Long difficult labour

We have a stray we found pregant gave birth to 3 dead kittens in over a 24 hour period then had a kitten which seems to be doing fine.How long will a cat be in labor with no distress? She had a 4th which is alive and seems to be fine but I wanted to know when if I didnt notice her having the after birth and if she is done and how long do they normally take to fully give birth as hse has been having kittens for over 24 hours now. Mind you 1st 3 were dead but last (maybe) is fine! Can she still be in labor this long after?

I highly encourage you to have the cat seen by a vet. A cat can go some length of time between births (and can carry consecutive litters at a time,) but, the cat should not be in continual labor for an extended period of time.

I would worry why 3 kittens were stillborn. Has mom been checked out by a vet since you found her?

If the mom is fine, no problems, happy with her alive heatlhy kitten, you can probably downgrade your alarm.  But remain vigilant of course till everything has cleared.

They can have long pauses, as said above.  so even if she has one more inside, it doesnt need to be problem.

But we dont like long labors over 30 minutes with no following kittens.  The first labor may be longer, but the following shall be shorter, as she is already opened up.

A vet check up is wise, or at least, phone your vet if he accepts telephone advicing.

Not least if there is a way to get know why the three first died.  Is there a danger for the fourth??

If they were premature, for example - is the fourth premature too?   If so, you must be vigilant her - prematures are almost always an upphill fight.

If they were perfect shaped - perhaps there was an bacteria which killed them??

some red colored discharges are common, but we dont want fresh blood more than some very few drops.

How is her temperature?  If you dont have a modern ear termometer, you can measure in the armpit of her foreleg.    both these will give you about 3Fahrenheit grades lower than in the behind.

Good if you can measure the weight of the kitten, best in grammes - and see the  development the nearest time.  Measure every day.

Please continue to report.

Good luck!  @straycatlover