This is my first cat and her first litter...we're new to this!

I bought my kitty Jasmine in June of 2006 at that time she was ten weeks old. I moved into a new home four months ago and she wasnt able to come with me. So, I kept her at my parents...She was never one to escape. But, once i wasnt around as much she would wait by the door at my parents all the time I felt so bad!!! Anywho Im guesstimating around mid June she got out and we were pretty sure mated with a long haired black cat that had a white strip on his chest. Since it had been awhile and she hadn't shown any signs of being pregnant I quickly forgot. Also during this time i snuck her over to my house where she is now living ( I missed her sooo much!). Anywho i would say within the last couple weeks Ive noticed that she is eating at least 2x what she was eating before. She has been staying in my closet a lot and her nipples are very noticable. Her tummy is getting so big and its hard. She has been laying on her side a lot and when she sleeps with me she likes when i have my hand under her belly...I dont know if this relieves stress...or its a comfort thing. Basically, I'm positive she is pregnant I just dont know how far along and when to expect them. Im worried because i am taking a trip the end of August and don't want to stress her out around the time of the delivery...I also measured her belly and it was approx 17 inches. She is a very small cat so i dont know if this helps. She is also still pretty playful when given the opportunity (she was playing with the tape measure while i was measuring her). But other than that she just lays on her side and in my closet all day. So can anyone help me based off this information????

A cat is pregnant approximately 63-68 days (about 9 weeks) - if she got outside mid June then she should have them about the third week of August. You probably have 3-4 weeks left. You might be cutting it close but hopefully she will have them before you leave. When is your trip and how long? If need be, can you cancel the trip?

Please plan on keeping the kittens and mom together (let her wean them) for at least 10-12 weeks old so they get the important social/mental development of staying together. Its not enough to be eating solid food and using the pan - kittens adopted under 10 weeks old can have more psychological problems from being weaned too early and not having the social time together.

Talk to your vet about getting her spayed as soon as possible when the kittens are weaned and do NOT let her outside. Cats can get pregnant again while they are nursing kittens.

Just curious as to why she was not spayed a lot earlier?

I actually had an appointment to get her spayed Aug 1st. Because she came and lived with me. Since it is my first cat i figured that since she was an indoor cat, and didn't have exposure to any males in the house that she obviously wasnt going to get pregnant. I actually plan on keeping the kittens. I am looking to move right now to somewhere that allows cats. For some reason i couldn't imagine seperating her from her babies. I was reading that since it is probably her first litter it will more than likely be smaller. Im actually super excited. I've never had the opportunity to have such a awesome experience. But, yes i do def. plan on getting her spayed after she has the babies. Last night I felt them moving....it was so neat!

I know what you mean - you can feel "life" but have no clue on what those kittens even look like till they are born - that's the neat part.

Hopefully your mom cat will be ok with the offspring staying. Some mothers don't like the babies to be hanging around after they get a few months old. So be prepared that you might have problems in the future. If you keep all the babies, then you are looking at multiple spay/neuter by the time they are about 3 months old - kittens as young as 4 months old can and do breed and you don't want brother/sister breedings.

If you cannot afford for all of them to be done in a short amount of time - then plan on keeping 2 of the same sex and getting them done as soon as possible - otherwise you will have to separate them to prevent mating.

I have a Cat that could not be fix and never had Kittens until I ahd to leave her at my Dads house because teh place I was living in didnt allow pets. They didnt tell me there was a unfixed male there. Coco had almost died in Sept of 2001 and had not gone in heat because she was very sick. She had her only litter at age 10 and there was 5 . The last two were dead. you can not trust other people. Tomorrow Cocos son will be 6 and my Stormy would have been 6. I hope everything goes well with your Cat. My Cat was a great Mom.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Hopefully your mom cat will be ok with the offspring staying. Some mothers don't like the babies to be hanging around after they get a few months old. So be prepared that you might have problems in the future.

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My mama cat gave birth on St. Patrick's day this year. She had 5 and we rehomed 3 when they were 12 weeks old. It is an incredible experience!! Afterward, when the babies were around 3 months old, Pennie started getting mean toward the 2 we kept. She'd hiss and rarh. She got spayed, and 2 weeks after that she was interacting nicely with the kittens again. I wonder if she was nasty to them, mainly because she was in heat. Now that the horomones are gone, she's amazing to them. She cleans them and loves them. Never hisses, or freaks out at them. It's such a relief! So, hopefully, you will have a similar experience!

