HELP: Pregnant stray

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rotobay

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Originally Posted by Sakura

For some reason I don't think you can de-worm a pregnant cat, but I'm not sure either. I want to say no? As for the ear mites, that's also possible but I don't know if you can treat it while she's pregnant.

It makes me so happy that there are people out there like you who take such good care of someone's abandoned pet (and kittens).
Thank you for that, although I feel like we are the lucky ones! I grew up in a somewhat rural area and it seemed like cats were having kittens all the time. I now live in a suburban area and anyone who doesn't spay/neuter their animals is labeled as irresponsible (as they should be). So I never imagined that I'd have the joy of having a momma cat and kittens and my kids are ecstatic about it.

Anyway thanks for the info on pictures. I just set up a photobucket account and uploaded some pix I took of her last week but she is considerably bigger now.





The second shot would have been a perfect view of her belly, but I have this digital camera that has a bit of a delay and before it snapped, the dog walked into the frame.

Anyway you can see how I thought she was someone's pet based on her beautiful coat. I'll take some pictures that do her huge tummy justice when I return from the vet. I have a feeling that kitty is NOT going to like being put into the cat carrier.....
 
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rotobay

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I don't know what happened in that above post, but everything ran off the page
 

joshoisasleep

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I guess it's too late now, but I would say that if you have a cat that's comfortable in your house, but is an outdoor adoptee, you should probably install a cat door for her to go in and out as she pleases. I would have been far more worried about stressing out a pregnant kitty by leaving her stuck in your house with you gone, than I would about her being outside. Cats are wild things and can look after themselves, especially strays. I think there's a difference between a cat that's comfortable in your house, and one that's an indoor cat... I would only ever leave a strictly indoor cat inside if I were gone for days at a time! Oh well, she sounds happy!
(I recently found a stray kitten on a busy street, and she is fine and happy running around outside wherever I take her!)

Ooh yeah... milk is bad for kittens as it gives them the runs which dehydrates them, and it doesn't have the nutrients they need anyway. I assume a mummy cat should probably not drink milk. If you are going to give a cat milk, only goats milk will give them any good nutrition. Keep her on high quality dry food, or cans of salmon meant for humans! (It's just salmon... cat food salmon always has weird additives and things, and it's probably just the hooves anyway)
 
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rotobay

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First off, the vet said it is clear that this cat was someone's pet and has had a lot of human contact because she is so tame (maybe thats why she did okay inside the house).

He estimates her age to be 3-4 and said she has already had kittens. He also felt around her body and said that she has been in some serious battles


But he estimated that she is probably about 40 days pregnant. He felt 4 sacks but he said there could be more. He can do an ultrasound in a week for a true 'head count', but I don't think I'll put her thru that since she was very rattled by the cat carrier and the car.

Anyway, here is the verdict on her health issues:

1. She does have a bad case of ear mites that can only be treated with drops called Oto-Acarexx Synotic. He said for a non-pregnant cat they give an injection that gets rid of them immediately, but it causes deformity in kittens if used during pregnancy. So we have to use drops for 3 weeks.

2. They CAN safely treat the mother cat for worms if she has them (and she probably does), but I neglected to bring in a stool sample...so he will prescribe the worm medication once they analyze the stool.

3. She has fleas and that can be treated with Advantage while she is pregnant.

4. No immunizations at all until after she delivers

He reassured me that birth and kitten care comes instinctively, but I'm still a little nervous so I'm sure I'll be bugging all you experienced kitten raisers with all kinds of questions.
 

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Originally Posted by Rotobay

Thank you for that, although I feel like we are the lucky ones! I grew up in a somewhat rural area and it seemed like cats were having kittens all the time. I now live in a suburban area and anyone who doesn't spay/neuter their animals is labeled as irresponsible (as they should be). So I never imagined that I'd have the joy of having a momma cat and kittens and my kids are ecstatic about it.

Anyway thanks for the info on pictures. I just set up a photobucket account and uploaded some pix I took of her last week but she is considerably bigger now.





The second shot would have been a perfect view of her belly, but I have this digital camera that has a bit of a delay and before it snapped, the dog walked into the frame.

Anyway you can see how I thought she was someone's pet based on her beautiful coat. I'll take some pictures that do her huge tummy justice when I return from the vet. I have a feeling that kitty is NOT going to like being put into the cat carrier.....
I resized your photo's for you so everyone can read your text as well, but since I cant do it on your post I just put it on mine! That way everyone can read all of what you said!

