My cat is finally in real labor!

So far she has given birth to one healthy seeming white kitty!! She's cleaning and resting now. I saw her having contractions ran to change out the Laundry. came back in like 3 minutes and missed the birth!

 Hope all the rest go just as well.

 Make sure the newborn kittens stay warm.   If you are concerned she may accidentally roll on them while she is giving birth to another one,  you can have a separate box for the babies,  with a heating pad turned on low and wrapped up in a towel then inside a pillowcase.

Do you know how to help if needed?   The mom may do it all herself  but it's good to be prepared just in case she gets tired.

Some links  

Here is a helpful article written by a breeder  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/pregnancy-and-delivery-in-cats

a good sort of outline style article.   http://www.cat-world.com.au/parturition-birth-in-cats

Some more very helpful articles.  http://www.icatcare.org/advice/my-cat-having-kittens

    Happy Thanksgiving Kittens!

Thanks! She's had 3 now! They all seem happy! I am worried she will roll on them but I'm kind of nervous to touch them because she's feral and she's doesn't act like she wants me to get too close

I meant to quote you the first time!

maewkaew said:

 Hope all the rest go just as well.

 Make sure the newborn kittens stay warm.   If you are concerned she may accidentally roll on them while she is giving birth to another one,  you can have a separate box for the babies,  with a heating pad turned on low and wrapped up in a towel then inside a pillowcase.

Do you know how to help if needed?   The mom may do it all herself  but it's good to be prepared just in case she gets tired.

Some links  
Here is a helpful article written by a breeder  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/pregnancy-and-delivery-in-cats

a good sort of outline style article.   http://www.cat-world.com.au/parturition-birth-in-cats

Some more very helpful articles.  http://www.icatcare.org/advice/my-cat-having-kittens

    Happy Thanksgiving Kittens!

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How do I know when she's finished??

Momma kitty is like trembling is that normal??

Okay now momma kitty is moving the kittens to a cramped area I can't really get heat to or towels in

  Yeah if the kittens seem to be doing fine ,  and the mom is a feral , and doesn't want you close,  I would leave them alone and let her get on with the job which she seems to be doing fine!

Ideally  we would weigh kittens daily.     it's a good way to make sure they are doing well and gaining,  and to give them a quick glance over daily --- not taking them out of the sight of the queen. 

    But with a feral mom who gets very aggressive to anyone trying to touch the kittens, that would be very hard and you'd just have to watch from a distance while they are tiny and absolutely dependent on her.

    It does sound like many semi-ferals come to trust one individual person and may allow that person to gently handle the kittens.      I would say the first step is if she seems to be OK with you sitting in the room at a distance, and  not staring.   the more she gets used to your presence and that you are not trying to hurt the kittens or her,  and  that you keep providing her with food,  she may gradually get to be ok with you coming nearer and eventually touching her and the kittens. 

The socialization is important but that can come  later when they are running around.  Really even if she were totally tame,   I would do no more than minimal contact with the kittens for the first 2 weeks.    in the first few weeks it's your job to look after the mom so she can take care of the kittens.   Many moms are a bit less protective when the kittens are more like over a month old.

I am sure some other people who have dealt more with fostering feral or semi-feral moms will be able to offer more advice over the coming weeks and months.  There are also older threads that discuss some of these things.   for example  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/255744/semi-feral-mom-and-new-born-kittens-help

Thanks for all your help! Now she has 5. She is back in the box nursing the two she left and the other 3 are hidden somewhere else. I'm going to try and just walk away for a couple hours. She seems to know what she is doing.

Before she had them she would rub on my leg but if I tried to touch her she would jump. She never got aggressive she would just back off. Sometimes I could get a pet in and she liked it. Lol

Sorry  I missed seeing some of your posts!   Weird.    

Sounds like the births have gone smoothly.    I   just hope she cares for all 5 of the kittens  ( since right now she has some of them not with her).   Keep the heat turned up  in that room since young kittens cannot maintain their own body heat.    

It can be hard to know for SURE when they are done and experienced breeders and rescuers can be fooled.  In general,  when they're done they seem like they finally really relax and settle down with the kittens.  But  sometimes they can interrupt labor for hours, ( even a couple days  though that is more unusual)  and then have the rest of the litter.   That can happen if the queen gets exhausted,  or if she feels stressed for some reason.     More often there is not such a big gap between births and if she has not had more in a few hours,  odds are she is done.    

Thanks for all your help! In all she had 6 kittens but sadly one didnt make it (I assume. I don't know what she did with it). She is talking really good care of the other 5 though. She stayed under the car until this afternoon. Now she's moved them back to the birthing box which I've cleaned for them. I moved the space heater near the box and have been trying to keep my distance because I hope she stays there!

I messed up quoting again

maewkaew said:

Sorry  I missed seeing some of your posts!   Weird.    
Sounds like the births have gone smoothly.    I   just hope she cares for all 5 of the kittens  ( since right now she has some of them not with her).   Keep the heat turned up  in that room since young kittens cannot maintain their own body heat.    

It can be hard to know for SURE when they are done and experienced breeders and rescuers can be fooled.  In general,  when they're done they seem like they finally really relax and settle down with the kittens.  But  sometimes they can interrupt labor for hours, ( even a couple days  though that is more unusual)  and then have the rest of the litter.   That can happen if the queen gets exhausted,  or if she feels stressed for some reason.     More often there is not such a big gap between births and if she has not had more in a few hours,  odds are she is done.    

