I was recently reading something about what to expect when a cat gives birth. I realized that when my (stray) cat Jet gave birth for the first time, it wasn't like anything I read about in cat health books. I'm just curious as to whether she had a normal or abnormal experience. It doesn't really matter now since this happened years ago, I'm just curious.
So when she gave birth, she was sort of pacing (maybe distressed) around the cold, hard, concrete garage floor. I had a nice little area setup for her but she wouldn't stay in it. When the first kitten came out, she was standing up and the kitten just plopped right out on the floor. Then she took several steps and the kitten was dragged around behind her several inches. It was maybe 30 to 60 seconds before she began licking the kitten. I don't know what happened after that because I was a teenager and it was time to go to school. When I came home, there were four healthy looking kittens snuggled up with their mother in the box I had setup for them. The kittens turned out fine. Although the one was the weirdest cat I've ever seen. It took forever to wean him (it was a breeze weaning the others) and he was always picky about food. He also didn't learn many cat things until he was one year old and I brought him inside to live with my other two older cats. He obviously learned things from them. He reminds me of people who have Asperger's syndrome.
Jet gave birth to two more litters after this one and her behavior was more normal. I remember when she gave birth to the third litter and she seemed fine with no signs of distress. The only thing abnormal is that she pretty much abandoned the third litter when they were six to eight weeks old, but they turned out just fine. She was definitely not meant to be a mother.
So when she gave birth, she was sort of pacing (maybe distressed) around the cold, hard, concrete garage floor. I had a nice little area setup for her but she wouldn't stay in it. When the first kitten came out, she was standing up and the kitten just plopped right out on the floor. Then she took several steps and the kitten was dragged around behind her several inches. It was maybe 30 to 60 seconds before she began licking the kitten. I don't know what happened after that because I was a teenager and it was time to go to school. When I came home, there were four healthy looking kittens snuggled up with their mother in the box I had setup for them. The kittens turned out fine. Although the one was the weirdest cat I've ever seen. It took forever to wean him (it was a breeze weaning the others) and he was always picky about food. He also didn't learn many cat things until he was one year old and I brought him inside to live with my other two older cats. He obviously learned things from them. He reminds me of people who have Asperger's syndrome.
Jet gave birth to two more litters after this one and her behavior was more normal. I remember when she gave birth to the third litter and she seemed fine with no signs of distress. The only thing abnormal is that she pretty much abandoned the third litter when they were six to eight weeks old, but they turned out just fine. She was definitely not meant to be a mother.
