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Pregnant Chloe - due date unknown

post #1 of 76
2/9/12 at 11:07pm
Thread Starter 

My 8 month old cat Chloe was at my fiance's mom's for an entire month with another male and was outside a lot, so she could've gotten pregnant any time from december 1st to january 1st. When she came back home, she was a little bit heavier,with a round, hard belly but not bigger around. on january 10th, i felt lumps on her belly, which turned out to be her milk ducts (which i was originally thought was cancer, so this was a relief), she was now even heavier, even harder belly, pink nipples and eating A LOT. I was finally able to bring her to her appointment on January 23rd and they confirmed pregnancy. She weighed 6.5 lbs. They told me at least halfway but thats it. They never did an ultrasound. On the 7th, we brought her to have an xray, because her being so young, we wanted a kitten count to know when labor would be done and know that a kitten wasn't lodged. Its a good thing we did too. We were expecting, due to age and first litter, that she would have 2-3. NOPE. She has 5-6. They did one medium xray, to lessen risks of radiation exposure to the kittens.

 

Chloe hasn't been showing any signs of impending labor, so i guess she has another week or so. Nobody, not even the vet has been able to say within a week how far along she is. just a broad generalization. at the xray appointment, they said a one to few weeks left, but they arent very sure because it was a medium xray and they couldnt see full calcification of the bones. only light skulls and spines. she is very large in the belly and bony everywhere else. She eats about 6 times a day i would guess. Her 6 month, pre pregnancy weight was 4lbs and a few oz. now she is about 7.5 lbs and enjoys (and almost demands) her belly rubs, but only from me. She has a few nesting spots she has shown interest in, but i am thinking of setting up a really nice one in our spare bedroom.

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post #2 of 76
2/9/12 at 11:56pm

Welcome to the TCS site and our Forums!

 

I suppose this with exact time isnt that criticial... As long as you are prepared. They do come when they do come...   When did you noticed the pink nipples?  They usually do come about day 21.

 

We do have several contemporary treads with people rougly in your situation, so look also at these treads and advices there...

 

With a rather big litter it is important with good food. You mentioned she eats 6 times a day. What food?Kitten food is the standard advice.  Some extra calcium may also be useful, esp after delivery. Giving milk to 6 hungry mouths takes a big toll on her calium reserves.

 

A tip when she delivers: They usually eats the afterbirth. Try to let her eat only the four first.

There is some risk for diarreas if they eats more...

 

Good luck!    *vibes*

 

ps

And sorry for me mentioning it.  As you did not had planned protection for her being together with a fertile male, I suspect you are not a breeder, nor your relatives are.  And this litter wasnt planned either.

So,  please spay her as soon as these kittens are weaned, and ask also your relatives to neuter this male as soon as conveniently possible.  There is no point in keeping cats fertile if you arent planning to breed them. You yourself saw ONE exemple what can happen if you dont.   :)

This advice is for 99,9% of moggies, and 90-95% of pure breds.

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post #3 of 76
2/9/12 at 11:56pm
OMG that poor little baby just a kitten herself..... so tiny too.... vibes.gifvibes.gifvibes.gifvibes.gifvibes.gif For a safe labor! Please, please spay her as soon as you can heartpump.gif more vibes vibes.gifvibes.gifvibes.gifvibes.gif
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post #4 of 76
2/10/12 at 12:28am
Thread Starter 

the pregnancy wasnt planned and neither was having her gone for a month. she hadnt even gone into her first heat, so i didnt even think pregnancy was possible. i went into the vets thinking she had cancer and i was considering having her spayed as well. after finding out she was ideed pregnant, the vet wanted me to do a spay abortion, but being at least half way, i saw it to be wrong. she will be spayed after kittens are weaned, pregnant or not.i will suggest they have their boy fixed as well, esp since he is an outdoor and very fertile. he's gotten 2 cats pregnant so far within 1 month. makes me wonder how many more illegitimates he's got. :(

 

i noticed the pink nipples around the time i felt the lumps on her belly, so around the 10th. 

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post #5 of 76
2/10/12 at 12:36am

Don't let her out after she has had the kittens until she goes to be neutered.  People have let cats feeding kittens out and they have gone missing leaving the owner not only missing their cat, but having to bottle feed tiny kittens, and if they are very tiny it's not easy to get it right.

 

This tells you a lot about the birthing process:

http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/infosheets/breeding_from_your_cat/felineparturition.html

 

And it's probably good she has a large litter, as the kittens tend to be smaller.

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post #6 of 76
2/10/12 at 12:54am
Thread Starter 

at his moms, she was out a lot, but i have never let her out here. we have a double door policy. u go thru door 1, close it. look around for her, then open door 2. if both doors need to be open at the same time, she is put in the bathroom. our male is allowed out only because he is fixed.

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post #7 of 76
2/10/12 at 4:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by munchkin1021 View Post she hadnt even gone into her first heat, so i didnt even think pregnancy was possible....

 

i noticed the pink nipples around the time i felt the lumps on her belly, so around the 10th. 