You're kitty is very beautiful!!

So her due date is right around Firday March 7th! (They're pregnant 9 weeks, and she's already 40 days down, so that left 23 days, so that put it at March 7th!)

I can't wait to see her get bigger, and see her kittens when they're born!!
 
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rotobay

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Thanks, Glitch. I'm kind of a computer moron so I need all the help I can get.


Question for you or anyone: I had to put drops in the kitty's ear last night (for ear mites) and she scratched me with her razor sharp claws which drew blood and left long red streaks down my arm.

I have to do this twice a day for 3 weeks--put 2-3 drops in and massage her ear. SHe hates it .....any tips on how to accomplish this without losing blood??
 

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Oh she is SO pretty!!


As for the ear drops thing, good luck!
Do you have someone who can help you? I would try wrapping her in a towel and have someone hold her on a bed while you do it. Talk to her in a soothing voice and just try to do it as quickly as possible (so have everything ready to go before you pick her up).

I can't wait for pictures of the kittens!


(One way to re-size them if you use photobucket is to go to your album and click on the picture. A new screen will come up and at the top there will be a menu and one option is to resize, click to resize and choose either the website size or the message board size).
 

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Thanks for posting in my thread. I decided to read yours because we are in such similar straights. Your cat is gorgeous! I think mine might also have had a home because she is friendly, but I agree with kluchetta, they weren't taking good care of her. She should not have been roaming the streets and she obviously wasn't being fed much, since she came begging to my door. I niticed that you had some issues with the cat carrier and the vet. That's what I was afraid of, so in the case of Rags, since she is so far along, I'll let her rest and deal with vet trips later.
I feel your pain on the ear drops thing. I'm afraid Rags has ringworm. I have seen it and treated it on cats before, so I am washing my hands and keeping her away from my other pets. Fortunately, I don't have kids! I will find out from the vet what to do about that and how to treat her for it when she's pregnant. I'll end up with a bunch of ringwormy babies if I don't get a handle on it. I also thought about Rags having a heavy worm infestation rather than pregnant, but her nipples and the appearance of her "hind-end" make me sure that is is pregnancy. She has sort of a reddish color around her rump. I hope that is normal.
Does your cat have a name? I love black cats.
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by Sakura

Oh she is SO pretty!!


As for the ear drops thing, good luck! :lol3: Do you have someone who can help you? I would try wrapping her in a towel and have someone hold her on a bed while you do it. Talk to her in a soothing voice and just try to do it as quickly as possible (so have everything ready to go before you pick her up).

I can't wait for pictures of the kittens!


(One way to re-size them if you use photobucket is to go to your album and click on the picture. A new screen will come up and at the top there will be a menu and one option is to resize, click to resize and choose either the website size or the message board size).
Hey Sakura,

I'm sending you a plane ticket so you can be my ear drop assistant


My husband was going to help me this morning, but kitty was MIA and she didn't surface until after he left for work. But I did just try the towel thing and it worked pretty well. I had to wrap it around her like a cape and hold it pretty tight around her neck since she was trying to get out. SHe doesn't mind the drops so much, but she hates when I rub them in (and if you don't rub them in she shakes her head and the medication comes flying out).

According to the vet, the drops will only bother her while there are still live mites in her ears. He said that when the mites encounter the poison, they go into "death throws" which is very uncomfortable and itchy for the cat. Ewwwwwwwww.
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by GayleMG

Thanks for posting in my thread. I decided to read yours because we are in such similar straights. Your cat is gorgeous! I think mine might also have had a home because she is friendly, but I agree with kluchetta, they weren't taking good care of her. She should not have been roaming the streets and she obviously wasn't being fed much, since she came begging to my door. I niticed that you had some issues with the cat carrier and the vet. That's what I was afraid of, so in the case of Rags, since she is so far along, I'll let her rest and deal with vet trips later.
I feel your pain on the ear drops thing. I'm afraid Rags has ringworm. I have seen it and treated it on cats before, so I am washing my hands and keeping her away from my other pets. Fortunately, I don't have kids! I will find out from the vet what to do about that and how to treat her for it when she's pregnant. I'll end up with a bunch of ringwormy babies if I don't get a handle on it. I also thought about Rags having a heavy worm infestation rather than pregnant, but her nipples and the appearance of her "hind-end" make me sure that is is pregnancy. She has sort of a reddish color around her rump. I hope that is normal.
Does your cat have a name? I love black cats.
Hi Gayle,

I think you are making the right decision not to take your cat to the vet right now. Mine got really stressed in the carrier and the car and I would have turned around and gone back home if it was any further than 5 minutes (and the vet agreed to see us immediately since he knew she was nervous). Since yours is so far along it could probably jeopardize the pregnancy.

