Worried about a miscarriage

I realize I have already posted a thread today and some might find this annoying but I just want to make sure I take care of my cat, properly.

First of all, she isn't really my cat. She belongs to my landlady. She let her cat become an outdoor cat without spaying her which I think is ridiculous. Anyways, the cat is now pregnant for the second time and my landlady is too busy to care for the cat so I told her I would.

The first time the cat was pregnant she was only about 8 months old. She is a small cat and is often underfed because the landlady isn't around often enough to feed her. We knew she was pregnant because she had the typical pregnant cat symptoms like she does now which include a protruding, round, hard belly, pink hard nipples sticking out, increased appetite and affection. The last time she was pregnant, the landlady continued to let her go outside and do her thing and didn't really take any special measures to care for pregnancy.

One day, my mom and I saw Mary-Jane (the cat) walking around outside but she was clearly no longer pregnant. My landlady told us that she didn't find any kittens or anything so we assume she must have had a miscarriage. The thing is though, she had no trauma on her vagina or any noteicably odd features or anything.

Anyways, she's about a year and a half old now and I have been following the directions of many information websites and the advise of my friend who has had pregnant cats before. I am mixing kitten food with adult cat food, and I got her a dog house and put it in my room and put some soft towels inside for her. I am not letting her go outside because I don't want her to go into labour out there.

What do you guys think about her previous pregnancy? It's still a big mystery and it bothers me because it makes me very pessimistic. I have a very strong feeling that she is not going to give birth to healthy kittens.

I have no idea how pregnant she is but judging by when my mom said she first noticed a belly on her, and the information I have gathered, she seems over 7 weeks pregnant at least.

P:S
Another thing I have noticed is that her vagina is sort of protruding. It's hard not to notice.



Anyways, any information or help or advice or even speculations about the mystery pregnancy would be extremely appreciated and I apologize about making the post so long but I have issues with condensing my thoughts.

Uhm don't ask why there's a smiley in the topic name. That was a mistake.


Thought I should put this because seeing the "Worried about a miscariage " was bothering me.

Thats great that you took her in!!

Can you post pics of her? .to guess how far along she is. ..

I tried. I wanted to get a bunch of pictures of her to post here but I got one picture and then my batteries died and I have no others. I will try to get some and then I will definetly post some pictures

I have the battery dieing problem alot too. And i always seem to loose my charger

It sounds like you have pretty much done what you can to assist this little girl. Keeping her inside only until the kittens are completely weaned and she can be properly spayed is the best way to go. There is an informative article here which may provide some further insight into what you can expect and how to prepare for it if you haven't already taken the time to read it.

Her previous litter could have been still born because of her age. Also when cats give birth outside, they clean themselves up fast...so they don't attract unwanted attention. She also may have had the kittens and something happened to them (tom cat, lawnmower...).
Are you sure they didn't survive and are running wild somewherer?

Originally Posted by msgoody2shoes

...I apologize about making the post so long but I have issues with condensing my thoughts.

Click to expand...

Oh gosh... don't feel bad. There are lots of us with that problem, and I'm the queen of them all!

As for the kitty -- bless your heart for trying to do the right thing for her! It's about time somebody showed some concern for this poor cat. I can't believe the landlady didn't have time to FEED her! That's just shameful.

You'll probably find this in the article Gaye recommended, but one of the few things I know is that the prospective mommy should be eating kitten food, and maybe even some KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer)... high-calorie foods that will help replace the nutrients she loses to the babies.

Please keep us posted! Can't wait to see the little ones...

Hey everybody, I finally got some pictures of Mary-Jane. I took them a few hours, ago. I realize she does not look very big but she is a very small girl normally so had you known her under regular circumstances, you'd be shocked. I noticed yesterday that her nipples are covered in a white crust. I don't know if they were like that before, and just dry, or maybe her nipples are getting ready to begin lactating. According to my mom she adores having them rubbed but that weirds me out a little to much to try.

I would also like to thank everybody on this forum, including those who haven't replied to my thread or anything. Everybody is so nice and polite and cooperative, here. It's nice.

And I also appreciate how everybody types with an IQ above that of an 8 year old.

Well, first of all, she is very pretty. I love a red and white bi-color tabby.

OK, now, your pictures are a little too big and over the size allowed on the forums, but I can fix them for you in a few minutes ... bear with me people, working on a limited amount of time, so if I don't get to it right away, it will be done as soon as I can get to it.

From the looks of it, I would hazard a guess that you may be starting to feel a little movement in the kittens ... when she is resting, can you also see movement?

The waxy crust you describe on the nipples is fairly normal, but if it bothers you, you can take a little warm, damp washcloth and gently clean them. It won't hurt her unless she is uncomfortable with you handling her belly.

Oh and before I forget, great closeup of her butt.

I didn't realize they were too big. I'm sorry. I made another thread somewhere with pictures in that size so I guess I will get in trouble for that too...

Yeah the close up was because it looks different and I don't know maybe it means something. This is all very new to me.

I'm glad you think she's pretty. I think she looks like a stoner. Her eyes are rimmed with pink.

You aren't in trouble ...

Haha, I didn't mean it literally. I wasn't sitting here anticipating the forum police.

Ok so I thought I would update Mary-Jane's progress.

I have a little dog that grew up with 3 cats so he loves them and loves to play with them. Mary-Jane grew up with a large dog so she knows about dogs and that they are not dangerous but isn't accustomed to playing with them or anything.

To get away from George I suppose, she has decided the crawlspace in the laundry room is her sanctuary. It's the perfect hang out spot for a cat. It is dark but not pitch black or anything. There are some storage boxes around but nothing dangerous. She hasn't taken to the doghouse I have in my room so I put a handmade nest in the crawlspace for her. It is a lidless box with sides that are high enough for her head to be able to look over the ledges when she is laying down. I put a blankie in there and my mom says that she saw her sleeping in there so I am excited. I believe it is big enough for her to have a litter in if she chooses to do so because it can fit about two large cats sleeping in there together.

If she has the babies in there I will move them to my room later so that I can keep an eye on them.

Anyways, two days ago I felt one of Mary-Jane's babies move for the first time. I was so glad because it really put my worries of stillborns to rest. For a day my mom and I could only feel a baby on the right moving around but yesterday I felt some movement on the left as well. Her belly has gotten ENORMOUS. My mom thinks that she will be having at least four babies, but I have a feeling there will be three. Oh well, what do we know?

For the past two days, we have noticed that Mary-Jane hasn't been acting herself. Yesterday she was coming out of the crawlspace much less frequently, actually sleeping in the nest we built her as she wasn't before, and eating less.

This morning she started meowing and following me around.

Yesterday I went to go see a concert and I kept texting my mom every half hour to see if anything had happened, haha.

I think we're close!!!!!