Being near a fertile male induces heat.  It may even be sufficient with smells from a fertile male. Say, some used litter, or "foot-clothes". (sorry for my english, and I dont have time to looks in dictioary for every word I do lack)  

  In fact, these are some of the tricks breeders do use sometimes, if their queen is seldom in heat.

 

Besides, mating itself can "ignitate". So heat is not completely necessary, as long as she is old enough.   As he is very fertile as you say, and rather experienced, knows what and how to do - there is a big risk he will mate even if the other cat isnt in heat.

Some females have a so called silent heat - where the humans dont even notice. But any fertile male do notice of course.

Some males are gentle and court before they try to mate. Some just do take what they want, and not seldom even beat up her if she tryies to defend...

 

Whatever. We are now here, it is only to try to make the best of the situation. As I see you are doing. :)

 

 

OK, so if you noticed her pink nipples the 10´ths, and we assume you looked on every day, the "ignition"  should be about the 20-th dec.   65 days -> about 25th february??  take or give a couple of days.

 

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post #8 of 76
2/15/12 at 11:58pm
Thread Starter 

i cant tell if her babies are moving or if she is having contractions. she doesn't seem to be in pain, just extremely tired... it looks like waves on her sides, she makes a weird grunt and her abdomen tightens... she is now cleaning herself and seems to not be able to reach down there very well.. 

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post #9 of 76
2/16/12 at 12:01am
Thread Starter 

i did not look every day. so, it could've been before that. 
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by StefanZ View Post


Being near a fertile male induces heat.  It may even be sufficient with smells from a fertile male. Say, some used litter, or "foot-clothes". (sorry for my english, and I dont have time to looks in dictioary for every word I do lack)  

  In fact, these are some of the tricks breeders do use sometimes, if their queen is seldom in heat.

 

Besides, mating itself can "ignitate". So heat is not completely necessary, as long as she is old enough.   As he is very fertile as you say, and rather experienced, knows what and how to do - there is a big risk he will mate even if the other cat isnt in heat.

Some females have a so called silent heat - where the humans dont even notice. But any fertile male do notice of course.

Some males are gentle and court before they try to mate. Some just do take what they want, and not seldom even beat up her if she tryies to defend...

 

Whatever. We are now here, it is only to try to make the best of the situation. As I see you are doing. :)

 

 

OK, so if you noticed her pink nipples the 10´ths, and we assume you looked on every day, the "ignition"  should be about the 20-th dec.   65 days -> about 25th february??  take or give a couple of days.

 



 

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post #10 of 76
2/16/12 at 2:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by munchkin1021 View Post

i cant tell if her babies are moving or if she is having contractions. she doesn't seem to be in pain, just extremely tired... it looks like waves on her sides, she makes a weird grunt and her abdomen tightens... she is now cleaning herself and seems to not be able to reach down there very well.. 



It sounds defintely like contractions.  Although it isnt sure the delivery is immediately near. Sometimes they do have contractions days before the real delivery, without much happening.

 

But if she seems extremely tired... How long was it on?  Unsuccessful very prolonged labor isnt not good at all.   Consider to consult your vet, if it was say a whole day,  Asap if that is so.

Begin with a phone call.

 

 

Good luck!    *vibes*

 

 

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post #11 of 76
2/17/12 at 8:17am
Any babies yet
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post #12 of 76
2/19/12 at 2:38pm
Thread Starter 

not yet. babies are moving a lot in her belly and she has a weird posture about her. her belly had also dropped, so i think any day now, she will deliver.

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post #13 of 76
2/19/12 at 2:58pm
Thread Starter 

 

this is from 2 weeks ago

 

chloe.jpg 51k .jpg file

 

 

this is from today

 

 

 

 

IMG_4992.JPG 2,493k .JPG file

 

 

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post #14 of 76
2/19/12 at 4:25pm
She is huge. And a beautiful cat. Wishing her a smooth delivery And let us know.
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post #15 of 76
2/19/12 at 6:09pm
Thread Starter 

thanks. she is very beautiful and i love her dearly. <3 i will post as everything progresses. stay tuned!!!

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post #16 of 76
2/21/12 at 9:03am
She is so beautiful! I love white cats. She looks like she doesn't have Much farther to go. Probably another week or so since she has 5-6 kittens. Can't wait to see what they come out looking like since you don't know what the father looks like smile.gif
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post #17 of 76
2/23/12 at 8:15am
Thread Starter 

Still no kitties yet. she was acting really ODD this morning. she jumped up where i was sitting, wanted me to pet her ears, she'd do a twitchy jump, lick herself down there, and repeated this like 5 times. she will NOT let me touch her belly. up until yesterday, she LOVED getting belly rubs from ONLY me. i thought, by looking at her back, she might be having contractions. her appetite had dropped, but now its back up again. i gave her her morning can of food and she is scarfing it down like she has never eaten in her life. Her kittens have def dropped. i can't feel them on the side anymore. only on the bottom. she has 2 long, softer fat-like masses running down each side, under her nipples, which i assume is her milk. .. idk what is going on with her. its like she wants to keep me guessing.

