Birth of babies, is she done?

3cats4dogs

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We have four kittens now. Pink went into real labor last nite around 5:30. By 6 she was pushing, by 6:35 she had presented the first two babies. Her first was tail first, everyone else came head first. She seemed to do excellent. My question is, she still looks alittle bloated and I had thought she acted like she wanted to have a fifth (until my husband, the kids and thier friends all came barging in) and after the interuptions she just quit. How can I know for sure? What are the symptoms of a retained baby? How long before they momma will be in trouble? She has been out of labor for over 12 hours, is there any chance a retained kitten would be alive?

Any help is appreciated.
 

hissy

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Cats left on their own generally have very little problems with delivery. It gets complicated when we decide we want to watch or interfere. That can interrupt the cycle of contractions as the mom cat will want privacy to finish the job. Females can go from 24-48 hours after first contractions to delivering a kitten. Is she still having visible contractions? Sometimes, just putting the family into a dark quiet place will restart mom's contractions and she will finish the job.

Here are some danger signs that mean a vet should be called.

The cat is biting and tearing at her bottom, and crying while doing so.

Discharge of dark green or red bloody matter with not kitten afterward.

You can see kitten membrane when the female is examined, but no kitten.

A really rank odor coming from mom

If she is straining and having contractions with no results, a vet needs to be called.


You can always just call your vet and explain to him the situation and have him advise you. He will know best what to do.

Good luck.
 
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3cats4dogs

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Well, it is about twenty-two hours into this. Still just four kittens. She slept well and is tending her babies very well. She thinks I am her mom, so she came and got me just as she did last nite. She will call me, take two steps, call me, two more steps and so forth until we have arrived at her 'home'. I stayed with her for about 30 minutes. She does better if I pet her head. I say nothing and just am there. She was having some contractions, she actually looked as though she was straining, there is some fresh new blood, but no baby or anything. I am trying to keep my house quite for her. It would have been better if she had waited until Monday when we were alone.
but, that is all I say.

Thank you.
 
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