A pregnant stray arrived on our doorstep a few weeks ago. She's a cat the neighbors left when they moved, so everyone's been feeding her. I didn't realize at the time that she was pregnant, but it quickly became obvious. She began to have the kittens in a recycling bin on my porch this morning. My husband is in the hospital and I was home just for a few minutes to check in, so the timing was pretty bad.
They came really quickly. Three were out before she could even cut the cord on the first one. The second one came out of the sac on its way out, but I had to get number three out and get him breathing. It took far too long, though it was probably less than five minutes. I got the cords cut on Two, Three and Four while she was still working on One. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, I took One away and cut it myself. I'm not sure what the problem was, but she just couldn't do it. About fifteen minutes after Four, Five came. She handled Five by herself. I waited about half an hour and things seemed okay. Three, the one I had to revive, is so tiny, but alive. I moved her and the kittens into a bedroom in the house and she settled right in. I went back to the hospital.
I came home a few hours later and peeked in to find her sprawled on the bed, exhausted, and a pile of kittens in the box that looked suspiciously larger than the one I left. I picked one up, only to find it attached to several others. After untangling the ones that would come loose, I was left with three that were tangled, still attached to their placentas. She must have had three more after I left. So she has a total of EIGHT kittens. *sigh*
I wasn't overly concerned about five, but eight? There is a considerable size difference between the largest and smallest, and she is a small cat. I don't know how she'll feed eight. If I supplement from the start, will that reduce the chances of her ever having enough milk for them? Should I just let nature take its course and possibly reduce to the number she can successfully feed? I don't want to lose kittens, but I also don't want to end up with eight kittens to bottle feed. I'm encouraging her to lay down and feed them, but she just wants to clean them over and over. I know she's raised kittens successfully before because the neighbor who left her had a free kittens sign up last year.
They came really quickly. Three were out before she could even cut the cord on the first one. The second one came out of the sac on its way out, but I had to get number three out and get him breathing. It took far too long, though it was probably less than five minutes. I got the cords cut on Two, Three and Four while she was still working on One. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, I took One away and cut it myself. I'm not sure what the problem was, but she just couldn't do it. About fifteen minutes after Four, Five came. She handled Five by herself. I waited about half an hour and things seemed okay. Three, the one I had to revive, is so tiny, but alive. I moved her and the kittens into a bedroom in the house and she settled right in. I went back to the hospital.
I came home a few hours later and peeked in to find her sprawled on the bed, exhausted, and a pile of kittens in the box that looked suspiciously larger than the one I left. I picked one up, only to find it attached to several others. After untangling the ones that would come loose, I was left with three that were tangled, still attached to their placentas. She must have had three more after I left. So she has a total of EIGHT kittens. *sigh*
I wasn't overly concerned about five, but eight? There is a considerable size difference between the largest and smallest, and she is a small cat. I don't know how she'll feed eight. If I supplement from the start, will that reduce the chances of her ever having enough milk for them? Should I just let nature take its course and possibly reduce to the number she can successfully feed? I don't want to lose kittens, but I also don't want to end up with eight kittens to bottle feed. I'm encouraging her to lay down and feed them, but she just wants to clean them over and over. I know she's raised kittens successfully before because the neighbor who left her had a free kittens sign up last year.