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post #18 of 76
2/23/12 at 9:48am
Lizzie was eating up till an hour before delivering. And Ya it's her milk. And she can go at anytime now. Best of luck.
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post #19 of 76
2/23/12 at 9:04pm

The poor wee thing is HUGE...I hope she has them soon...

I`ve only had one young momma cat that it was her first litter. It was an effort to push that first one out and she

was very vocal about it as the kitten passed.

She gave birth to three kittens and I felt so sorry for her. She was SO exhausted by the third ... I was really <

worried for her. But get this..her labor stopped and I was sure I could feel another baby moving in her.

She rested quite a while and then began her motherly duties and everyone was healthy and happy.

Three days later...another kitten!  She was so exhausted, she stopped her labour. I don`t think this is common`though.

I do worry how small she is and how many babies she has to birth. Good luck to her ``lots of vibes!!

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post #20 of 76
2/24/12 at 6:53pm
Thread Starter 

still no kitties. she was having light contractions earlier today. i think tonight will be it!!! she has been sleeping on and off and looking very uncomfortable. she is due tomorrow. 

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post #21 of 76
2/26/12 at 2:22pm

Hows Chloe doing?  Any babies yet?

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post #22 of 76
2/27/12 at 8:25pm
Thread Starter 

No. She is starting to leave little pieces of poop all over the house. she cant reach her bottom to clean because she has gotten so big. Her due date was the 25th. today is day 63. i don't know what to do. she doesnt seem to be in distress, just tired. she has barely eaten today. mostly just water.

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post #23 of 76
2/27/12 at 8:38pm

Poor baby...she is very very large. I hope she passes them all okay. Please keep us up to date on her. :)

 

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post #24 of 76
2/27/12 at 8:41pm
Thread Starter 

is there anything i can do to help move things along? my dad told me that sometimes cats will hold their litter because they dont feel safe, but i think he's full of crap. is he?

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post #25 of 76
2/27/12 at 9:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by munchkin1021 View Post

Her due date was the 25th. today is day 63.

 

she has barely eaten today. mostly just water.


Cats typically go from 65-68 days so she's not over due at all. Some go off their food a day or two before birth.

 

It is also true they can put off labour, so keep her in a nice quiet, secure place. I don't leave my girls (I'm a breeder) when they are due, they stay in my bedroom with a couple of birthing nests to choose from.

 

Poor girl is very young, hope all goes ok.

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post #26 of 76
2/27/12 at 9:28pm
Thread Starter 

i wanted to keep her in my room, but she keeps going under my bed, which is like 3 inches off the floor and hard to reach her if something goes wrong. also, i have birds in my room and they freak when she goes in there. 

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post #27 of 76
2/27/12 at 10:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by munchkin1021 View Post

i wanted to keep her in my room, but she keeps going under my bed, which is like 3 inches off the floor and hard to reach her if something goes wrong. also, i have birds in my room and they freak when she goes in there. 

I found a stray pregnant cat that was very young, and Im assuming it was her first litter.  I bought new boxes at uhaul (the tall kind that come up to hip height) and i put shredded newspaper in them.  I didnt want the little ones to get stuck in a blanket.  I had two boxes. one set up under a shelf (there was only about a foot of space for me to look in, but if there was a problem I could slide the box out).  The other was on top of the shelf.  They were in a quiet place in the house, where we rarely go, and the dogs couldnt get to her.  She chose the box on the floor.  She had 7 kittens and was huge!!! It was the first time for me.  I was very nervous, but everything went just fine.  It was amazing to watch.  Give her a quiet place where she feels comfortable, and she should do just fine.  Good Luck to you and Chloe!!!!

 

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post #28 of 76
2/27/12 at 10:22pm
Thread Starter 

lack of space isnt the problem. i have a box in every room. she shows interest for about a day for each spot, but then just wants to lay on the couch or dead center of the living room floor. 

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post #29 of 76
2/27/12 at 10:37pm

My cat did that a lot too.  She would lay in the middle of the floor, I mean.  Right up until she gave birth.  It was late at night, and I noticed she wasnt around, and I went and looked in her box, and she was in there with two kittens.  She looked up at me and said "look what I did mommy!".  She had checked out the box prior to that, but didnt sleep in there or anything.  My friend told me her cat had kittens under her bed though, so who knows.  Chloes instincts should kick in, and she should do everything.  I wouldnt worry too much.  Of course, I was terribly worried, but as I said, everything went just fine. 

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post #30 of 76
2/27/12 at 10:47pm

I wouldn't give her that much choice personally. In a confined room they choose the spot and spend 1-2 weeks 'nesting' so they are well relaxed and have their chosen place for the birth.

I like to be there for the whole birth and make sure all placenta's are expelled and all cords taken care of, make sure all the kittens sacks are broken quickly and they are breathing, then latch on to the milkbar.

Being a kitten herself I wouldn't rely on her to know what to do.

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