Is this normal?

My kitty is heavily pregnant.  I have been feeling kittens move for about three weeks.  The vet did an ultrasound on November 5th (due to a suspected phantom pregnancy earlier) and said she was about three weeks along at that time (he was also able to visualize three kittens, but there may be more).  The kittens actually looked like kittens!  They had kitten faces and heartbeats and wee little paws.

By the calendar, she should be 51+ days today (51 at the earliest, but likely more than that).  Because I have been feeling the kittens for so long, does this mean she's likely a week ahead than what the vet thought? 

She has also had colostrum for the past four days and a scant clear discharge.  No contractions from what I have seen.  Her appetite is somewhat less this past week.  She has been nesting for two weeks now.  Her belly has "dropped" since Saturday.

Questions:  Is it normal for me to have felt the kittens so early?  She is a long hair domestic, and so it is hard for me to see the movement, but easy to feel.

Because of her long hair, it's hard for me to see much down there.  I don't want to upset her by forcing a trim.  She's so huge that she has a hard time cleaning herself properly, however.  I've been helping out by using baby wipes, but she has no tolerance for it!  Should I just leave it go?  Can I expect to see much more discharge once labor begins?

Thank you all.

Being that large sounds a lot further on and having felt movement for that time suggests literally any day now.

Presumably she wandered out, mated, got pregnant and you have no real idea when...  Knowing the date a cat mated is a far more accurate way than a scan of knowing when she is due.  My guess is your vet underestimated the gestation and she wll give birth any day now.

Trimming when she is asleep should let you reduce the undergrowth enough - she doesn't need to be shaved, just having shorter hair will help.

Remember she can get pregnant again very soon after birth so please don't let her out however much she cries.  You also don't want her to go out and not come back leaving you with tiny fragile kittens to try to hand-rear.

No way is she getting out until she is spayed!  And the kittens shall be getting a spay or neuter before they go to their new homes.  Our local no-kill rescue, Angels for Animals, has a wonderful mama and kitten spay package. 

Thanks for your response, OS.  I was wondering if I was just nuts or if she was really further along.  Now I will be even more impatient, waiting for those little ones to come along! 
 

Agree with Oriental.  Any day now.

Agree clipping/triming is enough,  shawing not necessary. But if she is very stressed even by clipping, let it be... After all, even long haired do deliver, usually without problems. And you dont want he high stressed.

So, prepare yourself, it will be soon.

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

StefanZ said:

Agree with Oriental.  Any day now.

Agree clipping/triming is enough,  shawing not necessary. But if she is very stressed even by clipping, let it be... After all, even long haired do deliver, usually without problems. And you dont want he high stressed.

So, prepare yourself, it will be soon.

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

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Thank you!  We are all very excited.  She is just the sweetest kitty. 

Little Girl had her kittens this past Sunday evening.  Everything went well, and mama and babies are happy and healthy.

She had four babies:  two grey and white, and two black and white.  They are just the cutest!

Beautiful Mama and babies

Thank you!  She is SUCH a good mama.  It is so adorable to watch her loving on the babies. 
 

You are right they are the cutest!    I'm gonna sneak over to your house and take the one on the far right. 

Gosh, I need to put up some new pictures, as the kittens have grown so much!  They will be two weeks old on Sunday.

There is a boy and a girl of each color (black and white, grey and white), and their little personalities are starting to shine through.

The little black and white girl was born first, and she is the smallest.  She's also the "neediest" and always burrows to be on the bottom of the kitten pile.  Heaven forbid anyone should move or she lets everyone know how unhappy she is!  We call her "Fallout" because she has a little radioactive symbol on her back.  (She is third from the left in the picture)

The big black and white boy is our fatty man.  We named him Fatty Lumpkin after Tom Bombadil's pony in the Lord of the Rings books.  He is so laid back!  He is always content and snoozes everywhere, all the time.  Yup, sounds like a cat!  He was the third to be born and was such a giant fatty that his head got stuck.  Poor Little Girl was quite confused, but she pushed him out after a bit.  We all breathed a sigh of relief with her!  He has angel wings on his back, exactly like his mom!  (He is first in the picture)

The grey and white boy is Bombur, the fattest dwarf in the company of fourteen in The Hobbit (can you tell that we are nerds at our house?).  He has the cutest half-grey, half-white nose, and just a smidgeon of a mustache!  The fur around one eye is white and the fur around his other is grey.  He was the last one to be born and was our "surprise kitty" (the vet had performed an ultrasound and had only visualized three). (Second from left in the picture)

Grey and white girl is Momo (which means apple blossom in japanese; my daughter named her).  She is fat and happy.  Her tail is quite expressive for such a tiny kitty, and she was also the first to purr!  So adorable.  It looks like she is wearing a grey toupee that is parted smack in the middle.  Her eyes were the first to open and she is quite inquisitive.    (All the way on the right under mom's armpit!)

I promise pictures soon!  My son continues to steal my SD card from my camera...sigh.

Finally, updated pictures!   The kittens were 8 weeks old yesterday.  They are doing WONDERFULLY!  It is so cute to see their individual personalities emerge!  Mama is fantastic and so loving.  She has weaned them and they are all eating soft and hard food quite well.

From top to bottom:  Fallout (female), Momo (female), Fatty (male), Bombur (male).  We are keeping Fallout, as my daughter is in love with her.  Everyone goes for spay/neuter on Wednesday!  Prayers for all to go well for mama and babies are appreciated

The kitty in the 4th picture down stole my heart! Good luck with everything. They are beautiful kittens.

Thank you!  It has been a great experience.  All of the kittens have loving homes waiting for them with people we know and trust.  That is a huge blessing!  Mama kitty (Little Girl) and Fallout will continue to be loved by us