What I learned from my vet yesterday is that anything you apply topically to a pregnant cat is safe for the kittens. For example, you can put Advantage on them for fleas, or ear drops for mites, and I'm sure there is a topical antifungal that you can put on her ringworm. I'll be talking to my vet later this am, so I'll ask him what would be safe (that's the least he could do after that $300 bill yesterday!!).

As far as worms, they can also be treated while they are pregnant with an oral medication, but my vet wont prescribe it until they examine her stool. I'll let you know the name once I find out.

The cat's name is a bit of a sore subject. I have 2 young kids, a boy and a girl who both have strong feelings about the cat's name. My daughter wants to name her 'Lola' but my son thinks that is too 'girly' and prefers 'Midnight' or 'Darth Vader'. Mostly we call her 'Kitty'....hopefully somehting more original will stick. I'll keep you posted...
 
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rotobay

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I ordered a cat collar with our phone number embroidered into it from the vet.

BUT, I have mixed feeling about putting it on her and would love some input.

I definitely want her to be identified and returned if she gets out and gets lost, but I read (on the internet) that cats should not wear collars since they can get strangled if the collar gets caught on something.

What do you guys think?

I had a collar on my other cat (who died 2 years ago at 17) but we put it on her when she was a kitten so she never knew any different and never tried to get it off. Also she was an all indoor cat and only came into the yard when we were out there and came back inside as soon as we did. She was a little intimidated by the outdoors and never wandered so the collar was a 'just in case' type of thing.

But this cat LOVES the outdoors. So what do you think: collar or no collar?
 

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My other cats wear breakaway collars that are designed to break loose if the cat is caught on something and struggles. Of course, if the collar comes off, you have the problem of no one being able to identify her, but the alternative is much worse. Pretty soon I will get Rags a collar and see how she takes to it.
Thanks for the info on what to use on pregnant cats. Thanks also for asking the vet for me when you see him next. If I can get her into my vet, I can get the spots definitely identified as ringworm or not. It could be something else, but I've seen ringworm look like that. There is a sort of bald spot that looks a little weepy near one ear and I saw another baldish patch on the inside of one of her hind legs. I tried to take a closer look at her face by holding her face still, but she pushed my hand away with her paw and gave me a little scratch. I think she trusts me more than she did a couple of days ago, but she's still not ready to be held still.
 
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rotobay

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I haven't ever heard of breakaway collars, but that sounds like a good idea.

Also I just got off the phone with my vet. He says you can use Lotrimin cream (the same kind used on people and it can be bought over the counter at any drug store) but no oral antifungals. He also directed me to this site:

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=223

According to the site, ringworm often goes away on its own in cats with proper diet and grooming. It does have some good pictures of ringworm, so you can compare your cats lesions to the pix and see if they look similar.

The vet said that if the lesions are open or weepy, then you should treat them since the open wound exposes your kitty to 'secondary infections'

Also he gave me a tip to use when trying to put in the ear drops (you might try this if you decide to treat the ringworm)...but he said to hold the cat firmly by the fur on the back of the neck (like where a momma cat picks up a kitten) and they become 'compliant'. I;ll give it a try for the PM ear drop application and tell you if it works.

One more tip I learned from the vet since it sounds like you have other pets: We have a dog and the cat gets along great with the dog (and the dog loves kittens) BUT the vet said that as soon as she delivers the kittens, she will perceive the dog (or any other pet) as a THREAT to her kittens and may attack. So he recommended that we keep the cat and kittens completely isolated from the dog for the first 2 weeks. He said after 2 weeks the momma cat will lighten up.

BTW your cat sounds a lot like mine....she trusts me more and more each day (but is still a little bitter about that vet experience
)
 

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I would have her micro-chipped when she is spayed (that way she is already under anesthesia). It's not very expensive and is worth it (in my opinion). My cats don't wear collars, they are indoor-only. The micro-chip is a backup if they get out, but then again not everyone knows about micro-chips. Whenever I take my cats to the vet, they wear their collars (they are breakway collars I bought at PetSmart, plus I just engraved the tags in the machine they have there). Since she is used to going in and out, I would have her wear a breakaway collar, as least until she is micro-chipped.

Oh, and thanks for the ear-mite in the ear image! now I'm all itchy, lol.
 

