Our first cat for the first time having kittens!!!... HELP

We have a young feral cat that we think to be is about 6-7 months and she's having kittens!! We didn't even know that she was pregnant. So far she's gave birth to 2 stillborn kittens (they have no fur and are waaay to small and didn't move at all). We don't if this is because our cat is too young or if it's normal to happen when a cat has her first litter. And plus we don't know if she should be having more. Please respond QUICKLY!! thank you.

No, this is not a normal thing to have happen, but it can happen for a variety of reasons. Her young age makes her a super high risk preg, and it's possible they are undeveloped because of that. It's also possible that she has gone into labor early. In cats, even one or two days is the difference between a live birth and stillborns. 

The question now is whether she has any more kittens in there. How does her belly look and feel? Is it still hard or is it softer and flattened out? If it's soft and flat it's possible that she is done. The concern is that, because she has already had two stillborns, there may be more in there that have not yet descended. 

Because of this, and because she is so high risk, she absolutely needs to see a vet as soon as possible (I am assuming it's the middle of the night where you are). So long as she is not actively contracting and doesn't seem distressed you are probably okay to wait and call your regular vet when they open, so long as someone is with her at all times until then. But, if she starts up active labor again and is contracting/pushing for more than 30 minutes without delivering a kitten you need to get her to an after hours/emergency vet. You would also want to go right now if she starts bleeding. A few dark colored spots is okay, but anything more than that or if the blood is bright red and you have a problem. 

To be on the safe side be sure you look up where your closest after hours vet is located. Oftentimes "regular" vets leave this information on their answering machines so start there. If you have further questions you can always try calling the after hours number- in my experience most places are pretty good about at least letting you talk to a vet tech for a couple of minutes to determine how serious the situation is. 

When you do see the vet you want to make sure that 1) there are no more kittens and 2) that the two placentas were delivered. A retained kitten or a retained placenta are both life threatening situations. Hopefully if there are more kittens tomorrow they will be live births. If they aren't or if there are no more be sure you set up your spay appointment for as soon as possible. She can go into heat anytime after giving birth, and spaying now will minimize all the hormonal changes that she will go through with making milk and not having kittens to feed. 

If you feel up to it, the alternative would be talking to your vet about using your Queen as a surrogate for an abandoned litter. This should only be done if you are willing to take it on and under your vet's advisement. If she is truly "feral" she is likely not a good candidate and is too much of a flight risk. But, if she is just a stray she very well may be suited for the task. Finally, talk to your vet about watching out for/treating mastitis, which is an infection of the mammary (milk) glands. Because she will be producing milk without mouths to feed she is at a higher risk of infection. 

So, watch her closely until your vet office opens and then get her in. In the meantime listen to your gut: if it feels like something is wrong then it likely is. Don't hesitate to call the after hours clinic for advice, and don't hesitate to take her if necessary. It is not just the life of the kittens that is at risk! 

Feel free to ask as many non-urgent follow up questions that you need to. However, urgent questions should be directed to the after hours vet or your vet (you can still ask them here in addition to calling the appropriate medical office). But please, don't solely rely on someone being able to get back to you in a timely fashion here. The risks are just too high!

Best of luck and vibes that it all turns out okay. Please keep us posted as to what the vet says!

 Great post from EB24.   

  I hope the cat is OK.   As EB24 said,  no this is not normal for a first litter,  but it is definitely less unusual when the mom is too young.  Its like a 12 year old girl getting pregnant,   there is a lot more risk. 

Or it could be she has some infection or genetic problem that made her spontaneously abort ( miscarry)  the litter before term.

 I agree you should get her to a vet today,   for the reasons already mentioned  . 

 And EB24 had a suggestion you might consider --   if the mom is not  truly feral and unsocial  AND   if the vet thinks she is in good enough  condition to handle it   you could ask the vet or ask shelters   or rescue groups if they have an abandoned kitten or small litter,   you could try to see if she would accept them and raise them,   which if she could and would,  might save their life. 

