HELP: Pregnant stray

rotobay

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Hi all, I just found this site and registered because I've been feeding a stray cat for a few weeks and I am pretty sure she is pregnant.

We have a dog, but the cat seems to tolerate the dog just fine. When she first showed up we thought she was someone's pet who just wandered into our yard, but we put up signs and took out ads and no one has claimed her yet.

Anyway, she mostly stays outside and we've been putting food out for her. But lately she has been eating like a horse and has become much more affectionate AND has a huge belly, so I'm pretty sure she's pregnant. I made an appt with the vet next week.

Questions: Everything I have read about this says that we should keep the pregnant cat inside. This is a cat that as far as I know has lived outside her whole life so I've been letting her come and go as she pleases (she sits at the back door if she wants to go out and looks in the window when she wants to come in). Is this okay? or should I make her stay inside? And what is the danger for a pregnant cat being outside?

Also, we are leaving on a trip next Saturday thru the following Wednesday. Our dog is going to the doggie ranch, but what do we do for the cat? Should we leave her inside the house with a litter box and a bunch of food? Or should we leave her outside? My concern about leaving food for her outside is that other animals might eat it and she might not have anything to eat after the first day (and she has been ravenous lately!).

Sorry for all the questions, but I have never dealt with a pregnant cat before and am unprepared for this. Thanks for any advice that anyone can give!
 

naturesgift

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hi!
the reason you would want the pregnant mom inside is b/c if she has them outside you may not know and there could be complications. They all might die or freeze to death. and they may grow up to all be feral and produce more feral cats. not to mention disease they can pick up.

But if you have her inside you can monitor her. and make sure the pregnancy goes well. and be able to take her to the vet in a momments notice.

I personally wouldnt leave her inside or outside alone well you are gone.
 

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If they aren't trusting of you, and are not inside kitties, it is best to leave the mom outside until after she delivers, of course depending on the weather- but most queens build warm secure nests for their litters. Leaving her inside while you are gone is riskier than leaving her outside with plenty of food (set up a feral feeder using a hot water drain pan with the hole plugged and a large rubbermaid trash can.) Cut a hole on the side of the trash can near the bottom of the can, the hole should be just about 1/2" from the ground. Make the hole about the size of a golf ball. Put the trash can in the drain pan, fill the trash can with dry food- extra food will spill out. Bungee the lid down or weight it down so if it is knocked over the food won't all spill out at once. The cats understand that to get more kibble, they just stick their paw into the hole and more will come spilling out.

Unless you have the time and patience to socialize this queen before you leave, keep her outside. Yes, she is at risk, but she would be at greater risk inside your home that is deserted, not to mention the added stress could compromise her kittens. Ideally, you should trap her and get her in to be spayed, then release her. But some people can't do that- and some people can.
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by naturesgift

hi!
the reason you would want the pregnant mom inside is b/c if she has them outside you may not know and there could be complications. They all might die or freeze to death. and they may grow up to all be feral and produce more feral cats. not to mention disease they can pick up.

But if you have her inside you can monitor her. and make sure the pregnancy goes well. and be able to take her to the vet in a momments notice.

I personally wouldnt leave her inside or outside alone well you are gone.
Hi and thank you so much for responding! FYI I live in southern California so our winter is not cold at all (its about 65 right now)...so kitty will not die outside, but I'm still worried about leaving town.

I am pretty sure she is about 5 weeks pregnant (based only on internet research) so hopefully she wont give birth over the next week. But our vet appt is not until next Friday.

What do you think I should do with her while we are gone (from Sat thru Wed) if I shouldn't leave her inside OR out? I don't have anyone that could come over and care for her on such short notice? TIA

p.s. We are going to a family wedding so I can't cancel the trip
 

naturesgift

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Originally Posted by Rotobay

Hi and thank you so much for responding! FYI I live in southern California so our winter is not cold at all (its about 65 right now)...so kitty will not die outside, but I'm still worried about leaving town.

I am pretty sure she is about 5 weeks pregnant (based only on internet research) so hopefully she wont give birth over the next week. But our vet appt is not until next Friday.

