your advice -pregnant cat due - a quickie

minxie

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As some of you may know, Olivia is due to give birth any day soon.

A family crisis has arisen which requires me getting to my parents asap
. It means leaving the house tomorrow from 4am (as my hubby has to drop me off before he goes to work) and I'll be back by 9pm.

The other cats are fine as I have 5 automated dry food feeders to feed them twice each during the day (and I'll feed them well before I go).

With regards to Olivia....whats do you think I should do?

A) confine her to her nesting room with litter tray and food..and if she does give birth..hope that shes ok by herself.

or

B) take her with me (the drive is 60 minutes..she has experienced the drive a few times before and is familiar with my parents house). If she decides to give birth tomorrow, I am on hand to oversee everything and my mum's pets' vet is available locally (ps these are persian babies so we may have problems with birthing due to the large head)

Im trying to do whats best for her..and see pros and cons of both options !?!

Your responses are appreciated.
 

lvcat

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Personally, I would take her with you. I would be so worried that something went wrong.
 
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minxie

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Thanks for a quick reply. Yes, my gut instinct feels that too. But for some reason, because im not an expert in pregnant cats, I wanted to ask if thats the right thing. I hate disrupting her at this time, but I know I would be going out of my mind wondering if she was ok.
 

catsallover

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Hmmm; that's tough...Can you hire someone to stay with her? Like maybe a vet tech from your vets, or a pet sitting service, or someone who fosters and has experience with cats giving birth, and knows when to call the vet if there is a problem? Other than that, I would lean towards taking her with me, with all her birthing towels, box or whatever you have, and lots of stuff that smells like home...
 
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minxie

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Good ideas catsallover - I read your post and rang my friend who does work at a vets to see if she could 'catsit' Olivia whilst she was at work....but with it being Easter holidays, she is away on holiday in Scotland herself! Thanks anyway for that suggestion - I didnt think of it

Pet sitting service? I don't want a stranger in my house for the day...and to leave Olivia with them in a strange environment with strangers...not sure as she freaks out when she is at the cattery (and that was when she wasnt pregnant).

Im going with my gut instinct to take her with me.... I just hope she is ok with a 60 minute drive there and back.

If she has the kittens to tonight, at least I can settle her and the babies in the nesting room and leave her/the kittens at home.

She was mated 3 feb..today is day 65. She's due...get a move on Olivia! The vet said she could give birth anytime from last week to this week. Just the one day I have to be away from home, eh? typical lol.
 

catsallover

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Just for the record- I did not mean for you to board her!
Nope, no way
!

I do understand not wanting a stranger in your house, but thought your vet clinic or a friend could recommend one if you really needed to leave her at home
. I certainly wouldn't use one without a having a recommendation about them from someone I could trust
.

Good luck with your trip! Our horse trainer (when I was a teenager- years and years and years ago...
) had one of her dogs give birth in the backseat of her truck on the way home from an out of town horseshow

and everyone was just fine
. It'll be okay
.
 

tjwharton24

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I would do exactley what your doing Minxie. those heads could get stuck, you don't want to lose olivia and her babies...
since ashe knows your mother and the house all shall be fione.
Jenn
 

mooficat

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Oh my ! just coming to your news - hope things are ok at your parents


I would take her with me too, especially as you say she is OK about the drive and knows your parents house - suppose you'll have to load all the nesting box etc, but thats soon done.

I hope all goes well and things are soon sorted at your parents


keep us posted gal !
 

gayef

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Mine may not be the popular opinion here, but I totally disagree with your decision to take your pregnant cat with you on this trip. Confine her to the nesting room with food, water, litter and have your husband check on her when he gets home from work.

The stress of travel alone could cause more problems than you are trying to prevent by taking her.

I'm sorry, Lamb, but this just isn't a good idea if you are concerned for her safety and the safety of the kittens.
 

goldenkitty45

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IMO if you are gone till late, then confine her to one room with the kittening box and plenty of food/water and a clean litter pan. She should be fine till you return. Under no circumstances should your husband (I'm assuming he'll be home) should let her roam around this close.

It's more risky to put her in the car, travel, etc. then to leave her at home.
 

tjwharton24

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minxie is your husband going to be home. i was under the impression that he's would be joining you after work. if he is staying home then by all means leave Olivia there. DH will be able to take of her..

jenn
 
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minxie

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Nope - DH won't be home. After work, he's picking me up and we're coming back home.