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 Sorry about the kitten who did not make it.   That's a big litter though,  and if she has been on the street for much of the time,  she may not have had the best nutrition.     It is good to hear she is settled with the 5 living kittens.

It does sound like you are doing the best to just provide her with  a safe , warm, comfy place, and not come too close   so she doesn't get too nervous ,  and hopefully she will just keep her kittens and herself in the nest.  

   Of course you will need to come in sometimes  to feed her  and scoop her litter box.      I would maybe skip doing the box for a day or two  if it's not bad and if you think it might disturb her.  

  you'll still need to tiptoe in to bring her food and  make sure she has clean water.      I would feed her some wet food every day,  to help keep her hydrated.   as well as leave some dry kitten food or a food that is for all life stages.   

It's actually sort of handy that you had a chance to clean the box after the birth.   But lets hope she leaves them there for a while now!  

She's still in the box!! I want to hold the kittens so bad but she won't let me too close. She will growl or hiss. She did come out today though and let me give her some attention. I pet her a little and gave her some cream and then she went back to the box. I was able to get a picture though finally. I will upload it

maewkaew said:

 Sorry about the kitten who did not make it.   That's a big litter though,  and if she has been on the street for much of the time,  she may not have had the best nutrition.     It is good to hear she is settled with the 5 living kittens.
It does sound like you are doing the best to just provide her with  a safe , warm, comfy place, and not come too close   so she doesn't get too nervous ,  and hopefully she will just keep her kittens and herself in the nest.  
   Of course you will need to come in sometimes  to feed her  and scoop her litter box.      I would maybe skip doing the box for a day or two  if it's not bad and if you think it might disturb her.  
  you'll still need to tiptoe in to bring her food and  make sure she has clean water.      I would feed her some wet food every day,  to help keep her hydrated.   as well as leave some dry kitten food or a food that is for all life stages.   
It's actually sort of handy that you had a chance to clean the box after the birth.   But lets hope she leaves them there for a while now!  

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IF you try and weigh the kittens (at the same time taking a quick look see), the procedure is as follow:

You are doing it near her nest, so she sees you and the kittens the whole time.  Make sure the scale is warm, so if it is a metal scale, have some tissue on it.  So the kittens wont portest because it is unpleasant.

You take one kitten at a time, while mom sees you, weigh the kitten and take this quick look see (for example, if there are fleas on them! - it happens).  and lay back the kitten.  Takes perhaps 30 seconds apiece.

As long as the kittens doesnt protest, you can probably make it easily.

If you do it respectfully to the mom and her feelings, she usually accept you doing so, and now we are talking both about semiferale moms and other protective moms.

Somewhat similiar when you change the bedding. Which you should do now and then.

There are surely several ways depending on circumstances, but the probably easiest is to have a second bed made ready.  You lay the kittens one and one into the reserve bed.  Mom hopefully follows after,  and you can clean the main bed.

Ah, yes, the white one may turn into a  point.  You will probably see if it is so in another week.  The change may come later too.   

Good luck!

You mean change to yellow? Because I think the dad was a yellow cat. You can't tell from my pic but two of them have yellow patches

Anyway she has moved again back under the car and I can't get to them to weigh or anything. I haven't even been able to touch them yet because she will hiss and growl. Sometimes I am able to get close to her and observe without her seeming upset

She is still friendly too which I'm happy about and when I go in the garage she will seek my attention. I'm so excited for them to start moving around so hopefully i will be able to interact but I guess for now I will just have to leave them be

I'm terrible at quoting.

StefanZ said:

IF you try and weigh the kittens (at the same time taking a quick look see), the procedure is as follow:

You are doing it near her nest, so she sees you and the kittens the whole time.  Make sure the scale is warm, so if it is a metal scale, have some tissue on it.  So the kittens wont portest because it is unpleasant.

You take one kitten at a time, while mom sees you, weigh the kitten and take this quick look see (for example, if there are fleas on them! - it happens).  and lay back the kitten.  Takes perhaps 30 seconds apiece.
As long as the kittens doesnt protest, you can probably make it easily.
If you do it respectfully to the mom and her feelings, she usually accept you doing so, and now we are talking both about semiferale moms and other protective moms.

Somewhat similiar when you change the bedding. Which you should do now and then.
There are surely several ways depending on circumstances, but the probably easiest is to have a second bed made ready.  You lay the kittens one and one into the reserve bed.  Mom hopefully follows after,  and you can clean the main bed.


Ah, yes, the white one may turn into a  point.  You will probably see if it is so in another week.  The change may come later too.   

Good luck!

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Ok, I see.  What you cant so you cant!  Just to play the tune by the ear.  

Have suitable bed ready anyway, where she can come too.  It is possible she changed nest because the one she used  on the photo was beginning to be smelly.

Nay, with point I mean his face, ears, tail and paws will darken.  He will get a point, a "masque" on his face.

Think siamese.

The point gene is recessive and weak.   A carrier with just one gene will not show it, and may have any looks at all.

But if the point gene happens to come from both ma and dad - voilá!  In a litter of any looks, one or two of the kittens will be points, almost totally different in colors from mom and dad. Sometimes they looks like siamese old type.

This can happen among russian blues, for taking just one example, this can happen quite frequently among moggies..

The siamese ancestry may be 20 or more generations back, but the point gene is floating in the population pool.

That is really cool. Thanks for that info. I wondered why two were white when neither parent was white. I'm Definately going to do some more research on that!

I made two nests and put them in two different locations. I hope she chooses one but as far as I can tell all kittens look like they are healthy and growing.