What do you think I should do with her while we are gone (from Sat thru Wed) if I shouldn't leave her inside OR out? I don't have anyone that could come over and care for her on such short notice? TIA

p.s. We are going to a family wedding so I can't cancel the trip
whew man its cold here in Mo.


i like Hissys Idea.
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by hissy

If they aren't trusting of you, and are not inside kitties, it is best to leave the mom outside until after she delivers, of course depending on the weather- but most queens build warm secure nests for their litters. Leaving her inside while you are gone is riskier than leaving her outside with plenty of food (set up a feral feeder using a hot water drain pan with the hole plugged and a large rubbermaid trash can.) Cut a hole on the side of the trash can near the bottom of the can, the hole should be just about 1/2" from the ground. Make the hole about the size of a golf ball. Put the trash can in the drain pan, fill the trash can with dry food- extra food will spill out. Bungee the lid down or weight it down so if it is knocked over the food won't all spill out at once. The cats understand that to get more kibble, they just stick their paw into the hole and more will come spilling out.

Unless you have the time and patience to socialize this queen before you leave, keep her outside. Yes, she is at risk, but she would be at greater risk inside your home that is deserted, not to mention the added stress could compromise her kittens. Ideally, you should trap her and get her in to be spayed, then release her. But some people can't do that- and some people can.
Hi and thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. A little clarification on this stray....At first we thought she was someone's pet because she is so friendly (and I have two young kids who she tolerates). Anyway she is quite socialized and right now is sleeping on my lap, so she is not ferral in the strictest sense.

I will definitely get her spayed after she has the kittens. I read on the web that you can get a cat abortion but I can't bear to do that. We have already placed 2 of the potential kittens tho with friends of ours who are cat lovers.

But she is absolutely comfortable inside the house (in fact my husband keeps saying that she acts like she owns the place).

So, with that added info, do you still think I should leave her outside? Again I am pretty sure she will not deliver while we are gone but obviously I am no expert (in fact I have no experience at all..thank God for the internet!!)
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by naturesgift

whew man its cold here in Mo.


i like Hissys Idea.
I sympathize because we are going to Minniapolis on Saturday!! I had to borrow coats for my kids because we don't have the right stuff!! Brrrrrrrrrrr
 

naturesgift

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Originally Posted by Rotobay

I sympathize because we are going to Minniapolis on Saturday!! I had to borrow coats for my kids because we don't have the right stuff!! Brrrrrrrrrrr
well I hope you have a great time!!!! maybe you will enjoy some snow!


We had a simaler thing happen when we first moved her with Our Princess. She showed up as an ity bity kitten though we couldnt catch her she was sso wild. we were building our house and she kept finding lil holes into the house. And she slowly tamed down.. and now she is a major part of our family.
 

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Well, first of all, thank you for looking out for this poor cat!!
I think that just shows how caring of a person you are. If she is friendly, it's most likely that she is someone's lost/abandoned pet. The good part about this is that you can keep her inside easier and interact with her like a pet (the bad part is this means that someone was not taking care of her and didn't have her spayed, which is just frustrating).

Since it sounds like she is socialized and friendly and used to your home, I would keep her inside until she delivers so she's safe.

So you will be gone for 4 days? Will the dog be home while you are gone? If it were me, I would keep her inside during the trip (at the very least, keep her in a garage if you have one). She may not deliver while you are gone but she could be hit by a car or attacked by an animal or who knows what. You can get one of those food bowls that will fill itself up (normally that's not the best idea because cats will eat too much, but she is pregnant so that's not an issue. She should have all the food she needs). Get a water bowl with a reservoir on it too so she has plenty of water.

Does she use a litter box?

I hope the vet appointment goes well! I can understand not wanting to spay her now, that isn't an option that everyone is comfortable with. I think it's great that you have already found homes for some of the kittens and plan on spaying the mom. You'll want to make sure that the kittens stay with the mom and the rest of the litter until 12 weeks at least. I would spay each kitten before they are re-homed if possible. Since that could be potentially very expensive, I would start reseraching the low cost spay/neuter clinics in your area and see if they can help you (I'm sure they would be happy to help). Or just make sure that they go to homes where the owners are people you trust will have their kitten spayed/neutered.

