Hi All,
I'm Jess, and I'm new here. You have quite the board - I've been lurking since I've known my sweet Fuchi-kitty was pregnant. Lots of great pictures and good advice!
In December, my family and I adopted my best friend's cat after he'd passed away. She came to us unaltered, thin, stressed out, covered with scabs from a flea allergy, with waxy thin hair. I immediately got her sorted out with the vet, and she's shaped up to be a beautiful, healthy, silky coated kitty - she's a longhair tortie. They wouldn't spay her because she needed to get a little stronger, and in the meantime, she went in heat, and the dog let her outside. [If you've ever seen "Over The Hedge" where the skunk talks the cat into helping her navigate the radio controlled kitty door - that's what happened
]
She proceeded to get pregnant and then lost the babies. The vet STILL wouldn't spay her, saying she needed to recover. The dog let her out AGAIN - even he couldn't take her yowling - and she got pregnant. I begged him to do it, knowing I can prevent a pregnancy, but I didn't have it in me to terminate one. Long story short: she's pregnant now, and due any day. Today is 57 days.
Although I have 4 cats, we've never had kittens because they all were altered upon adoption, and she's a first time mama, so it's the blind leading the blind here.
So here are my questions:
1) Do most cats stop eating 24 hours before giving birth? All? Some? What's your experience been?
2) Her bottom is oily and unclean, as she's too big to reach it. Should I do anything about this?
3) What's the best way to take a temperature? She's still quite stressed out, even more so that she's expecting, and she's just not a fan of letting me that close. However, I really want to be home when these babies are born, so I'd like to know.
4) How do you go about setting up a box for a cat who doesn't want one? She has no desire to be anywhere but near me, which is often where the dog is, and that isn't the best place for a litter of kittens to be born. I have a very large walk in closet I can put her in - is that the best for her if it stresses her out further, but keeps the babies in a safe place away from my kids and the other animals?
5) How long is the pregnancy? I've read 57 days, 63 days...etc. What's the average?
The past few days she's just been sleeping alot. It's hard to tell if she's anxious, because she's quite a spazz case to begin with. There's quite a bit of activity in her tummy, and I think she gets bigger every 30 minutes!
Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to answer these questions for me. I'll post pictures of Fuchi, and the rest of the brood, along with the babies, soon.
=)
I'm Jess, and I'm new here. You have quite the board - I've been lurking since I've known my sweet Fuchi-kitty was pregnant. Lots of great pictures and good advice!
In December, my family and I adopted my best friend's cat after he'd passed away. She came to us unaltered, thin, stressed out, covered with scabs from a flea allergy, with waxy thin hair. I immediately got her sorted out with the vet, and she's shaped up to be a beautiful, healthy, silky coated kitty - she's a longhair tortie. They wouldn't spay her because she needed to get a little stronger, and in the meantime, she went in heat, and the dog let her outside. [If you've ever seen "Over The Hedge" where the skunk talks the cat into helping her navigate the radio controlled kitty door - that's what happened
She proceeded to get pregnant and then lost the babies. The vet STILL wouldn't spay her, saying she needed to recover. The dog let her out AGAIN - even he couldn't take her yowling - and she got pregnant. I begged him to do it, knowing I can prevent a pregnancy, but I didn't have it in me to terminate one. Long story short: she's pregnant now, and due any day. Today is 57 days.
Although I have 4 cats, we've never had kittens because they all were altered upon adoption, and she's a first time mama, so it's the blind leading the blind here.
So here are my questions:
1) Do most cats stop eating 24 hours before giving birth? All? Some? What's your experience been?
2) Her bottom is oily and unclean, as she's too big to reach it. Should I do anything about this?
3) What's the best way to take a temperature? She's still quite stressed out, even more so that she's expecting, and she's just not a fan of letting me that close. However, I really want to be home when these babies are born, so I'd like to know.
4) How do you go about setting up a box for a cat who doesn't want one? She has no desire to be anywhere but near me, which is often where the dog is, and that isn't the best place for a litter of kittens to be born. I have a very large walk in closet I can put her in - is that the best for her if it stresses her out further, but keeps the babies in a safe place away from my kids and the other animals?
5) How long is the pregnancy? I've read 57 days, 63 days...etc. What's the average?
The past few days she's just been sleeping alot. It's hard to tell if she's anxious, because she's quite a spazz case to begin with. There's quite a bit of activity in her tummy, and I think she gets bigger every 30 minutes!
Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to answer these questions for me. I'll post pictures of Fuchi, and the rest of the brood, along with the babies, soon.
=)
