advice please

i have a couple of questions as my cat is pregnant i think she is around 7-8wk.

1) What is the average litter size?

2) how big would the kittens be at birth?

3) do i need to have a litter tray near to where she nests?

4) i noticed a slight swelling at her personal bits, is this normal?

5) she has started nesting under the bed, at what stage of the pregnancy is this?

6) when she is giving birth will it be obvious (eg will it wake us up)?

thanks in advance for your help

Hello and welcome to the site !

Heres a few TCS 1/ links & 2/ link that explain about pregnancy and kitten care

That should give you some information to be going on with - some of our more experienced members will be along with more details and how they handled things.

Glad you dropped in to join us and I hope all goes well for the pregnancy and your cat

1) What is the average litter size?
I'm not sure what the average litter size is, but in all the years I've fostered cats and worked at the animal shelter, I've seen as few as one and as many as eight in a litter. I think the "norm" is probably three to five though. My three foster girls this year had four and five.

2) how big would the kittens be at birth?
I just found this quote on a website... "100 grams (3-5 ounces) at birth and gain approximately 7 to 15 grams per day (a quarter to over half an ounce)".

3) do i need to have a litter tray near to where she nests?
There should be one in the same room as the momma cat, but if you put it too close to the nest she will probably not have the babies there.

4) i noticed a slight swelling at her personal bits, is this normal?
Thats perfectly normal, and a sign she's getting close. My first two fosters this year had the swelling around 2 days before giving birth and the third had it exactly one week before giving birth.

5) she has started nesting under the bed, at what stage of the pregnancy is this?
I never actually saw any of my cats "nest"... they just didn't really do it. But I know it's a sign of being pretty close (probably within a week or two?). Have you felt babies move yet?

6) when she is giving birth will it be obvious (eg will it wake us up)?
Probably not. When my girls lost their mucus plugs, I just sat up with them and watched them in case any assistance was needed... they all gave birth in the middle of the night. Sasha (the first one that delivered), did let out a yell when the first kitten was coming out, but after that all was quiet and neither of the other cats made a sound. If I had been sleeping when they started, I probably wouldn't have woken up. You may hear the kittens screaming though.

thanks for the advice its really helped loads


i think i felt the babies moved although i cant be sure it was definate, she is being very close to me lately more than usual. i will keep the site informed on the kitten progress tho

If she's about 7-8 weeks pregnant you only have 1-2 weeks left. I would strongly advise you to confine her to where you want her to have them - a large cage/dog crate would work. Put in a box with low cut side and a pillowcase with newspaper inside (when birthing) and then have a pillowcase with towel after all kittens are born.

Cover the cage with a sheet to make it more cozy/dark.

Litters can vary from 1-8 kittens - average 4-5 I would guess for most breeds. As far as how big, that depends on the size of the parents. Smaller cats have smaller kittens at birth.

You need a close by litter pan for her as well as the food/water - but not too far. If you keep her caged, then keep everything in the cage with the litter pan as far away from food and nesting box as you can.

I used a really large dog crate for Ling's mom. I put in the nesting box, food/water up front and the litter pan in the back. She was fine with everything in there.