Enjoy those babies!

Ya, I am truly blessed to be able to go through this event. My Jasmine is honestly my other half. We are best buds So its like she talks to me and tells me whats going on in her tummy and i can tell in her change in personality and how she meows that she is totally like "what are these things in my tummy that are moving around, here Shannon feel" and she'll come over and lay her tummy on my hand It amazing how in tune you can get with your cat! And im super excited to meet her babies and see her as a mommy(I know she'll be awesome). I was reading other threads and read one about how one mommy cat had brought her kittens into the bed to show the owner...I would not doubt that Jasmine would do something like that at all...I set up a nice little area on the floor in the corner of my closet. Its very calm and quiet and i think she'll like it. Im a little afraid though because she keeps going up on the high shelves in there and obviously that wouldnt be too safe...wondering what i should do. You guys have such great advice!!! All stuff i needed to know...so if there is any more keep it coming

Its not good for a pregnant cat to be jumping up and down in a high place - good way to miscarriage. That's why all my cats were confined to a large cage with one low shelf above the kitten box - no more then about 12-18 inches from the floor - about 2 inches above the height of the box. Everyone was in one place, the moms were content and the kittens had a good safe area to be in for the first 2 months.

What about jumping up and down off of beds?

I would confine her to one room as much as possible with little to jump on. I don't like risking injury/early labor the last few weeks and so my girls were caged 2 weeks before delivery - since they were pedigree I knew the delivery dates.

But if I had a stray with unknown dates, I'd still do a best guess and confine them for their safety. All it takes is one wrong jump.

ya i understand, but, she isnt a stray ive had her since she was ten weeks old. She does jump on my bed. And last night she was acting very weird! She was crying all night...and she never cries. So i was up all night trying to figure out what was wrong...I still dont know what it was my poor baby! I took some picture of her yesterday and thought id post them...oh and i know that she conceived on June 18th so i dont know if that helps with the due date.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1...Picture138.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1...Picture150.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1...Picture148.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1...Picture143.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k1...Picture135.jpg

Please change her food to a high quality kitten chow (like Nutro Ultra Kitten) for the extra nutrition.She needs that during the entire pregnancy and while she's nursing

There are numerous threads on labor and delivery throughout TCS- i'd recommend you read through them and have a little "kit" ready should you need to step in and help with the birth. (kitten formula, droppers, thread, warm towels, saline solution,scissors, baby wipes, a heating pad, etc....) Also have a 24 hour vet office number you can call for help if you should need it.


read up on www.kitten-rescue.com so that you'll know what to do in the event it's necessary to bottle feed the kittens.

Sometimes when cats get close to having their babies they will get restless- crying and nesting....this can be normal behavior- but just to be on the safe side you should take her to your vet if you notice her in any pain or any changes occur just to make sure all is developing ok.

Does she have any discharge from her vaginal area? Also if you gently squeeze her nipples- can you see if she's lactating or not? Usually when they get close to delivering they will produce milk and the nipples will darken.

I've delivered many kittens- if you need any help or have any questions- just send me a pm and i'd be happy to help you!

(Definitely listen to the previous posters and go ahead and confine her so that she does not injure herself. Do go ahead and prepare a nice nesting box for her as well ) Once the kittens arrive- plan to have them spayed/neutered once they reach 2-3lbs so that you don't have any more litters. (It is safe to have them altared in most cases once they weigh 2lbs- the shelter i used to work at always did them that young- they all recovered quite well!) Also- once they're weaned from momma - definitely go ahead and let her dry up at least a week then have her spayed as well.

Last night i went and got her some kitten food both wet and dry she seems to be ok with them. I have set up a little comfortable spot in the corner of my closet and cut off all possibiliites in there for her to jump. Another quick question. When cats become pregnant do they give off more dander or something, i seem to be very allergic to her lately and i never have been before...its really weird!

Originally Posted by Jasmine06

Last night i went and got her some kitten food both wet and dry she seems to be ok with them. I have set up a little comfortable spot in the corner of my closet and cut off all possibiliites in there for her to jump. Another quick question. When cats become pregnant do they give off more dander or something, i seem to be very allergic to her lately and i never have been before...its really weird!

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I have no idea but it seems like it could be possible. Hormones can do funny things. Sometimes Lucia was a little grouchy and she seems mellower now. I can relate. When I was pregnant I got grouchy sometimes too.