitten Food along side.

I would definitely not let her out around your conures. Since she has caught birds in the wild, it will be her natural instinct to go after your conures! And you definitely want to introduce her to your other kitty at a time when things are calm (if you decide to keep Pumpkin after she has her babies).

I would keep her in the room you have her in. It is natural for her to meow, she's a bit lonely in her room and is used to roaming outside. But do keep her in her room, because if you feel the kittens moving in her belly, that means she's within a week or so of giving birth. She needs to stay in that room. That's the best and safest place for her right now.

Are you planning to have her spayed after the kittens are 12-16 weeks old? Even after the kittens stop nursing, you will need to keep her inside before her spay surgery, because she can go into heat around the time the kittens wean.

Let us know how Mama Pumpkin is doing! You're an angel for taking her in!

[Dawn Eason]

I will go out this morning and get her kitten food! Oh yes, she will be getting spayed! I was laying with her the other morning rubbing her belly and promised her that she would never have to go through this again. Would you like me to send you pictures of the kittens when they are born? Just keep your fingers crossed for me that she used the area I have set up for her in the closet.

Thanks for all of your help.

Dawn Eason

[Cynthia]

Dawn, it's a great thing that you're establishing a trust relationship with Pumpkin before her birth. She will definitely trust you around her babies if she is trusting you now. She will "choose" the place where she has her babies - you'll see her spending more and more time in one spot. For one of my foster litters (my Cosmo and my Panda came from that litter) I thought their mama had a spot all picked out so I put a nice box and soft towels and an old flannel sheet in it. She slept in it for a week then one day when I was in the room with her, she went under the bed, and the next thing I heard was a kitten squeaking! So I had to move the bed away from the wall and put the bedding down there. Mama didn't protest at all, she watched me move her kitten into the birthing box and she followed, and delivered 5 more kittens. Cosmo and Panda were #3 & #4 in birth order.

One thing I did was sat quietly next to the birthing box and watched the kittens come out, then gently broke the birth sacs around the kittens and cleaned them a bit. If mama eats too much of the placentas and "gooky" stuff she can get sick to her stomach. But it is important that they eat a few of the placentas because they need the nutrients. Just not too much. And of course mama must lick her kittens clean to bond with them. I always stay ready just in case 2 kittens come out at once so both of them can breathe right away. Just wipe the "gook" away from their noses and mouths and put them at mama's face.

Have you ever witnessed or helped in the birth of a cat or dog? It's really something, and I think it's great that Pumpkin trusts you and you've given her a place to have her kittens where she can be pampered a little and her kittens can be warm and dry.

Feel free to send me the photos - my email address is [e-mail].

[Dawn Eason]

The cat that I have now, Thumper. I was present at her birth. I had to break her sack. That was almost 18 years ago. She was the first and largest and I had to help her out of her mother. Unfortunately a couple of months later I had to have Her mother KiKi and another of the kittens put to sleep due to FIP. However miraculously Thumper never contracted the disease. The others I did not hear about as they were adopted out.

[Cynthia]

Oh wow, Thumper is GORGEOUS! She could be a kitty model! I had to help with Cosmo (pictured above) coming out. His head was ENORMOUS and he got stuck. When he popped out, Panda came flying out right behind him.

FIP is a terrible disease. I have seen kittens from infected mothers die from it. Of course when Pumpkin is spayed she will get her shots (make sure they vaccinate low on the leg, never in the scruff) and all she will need if she is an indoor kitty is rabies. If she will be indoor/outdoor she will need feline leukemia vaccine. If you plan to integrate her with Thumper you may need to have her tested for FIV.

[Dawn Eason]

Awe, Cosmo looks like one of the kitty's Pumpkin had last litter. She will be tested for everything! I had the last litter tested, everything was ok. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything, right? I hope she has more than one calico this time. I had never heard of vaccinating in the lower leg, I thought that they were all given shots in the scruff. I'll keep my eye's out for that. Thanks

[Cynthia]

Shots used to be given in the scruff until VAS (vaccine-associated sarcoma) became a concern. VAS is a cancer that is thought to be triggered by either the vaccine or inflammation because of the needle. Initially the culprit was thought to be the preservative (called an adjuvant) in the vaccines, but when Merial developed PureVax (without preservatives), VAS still showed up. VAS is a fast-moving aggressive cancer that can kill a cat quickly. A VAS in the scruff is harder to remove by surgery (and get clean margins) than it is to remove it from the lower leg. You can read more about VAS here: www.vas-awareness.org . Most vets follow the recommended AVMA protocols and vaccinate low on the leg, but there are still vets out there that do things the "old-fashioned way" and give it in the scruff. Although the incidence of VAS is rather low (approximately 1 in 5000 cats get it) it still can happen, so vaccinating low on the leg (and not the scruff) insures that if VAS does occur, it can be removed relatively more easy than if it were in the scruff area.

[Dawn Eason]

Thanks for all of your help.

DAwn