    With her being so young and having had this happen probably prematurely  ( so her mommy hormones  have probably not really kicked in ) ,    she might be less likely to accept foster kittens  than a more mature queen with a full term litter.    But it could be worth trying.  

 If you do decide you might want to try that, I would not want to put a large litter of fosters  on such a very young small queen  but 2 or 3 might be fine if  she would accept them and if you can keep her supplied with plenty of good food for kittens/ nursing mom cats. 

maewkaew said:

 And EB24 had a suggestion you might consider --   if the mom is not  truly feral and unsocial  AND   if the vet thinks she is in good enough  condition to handle it   you could ask the vet or ask shelters   or rescue groups if they have an abandoned kitten or small litter,   you could try to see if she would accept them and raise them,   which if she could and would,  might save their life. 

    With her being so young and having had this happen probably prematurely  ( so her mommy hormones  have probably not really kicked in ) ,    she might be less likely to accept foster kittens  than a more mature queen with a full term litter.    But it could be worth trying.  

 If you do decide you might want to try that, I would not want to put a large litter of fosters  on such a very young small queen  but 2 or 3 might be fine if  she would accept them and if you can keep her supplied with plenty of good food for kittens/ nursing mom cats. 

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I want to claryfiy somewhat these great posts.  IF she has still some unborn kitten, this kitten MAY be healthy and with a little luck, delivered alive in its proper time.

If you go to the vet as adviced, the vet will know if the kitten is alive, and may be left,

or dead and should be aborted.   He does a palpation or ultrasound.  Maybe x-ray, although x-ray dont tells if he is alive.   Discuss these possibilites what to do with such a kitten if there is one.

If she seems OK etc, this vet check up is no crash emergency for emergency vet, but wise to do as soon it can be reasonably done, ie as soon the vet opens his office hours.

Have her as foster mom?  Normally, I myself advice this solution. Here she is very young, and the hormones has not kicked in.  Have your eyes open if the possbility arises, but it is not my main recommendation HERE at this moment.

Although, if say, there IS one living kitten left, and he is carried on to normal delivery, THEN  it may be a good idea to get this alone kitten one or two foster sister or brother, some orphan or such.

Two - three kittens has it much easier, then one alone kitten.  Mom of a alone kitten tend to be desperate after a while, when the kitten will play with her, and just her alone...

BTW, by the same reasone, it is usually easier to own two cats who are pals, than just one cat. 

Good luck!

Welcome to our Forums!

 Good points Stefan.  

EB24 did say the vet needs to  find out if there are more kittens,  and  I was sure she meant either living or dead .  and I did not expand on what she wrote about the medical issues. 
But it is good that you have stated more definitely that there CAN sometimes be more live kittens.      That happened with a farm cat of my father's who miscarried at least one fetus and then went on a week or so later to have live healthy kittens. 

 . 

I am thinking these were indeed premature fetuses that were spontaneously aborted ( miscarried).    But sometimes , for some reason , fetuses just may not develop normally ,  so that the pregnancy was  actually full term but some or all kittens appear  to be premature.  If that were the case she would be more likely to be able to nurse them, and more likely to be willing. 

So because of that exception  I  did not  say definitely not to try it.    

 But yes,  if she IS still pregnant and then goes on to have one live kitten,   that would be a much more likely scenario to try for her to be a surrogate for some little orphans.  In that case it would also be good for her single kitten to be raised with foster "littermates". 

maewkaew said:

 Good points Stefan.  

EB24 did say the vet needs to  find out if there are more kittens,  and  I was sure she meant either living or dead . 

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Indeed I did. I mentioned that if she does have more in there then there is a chance they will be live births. It was just buried in a pound of text so I'm not surprised if it got skipped over. 

Everything you both have added has been wonderful at filling in the gaps that I left. Thats why it's good we have so many posters- because one person can't possibly cover everything! 

After reading your response Stefan I think I do actually agree- using her as a surrogate may not be the best thing because of her young age, unless she ends up with a singleton birth. It is far easier to raise a litter or 2 or 3 versus a litter of one. If nothing else it keeps Mom's attention! 

I do hope the OP has taken her to the vet and will fill us in soon!