Ginny

mamabirdy

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Morning folks, (6.42am here in the UK)
On reading a couple of other threads, I saw that it is advisable to all members to have their own thread about their cat and pregnancy, so here is mine.

Ginny is approx 9 months old and a wonderful cat. She is ginger (or orange as they call it in the USA) and we have had her for 6 weeks now. She was a stray that was taken in by another lady, whose own cat didn't like having another one in the house. So she advertised it in our local RSPCA Facebook page and I fell in love with her picture. ( for a more in depth version of why we got Ginny, go the the New Kids on the Block forum page and read my post " Hi I'm a Newbie") We were going to get her neutered at the end of the month, but circumstances changed.
After having Ginny for just over a fortnight, we noticed that she was getting rounder and her teats were pink, so I took her to the vet on the 28th march, where he told me she was approx 6/7 weeks pregnant.

Will continue my story later on as I've got to get ready and go to work.
 

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Welcome to TCS. In addition to looking through old threads be sure to check out the links as they provide a lot of useful information: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/249018/...regnant-cats-kitten-care-articles-and-threads . Now is the time to prepare your birthing box and kit (which the above links will help with). 

At just 9 months Ginny is at a higher risk for complications. Younger cats tend to get more confused about the whole process and their bodies aren't mature enough to handle it. They are still wonderful mothers, labor and delivery just seems to be especially difficult. I love this article that talks about some of the complications that can arise and when and how to intervene: http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/infosheets/breeding_from_your_cat/felineparturition.html

Good luck in making your preparations. Asked more questions as you need to. 
 

jennyr

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Hi and welcome. I look forward to hearing more about Ginny as she progresses. As EB24 says, there is wealth of information here, and no question is ever too stupid to ask - we want to help!
 
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mamabirdy

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Ginny is a wonderful cat. She was very lively and loved playing with a feather stick and she used to jump around quite vigorously after it, but we haven't let her do that since we found out she is expecting. We have prepared an area in the living room behind the bar where she was trying to get into, plus we also have a box ready near to the area as well, but she has only been in there a couple of times since we set it up. She has made several attempts to get behind the big sofa, but because it's big and heavy to move, we didn't want her making her nest there so have blocked both ends off, but over the weekend she managed to get in through a very narrow gap of approx 4inches and we had to pull everything out to get her. She loves sitting on the arm of the small sofa and can usually be found there.
We have discouraged her from going into the bedrooms upstairs so hopefully she will use the box or under the shelf on the bar.
She has been following me around if I've left the living room to go into the kitchen and will lie across the doorway watching what I am doing.
 
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mamabirdy

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Had to stop typing as Ginny jumped up and was totally in my face, purring like mad,and padding like mad with her front paws for a good 20 minutes, she's never done this for so long before. She is now settled down on my legs which is also something she doesn't normally do.
 
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mamabirdy

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Ginny been very affectionate today, has come into my lap several times and has lay there for a while and enjoyed having her belly rubbed. I've also been able to have a look at her rear end and she appears to have "loosened up" a little bit but couldn't see any discharge. A couple of her teats seem to be a little bit crusty as well. So can anyone tell me how soon after the crusting appeared did labour commence with your cats?
 
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mamabirdy

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Just watched Ginny eating and it looks like her back legs were dislocated, they were sticking out so far. I suppose it's all the extra weight she's carrying. Going on the vets estimatation of 6/7 weeks on thursday 28th March, today makes her 9/10 weeks. The anticipation is agonising.
 
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mamabirdy

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Morning folks, 7.16am here in Uk.
Just a quick question, I've read about marking each kitten for identification purposes, where is the best places and what sort of pen is best?
Lots of fuss, purring and belly rubbing last night and my eldest daughter heard Ginny meow when she got home yesterday, she's only done that once before since we got her.
 

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eb24

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I knew we had a recent discussion on this so I looked it up (because I don't know the answer 
): http://www.thecatsite.com/t/257310/need-help-identifying-kittens-all-the-same-color

I would read our EB24's post in there since she said it comes up quite often with babies she has taken care of.  Her suggestion of the paper wrist bands sounds like both a safe and simple way to keep kittens sorted.
Thanks MoochNNoodles for pulling up that thread. 
 Just to clarify it comes up often on the boards, not necessarily with litters that I have had (I've really only had to use ID's once but paper wristbands is what my shelter uses and they do work great). 

Along those lines I would add that most of the time you don't need any kind of identification. When each kitten is born make detailed notes in your notebook about their coloring and markings (ex: don't just say white with dark marking on head. Say white with a dark grey marking on head that looks like two circles and draw a little picture of the shape). Usually each is unique enough that even if you have a couple that look similar you will be able to tell who is who from their natural markings. Now, if you end up with 5 all black kittens you are for sure going to need something, but usually just looking them over and making a few notes is enough to tell who is who. 

So, ID them if you have to but if you can tell them apart without doing so that is the preferable way to go. 
 
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mamabirdy

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Thanks for that, I'll see if I can find them in our local Staples shop.
Just spent the last half hour with Ginny all over me, being very affectionate, want lots of fuss and purring like mad. It's 4 30 in the morning here, good job I haven't got work today but hubby is up in an hour to go to his. So just been and made myself a coffee. I broke my arm in September last year and have been spending a lot of nights sleeping on the sofa since then as I find it easier to sleep on there rather than lying in bed,
 
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mamabirdy

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It's started, got a discharge and Ginny is being overly affectionate, she keeps squatting as if she needs a poo. She won't leave me alone, put her in the birthing area, but every time I move away she follows me.
 
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mamabirdy

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2nd 1 born 13 mins ago black and ginger born 5.43pm
 
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mamabirdy

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3rd born 17 mins ago appears black 6.24pm
4th born 4 mins ago this ones ginger 6.37pm
 

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Oh wow!  I guess she wanted her "mommy" for comfort during her labor!  (I guess I was the same way with my own kids. 
)

I hope everything goes smooth!!
 

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She's ginger. . .so she can't have a black baby :). Must be a dark tortie. Red females can only have red or tortie females and red males. Do you think she's done yet? We need pictures! :clap:
 
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mamabirdy

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6th one born 37 mins ago at 8.20pm

Will try later to put piccys up, can't do it from my iPhone 3, but daughter has iPhone 5, so when she gets back i'll transfer them to her phone and log in on there.
 
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mamabirdy

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Well it looks like we have finished at 6. It's been an hour and 40 mins since no6 was born, all have been suckling and are asleep now. Ginny looks shattered but hasn't left the shelf under the bar where she has them. I'm sitting chilling now with a glass of wine, a
Very proud " Nanna"
 
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