Oh what do I do?
After reading Gayef's post Im worried Im might be doing the wrong thing? Olivia is showing no signs of labour
This is why I posted this question asking which option was better....3/4 says take her with you, 1/4 says leave the poor baby at home.

Its a bit of a sad day tomorrow - My aunt is terminally ill with cancer which has spread to her lungs, liver and lmyph glands. She has only a fews weeks left, if that. The family are grouping tomorrow to see my aunt as today my uncle managed to arrange 1 day's home stay for my aunt from the hospice tomorrow.
 

xxtashaxx

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im sorry to hear about your aunt. sending our warmest wishes that her 1 day home vist goes as well as can be expected.
i agree with leaving her at home. if you was to be gone the hole day and not back till morning i would say take her with you . but as most cats (not all) normally deliver early hours in the morning , i wouldnt advise uprooting her this late in pregnancy.
 
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minxie

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Just rang my folks all stressed and my Dad, being the superdad he is came up with this solution...

Put the laptop pc in the nesting room somewhere out of Olivia's way, log into msn and connect with my dad's msn and then put the web cam on. At least I can see if anything happens from my parents. I still won't be able to help her, if she needs help. But at least I'll know whether she's ok and if tomorrow is the day or not. Hubby and Dad are logged in with web cams as I type, experimenting with this hairbrain scheme. Im dubious as I know web cams sometimes need someone to re-switch them on every now and then..worth a try tho. My parents agree with those of you who say to leave her at home. Mum said that if there is a risk that Olivia may attack the babies if she feels unsafe, if she gave birth in the car or it could induce complications...with Olivia being nervy/scared, its more like vetinary assistance would be needed.

Im such a control freak and my cats are my life, that i just want to take her with me. But if you are saying the drive/disturbance poses more risk than leaving her alone at home, I'll confine her to her nesting room and pray Olivia has the babies either tonight or anytime after tomorrow night.

Thanks everyone. Sighing in disbelief at myself at how inconfident/indecisive I can be... I just needed to know what you guys thought as I view you as the cat experts through your experience. I knew as soon as someone was very opposed to one option for valid reasons, Id go for the other option as I dont want to do the wrong thing. Olivia is so precious to me.
 

wookie130

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Personally, I'd keep her at home as well. I would, however, recruit a friend or neighbor ASAP to housesit in your home with her in case she does begin to deliver the kittens. This way, if something goes wrong, or she needs vet attention, your friend/neighbor will have your vet number on hand, and call if there is an emergency during Olivia's labor. I think that taking her in the car, and adding the stress of travel may be detrimental to her and the kittens. Call around and check now to see if someone can stay with her, even if it's a volunteer from your local rescue, a friend, neighbor, etc. This way she's not all alone in the event that difficulty arises. Hopefully, she'll hold out on delivering them until you are there, but if not, someone will be there to phone the vet up if problems occur. Good luck!
 

lvcat

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For some reason I didn't read your whole post and thought you were going to be overnight... Since it's just the day, I would leave her home.
 

keisha

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The webcam idea sounds good to be!
I would also say leave her home, it would be terrible if she got stressed out. Or if she had the babies in the car. Or even at your momsbecause they you would have to move them.
So good luck!
 
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minxie

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At my parents house!! Far away from Olivia!


The webcam thing didnt work for long. Cam froze! I need Olivia to reset it on the other end!

Hope she's ok until I get home later. Hub says he'll try and get off work a little early, so we can leave here around 5pm to be back home for 6pm, after Ive spend the day with my aunt and family. So thats a positive thing.
 

mooficat

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Originally Posted by minxie

At my parents house!! Far away from Olivia!


The webcam thing didnt work for long. Cam froze! I need Olivia to reset it on the other end!

Hope she's ok until I get home later. Hub says he'll try and get off work a little early, so we can leave here around 5pm to be back home for 6pm, after Ive spend the day with my aunt and family. So thats a positive thing.
morning, oh I thought you had to be there overnight or longer, well the day will soon pass, Olivia will be sleeping
.........aww but wont it be funny if you get home to a pile of little fluffies
 
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