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Thanks so much for all the info and the webpage! I'll start her on a cream. I was wearing gloves when I handled her, but today I handled her a few times without gloves!
I'll start again. It was a little scary to find out it can stay in the environment for 18 months! At least she's only in the one room. I have hardwood floors (50 year old hardwood floors) and I don't know how easy they are to sterilize, since they are porous. It is heartening, though, to find out that it can resolve itself eventually in healthy cats.
The breakaway collars I bought at PetSmart are sold under the Safe Cat brand. They have little plastic clasps that just clip together and can come apart with enough pressure.
Sakura is right that microchipping is great. Someday I hope to microchip all of my animals, but lately it has been too expensive for me.
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by Sakura

I would have her micro-chipped when she is spayed (that way she is already under anesthesia). It's not very expensive and is worth it (in my opinion). My cats don't wear collars, they are indoor-only. The micro-chip is a backup if they get out, but then again not everyone knows about micro-chips. Whenever I take my cats to the vet, they wear their collars (they are breakway collars I bought at PetSmart, plus I just engraved the tags in the machine they have there). Since she is used to going in and out, I would have her wear a breakaway collar, as least until she is micro-chipped.

Oh, and thanks for the ear-mite in the ear image! now I'm all itchy, lol.
Our dog has a chip so we will definitely get Kitty a chip when she is spayed. In Los Angeles County, the first thing Animal Control does when they pick up a stray animal is scan them. If they have a chip, they just call you instead of you having to go searching at all the shelters for your lost pet.

My only concern with this cat is that she is very 'street wise' and I'm pretty sure would never allow anyone (like Animal Control) to catch her, so I may put a collar on her also. She lived in our yard for a few weeks before she warmed up to us enough let us pet and hold her. Lately tho, she seems very attached to the house. She wont wander much beyond the back porch


P.S. If you really want to be grossed out about the earmites, let me share this: my husband is a biologist, and last night he took a Qtip and wiped it in kitty's ear. The Qtip was covered with black gunk (mites!) which he then looked at under a microscope!! He tried to get me to look, but I just couldn't. But my son looked and said it was disgusting watching all those gross bugs wiggle around.... Ickkkkkkkk. Now I feel all itchy....
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by GayleMG

Thanks so much for all the info and the webpage! I'll start her on a cream. I was wearing gloves when I handled her, but today I handled her a few times without gloves!
I'll start again. It was a little scary to find out it can stay in the environment for 18 months! At least she's only in the one room. I have hardwood floors (50 year old hardwood floors) and I don't know how easy they are to sterilize, since they are porous. It is heartening, though, to find out that it can resolve itself eventually in healthy cats.
The breakaway collars I bought at PetSmart are sold under the Safe Cat brand. They have little plastic clasps that just clip together and can come apart with enough pressure.
Sakura is right that microchipping is great. Someday I hope to microchip all of my animals, but lately it has been too expensive for me.
I know a little about ringworm since my daughter had it on her leg as a toddler. The 18 month survival thing only happens in VERY humid climates (like Hawaii). Texas, like California is pretty arid, and fungi do NOT do well in arid enviroments. Lysol btw will kill the fungi on inanimate objects, so if you spray your floors you should be fine.

Also, I applied my daughter's cream all the time without gloves...her pediatrician said it is not as contagious as you might think and needs a 'compromised host' in order to colonize. It tends to infect people with compromized immune systems---like your poor kitty who was not properly cared for before you took her in---or the very young or old. So you will most likely be fine, even without the gloves--just be sure and wash your hands with soap afterwards.

Also, my vet just sent me an email with signs to look for when your queen is nearing delivery. One of the signs was 'reddening or protrusion of the anal area'. I've heard you mention that your cat has this, so I hope you're ready!!!
(p.s. My kitty's rump looks totally normal)
 

gaylemg

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Originally Posted by Rotobay

One of the signs was 'reddening or protrusion of the anal area'. I've heard you mention that your cat has this, so I hope you're ready!!!
Yay!!
I'm in Northeast TX. It's not as arid as West TX, but not nearly like Hawaii or Florida. Thanks for the tip about Lysol on the floors. Maybe I don't need to worry so much!!

I got some of the medicine on her head. She didn't like it. I have no hope of getting the stuff on her inner thigh. I just hope that what I'm doing helps some. I just hope the kittens don't get it, but if they do I'll just treat them all.

I was thinking about your name dilemma. I've decided that if I ever get a black cat I will name it Pitch!
 
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