Oh and another thought - could it just be that she isn't pregnant and her huge belly is from worms?

This cat is so lucky to have found you
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by Sakura

Well, first of all, thank you for looking out for this poor cat!!
I think that just shows how caring of a person you are. If she is friendly, it's most likely that she is someone's lost/abandoned pet. The good part about this is that you can keep her inside easier and interact with her like a pet (the bad part is this means that someone was not taking care of her and didn't have her spayed, which is just frustrating).

Since it sounds like she is socialized and friendly and used to your home, I would keep her inside until she delivers so she's safe.

So you will be gone for 4 days? Will the dog be home while you are gone? If it were me, I would keep her inside during the trip (at the very least, keep her in a garage if you have one). She may not deliver while you are gone but she could be hit by a car or attacked by an animal or who knows what. You can get one of those food bowls that will fill itself up (normally that's not the best idea because cats will eat too much, but she is pregnant so that's not an issue. She should have all the food she needs). Get a water bowl with a reservoir on it too so she has plenty of water.

Does she use a litter box?

I hope the vet appointment goes well! I can understand not wanting to spay her now, that isn't an option that everyone is comfortable with. I think it's great that you have already found homes for some of the kittens and plan on spaying the mom. You'll want to make sure that the kittens stay with the mom and the rest of the litter until 12 weeks at least. I would spay each kitten before they are re-homed if possible. Since that could be potentially very expensive, I would start reseraching the low cost spay/neuter clinics in your area and see if they can help you (I'm sure they would be happy to help). Or just make sure that they go to homes where the owners are people you trust will have their kitten spayed/neutered.

Oh and another thought - could it just be that she isn't pregnant and her huge belly is from worms?

This cat is so lucky to have found you
WORMS!!! Eeeekkkkkkkkk. I almost spit my coffee out at that idea!! And my husband is laughing hysterically since I spent last night making a 'birthing box'. He keeps joking that I'm going to have a hard time finding good homes for thousands of worms


But I am pretty sure she is pregnant because her nipples turned pink over the past week. I took some pix of her but I can't figure out how to post them. She has also been showing some nesting behavior and has been incredibly affectionate (she always wants to sit on my lap and last night she slept all cuddled up with me under the covers).

To answer your questions, the dog will NOT be here when we are gone, so if we leave the kitty inside, she will be alone (btw she totally dominates the dog...he always wants to play with her and she swats him on the nose and he slinks away....too funny).

And I did get a litter box for her, but she hasn't used it yet. I am home all day and she lets me know when she wants to go outside by sitting at the back door (so I presume she is using the backyard as her litterbox).

BTW I hear you about the irresponsible pet owners. I was a foster mom for abandoned dogs (our dog is a rescue) and it really infuriates me. We will definitely only home these kittens with responsible owners (and we plan to keep at least one).

ANyway a HUGE thanks to everyone here for being so nice and helpful. ANd the more advice the better.
 

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If shes already comfortable in your home I would let her stay in there! If she hasn't used the litter box yet you might come home to a few messes, but at least she will be safe! I would definatly keep her as an inside only kitty right now, just so you know whats going on! Is there anyway you can get a vet appt earlier so you could find out a due date so you know before you leave?? Or maybe have a friend check up on her a couple times a day! It sounds like you're a really caring animal owner! Thats awesome!! Thanks for helping a kitty in need!


Oh Yeah, WELCOME TO TCS!!
 

jen

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If you aren't leaving on your trip til next sat then youhave a week to figure out how she does inside and to get her comfortable. I would definitely keep her inside, she can get pregnant pretty fast again after birth. She also no doubt has worms so talk to your vet on deworming her. That means the kittens will be born with worms as well so they will all need dewormer.
 

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Yup, Jen is right! If she was outside she most definatly has worms! You'll have to keep that in mind later on because the kittens will need to be dewormed too! Good luck, and keep us posted!
 

