First Time Mother Has Discharge One Day After Having Her Litter

Hey guys and gals,

Yesterday, my beautiful kitty had her litter of kittens but I am unsure as to whether or not what is happening now is cause for concern or considered normal.

Her litter consisted of a total of four kittens. Unfortunately, one was a stillborn and she quickly disposed of it as it looked under-developed and covered in blood (sorry if you were eating) and I am unsure if that factors in to her overall condition.

Anyway, we're a little over 24 hours since her last birth but I noticed she had a discharge of blood which almost looks as though it's coagulating. I've read up on this and that it can be an issue if it persists after 7 to 10 days or if it's a heavy loss of blood. It seems as though it only happened for a moment as I helped her clean it off with a soft cloth so it's not continuous. However, the problem I have with the general description is that 'heavy' loss is far too vague when you consider the many different sizes of cats as well as how much discharged could be deceptive because she is a medium haired cat but is also a very small cat (5 to 6 pounds-ish). 

There's no foul odor or color to it (like pus), she lets the kittens nurse, and retains an appetite but she does seem a little uncomfortable as she is, from time to time, out of her nest and looking at me with big eyes and a gentle meow. The only thing I am unsure of is whether or not there was a placental sack for each kitten and that's something which also worries me.

So, overreacting or is this something I should bring to the local vet's attention in the morning?

Good you are vigilant, and try to be observant.  If you arent, who will be?

Some discharges afterwards are normal and common, but we dont like them to be living blood.  Some droplets perhaps, but not much.

So those descriptions you saw seems to be somwhat frivolous...   Probably true, but on the frivolous side.

Her looking at you may be simply because you ARE her mom.

Placentas, yes.   It is always a problem to know for sure. Unless you were there the whole time and watching closely the whole time.  Because they ate up the placenta, often very quickly.  You do blink, you dont see - its not much exagerrated.

But as you do hint, if a placenta is still inside, it will probably cause extra bloody discharges, maybe bleedings for real.

Next question: is your local vet  a so so, or is he a good obstetrician?

If you do have access to a good vet, it is wise to phone and ask.   Phone at first if possible, because you dont want to stress her with taking her to the vet unnecessarily, if you arent reasonably suspicious there is something wrong.

Please continue to report and ask.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply and the info! 

That said, I did end up bringing her to the vet as it felt like she was running a fever which ended up being the case and may be caused by an infection in her uterus. While she REALLY didn't appreciate the rectal thermometer (I'm going to sleep with one eye open tonight), I am sure she is glad that we're working on getting her better with some broad spectrum antibiotics. I wasn't sure how to apply her dosage as it's 1.6cc over 10 days via syringe but it went better than expected in spite of having to coax her in to a position which worked in both of our favor. 

Our vet also reassured us that bleeding is normal for a fair amount of time but said to keep an eye on it for pus or an odor and that, after examination, felt confident that she didn't have anything gumming up the works as far as placenta is concerned

The only issue I have right meow is to get her to eat and drink but I'll see what I can do about that shortly after I am finished writing this up. It may simply be that she doesn't like the food so I'll pick up something else and I'll just keep replenishing her dish with fresh cool water until she decides it's time.

If she had a fever, its one of the alarming sings to contact vet asap.  Good you WERE observant!    Its easier to take the temp in the armpit of forearm.  Its not so exact, but gives you anyways a fair hint.   Or if you have such a modern ear termometer.

Only to know the temp there is lower, abot 3 grades Fahrenheit and a trifle over one grade Celsius.   If you have another cat, you can train ot this companion, to calibrate your comparisons.

Re her not having much appetite.   The Sicks one sometimes dont have much appetite.  And her nose may be congested, as it is often with URI´s.

So the trick is to give smelly food.  Or warm it up a little, so more smells come up.

She is nursing her kittens and takes care?  If so, she must get nurishments, this way or another.  Be prepared to some forcefeeding.  Tummy down, head up, in the corner of the mouth.  Use a syringe without needle.  

You can use the usual  kmr, or goat milk.  Or  mix wet food with some extra water.   If salomonella in eggs is no problem in your place, you can add an egg yolk into this nourishing fluid - be it kmr, goat milk or  the mix.

As she get antibiotics,  some  ....[probiotics]....... for stabilizing her stomach may be good.  I got good tips on Bene Bac.  There are also others.  Otherwise some common, unflavored youghurt, with the bacillus and lacto bacterias is OK.  (not all youghurts contain both of these, so search a little in your Walmart)

Good luck!