Found Pregnant Cat

Hello,

I found a pregnant stray cat yesterday and have brought her home. She looks to be the same age as my mom's kitten Maddie, who is about 6 months old. Her stomach is massive. If I were to post a pic could someone help me guess when I should start looking for kittens to arrive?

If I had to guess I would say very very soon. Her milk has not dropped yet. She is so sweet. I can not believe someone would abandon a pregnant cat. My boyfriend feeds a couple of stray cats who live in the field behind his house. They are very feral. She let me walk right up and pet her. We thought she was a neighbors cat. But she have been on the back patio for a week or so now mostly all day. I think she was living in the shed.

I could not stand to leave her outside. We have indoor cats and they are fixed so I have never experienced kitten birth. Sorry I am rambling. I am bit nervous about this. Any advice would be appreciated!

Can you see the babies moving in her belly, like when she's laying down? If so that usually means they are in their last two weeks.

I'm by no means a pro, barely an amateur--my stray momma had 5 kittens on Monday morning, it was 18 days from the day I brought her here. They were moving when I brought her here--she apparently wasn't ready in two weeks...

This is a good thing you're doing.

Feed momma kitten food--all she can eat--and it'll be alot.

Leslie

Thanks for the advice. I have some vitamin paste and liquid vitamins. Do you think i should try giving any of these?

The female who is the same age is very curious about her but my other female does not seem very happy that there is a new cat. I think she will get accustomed to her soon though. She is not being aggressive she is just not being social.

I can not see them moving when she is laying down. But her stomach is definitely large. I don't see how it could get much bigger. I am pretty sure I felt them moving yesterday.

Good for you!
From the sounds of it, it should be in 3 weeks max.
Do you have any pics of her? That could help determine how far, though you never really know...
Good luck! Keep us updated on how she is!

I will look for camera this morning after breakfast and post some pictures.

I' m not an expert or anything, but my cat De just had kittens and because it was my first litter I did loads of research so I'd know what to expect. There is loads of info on the internet, but below is some stuff I found/would have found useful!

First she will need somewhere to nest, make sure she has access to places where she is comfy, warm and won't be disturbed (although try to make it somewhere you can get to, De did it under the bed which didn't make it easy when she needed help!). She will most likely choose her own place (which may have been the shed), just look out for her spending lots of time in areas you wouldn't want her to birth. Make her a nest box with plenty of clean towels (a pile makes it easier to clean up, when ones dirty you can just take the top one off).
When she's getting closer (last week or so) she may be more affectionate towards you, but when she's very close will spend a lot of time preparing and lying in the nest box. You should free feed (as much as she wants) kitten food. I didn't give De any supplements but a lot of people on here recomend you do.
When she goes into labour you will probably see her panting (it was obvious for De, she was sqeaking and pacing and wanted loads of attention but I'm sure it will be different for all cats). She will also keep going to the nest box. When she's in active labour, you will be able to see contractions in her lower abdomen (I never knew it would be so obvious!). Once you can see discharge you will probably have your first one within the hour. When the kitten is born, the mother will clean it and eat the afterbirth (you must check that there is one placenta for every kitten, it looks a bit like a red pebble, if there are any left in it can cause a serious infection). The kitten will probably look to be feeding straight away. You should avoid touching them in the first few days unless you really need to (for De the 3rd and 4th babies needed help as De was too exhausted to get up and clean them). It is a messy afair, but your cat will clean most of that up. After a few hours (when they've all been born and have a good feed) take the top towel off (it will be wet and gross and the kittens need to be kept warm and dry).
Carry on free feeding her kitten food while she is nursing, her food and plenty of fresh water should be by her nesting box, and she will need a litter tray but don't put it too close to the box as she might not use it.

Stuff that we found useful:
Little syringes (one of the kittens wouldn't nurse so we had to feed him formula)
A pipette to suck the goo out of the mouths and nose of any that need help
a pair of scissors
cotton
cotton wool pads
lots of towels or newspaper to keep the box clean and dry

She will probably not need any help from you at all, but a couple of ours did and I followed the advise on this site: http://cats.about.com/od/reproductio...rthprocess.htm

Sorry if any of that is stuff you already know, let us know how you get on

Vicky

Thank you for the advice. It was definitely not too much. I hope she does not go into labour while I am at work. Thanks for the link. I will keep everyone posted. I will be posting pictures later on today.

Here are the pictures of Winnie. I hope someone can help me ballpark when I should be looking for kittens. It has to be really soon or she is going to explode!

Aw she's beautiful! she looks similar size to Bella during her last week




Bellatrix seemed to be pregnant forever but the day she had them i was pretty sure it was "the day" She left food in her bowl....unheard of the last few months.....was very fussy in the morning ( when i noticed her milk had dropped)then spent the afternoon in her cupboard, her chosen nesting spot, then after tea when i was putting my daughter to bed Bella sat in the middle of the lounge Meowing loudly and looking wide eyed, stood up leaving a jelly plug behind with soaking wet legs I coaxed her to the cupboard shut the door on her whilst I cleaned up and within 45 minutes she had the first one!

The Best thing to do,If you are out at work is to confine her to a seperate room away from other cats where she can't get into too much mischief or give birth in a secret/dangerous place.
Bellatrix has had 2 very different births,The first time I went to bed at 1.45am and she was fine no signs woke up at 7.45 and she was nursing 6 clean dry kittens in the cupboard, this time 4 out of 5 were breech and I helped her out( I don't know if it was necessary but she was happy for me to and she was very tired)
I hope it all goes well......keep me posted!

thank you! Your Bella looks like my Clive. She is also very beautiful. I will keep everyone updated.

When she lays on her side I can see the kittens moving around. It looks like their is a soccer game going on in her tummy. She is also very lovely and is following me around everywhere. Right now she is laying on the bed right beside me asleep. It would be difficult to convince anyone that she is stray I have had since Saturday.

Are you sure shes a stray? have you put up ads or anything? she seems overly friendly for a stray momma. you never know there might be someone out there looking for her.

No I have not put any signs up. She has been living in my boyfriends backyard for a few weeks and we finally caught her. She definitely didn't want anything to do with us before. I had to give her food and then try to slowly get closer and closer to her. Finally I could pet her with her eating food, but that was it. His house backs up to a big field and there are tons of strays out there. We have been trying to catch them slowly, get them fixed and rerelease them. I just assumed she was stray. She is very young around 6 months old or a little older i think. I guess we should put up signs just in case.

Originally Posted by calismom

Are you sure shes a stray? have you put up ads or anything? she seems overly friendly for a stray momma. you never know there might be someone out there looking for her.

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I don't think that means anything. A lot of my outside cats were friendly when they showed up. Cammy was too.

she is really sweet. i hope i can find her a good home. i would love to keep the momma myself but i think if i get another cat i will have an illegal amount. lol. i think i have a friend who may be interested in the momma. it will be hard to let her go after i end up having her here for so long. i have never tried to home kittens before so this will be interesting. i am really nervous about it. i am going to try to give them away to my friends and family. i am not sure about giving them away to people i do not know. well i am off to work. i hope she does not go into labor while i am gone.