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I had the exact same issue, except for the fact that my Elsa wasn't real friendly at first.

Anyway, I brought her to my house when whe was about 6 weeks along, and, surprisingly, she just plopped down in the middle of the floor as if she were saying, "well, it's about time."

If she doesn't use the litter box, you can add some potting soil to the box. I would try her for this week inside your home. She sounds like she might be ok.

Also, for Christmas, I received one of those automatic feeding stations (from Petmate, I think???) and it will deliver 3 meals a day from 1/4 cup to like 2 1/2 cups. That is extremely handy, and I love it.

Hopefully you are feeding her kitten food; if not, it would be a good time to start. Best of luck!
 
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rotobay

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Hi guys,

I'm checking in from Sunny Minneapolis. I think my original post was misleading since I said 'next Saturday' but we are out of town right now.

Anyway we did leave her inside the house with a litter box and huge bowls of food and water. I have a friend who is stopping by once per day to give her fresh milk daily (I've been giving her milk every day--is this okay?) and to make sure she has enough food and water.

I just left her a huge bowl of food so hopefully she wont over eat. I figured too much was better than not enough since she is pregnant.

Unfortunately the only person I could get on such short notice is not a cat person, but at least the kitty will have her basic needs met. My friend says the cat appears to have used the litter box at least once, but there are some accidents on the floor, so I'll try that soil trick when I get home. No babies yet and she said that kitty seems quite content in the house


I made arrangements to come back a day early and will be taking her to the vet tomorrow so I'll give everyone an update tomorrow eve.

I really want to thank everyone here for being so helpful and supportive.

Also, can her worms be treated while she is pregnant or will we have to wait until she delivers? Will the worms hurt the kittens? I also think she has ear mites because she keeps scratching her ears...can these be treated during pregnancy? Poor baby! TIA
 
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rotobay

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Originally Posted by kluchetta

It's ok to give milk replacement, like catmilk, but don't give cow's milk. It gives most cats diarrhea.
Thanks for that, Kulchetta. Also fyi, my little cat looks just like the black cat you have on your avatar and on the valentines pic you posted (except she's carrying a little more weight around the middle).

Question (if you know): will an all black cat have all black kittens (I have no idea what the dad looks like)? TIA
 

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Originally Posted by Rotobay

Thanks for that, Kulchetta. Also fyi, my little cat looks just like the black cat you have on your avatar and on the valentines pic you posted (except she's carrying a little more weight around the middle).

Question (if you know): will an all black cat have all black kittens (I have no idea what the dad looks like)? TIA
With an all-black mother, it depends on the dad a lot. If dad is also black, kittens could be black, blue (gray), with or without tabby markings. If either has white, there could be tuxedo kitties. If dad is orange, the females will be tortiseshell, and the boys will be black. Also with varying degrees of tabby-ness. Elsa had 1 black, 1 tortie/tabby, 2 gray tabbies, a brown tabby, and 3 WHITE kittens. I reconstructed that there were 2 dads - one with red (orange) and one white dad!
 

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Ya know, I dont know if you can deworm a pregnant queen! Maybe bnwalker2 could help you with that!! Please let us know how the vet visit goes!

~Amber~

Feel Free to PM me!!
 

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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).


To post pictures, you first need to get them off your camera onto your computer. Mine automatically does it when connect my camera to my laptop, I use iphoto (I have an apple). Then you'll want to make sure the pictures are in .jpg format, and then upload them to a website like http://www.photobucket.com. (Basically you go to photobucket, make an account, and add pictures to your account online from your computer). Once they are on photobucket, copy the "img code" below the picture (it should be the option on the very bottom) and paste it in your post. Then it should automatically show up. I hope that makes sense at least a little. There might even be a thread somewhere or a sticky thread about how to upload pictures.

(Can you tell I am dying to see pictures of the momma cat and also the kittens when they arrive?)


Oh and when you get home, there are a few other things you can try to help re-train or train her to use the litter box (in addition to the soil thing). There is a product called Litter Attract (it's sold at PetSmart) that you can add to litter, it entices cats to use the box and seems to be really popular.
 
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