Kittens have been moving inside her for over a week, still no labor symptoms..?

My girl Venus should be ready to give birth to her babies, but I'm not sure when. I have been able to feel her kittens moving inside her for over a week now, and today they feel 3-5 inches long and are moving a whole lot (it makes her jump up.) This will be her first litter, and she is 1 year old. Her eating hasn't slowed down, but she is trying to squeeze behind all of the furniture. Her teets have been swollen and pink for a few weeks now, and are even bigger this week. I think she conceived in mid to late September (15-25.) She isn't vocalizing or anything like that, no discharge, and no labor symptoms that I can see. What do you guys think?

Hi there and welcome!

She may have another week or even 2 weeks to go, if she conceived on the 25th, then today she is at 56 days today, so I'd say from now if she conceived earlier until the wknd after Thanksgiving should be her time.

If you are super in tune with her, you will probably know, there are some subtle things you will notice, especially her search for a spot that is private and quiet to have them.

Her genital area might get a bit swollen and even leak discharge, she might get very clingy as well, especially it being her first litter.

I think she conceived sooner than the 25th of September. Two days ago her genital area seemed a bit swollen. Four days ago she discharged a small blob of mucous. I thought it was her mucous plug, but no labor symptoms. She is really clingy, but only for a couple minutes at a time. I feel her side, and when her kittens start to thrash around inside, she gets uncomfortable and walks away. Today she wiggled her way behind boxes and a bed frame. I know she is trying to nest. I'm very anxious, and want to be there for her in case there are complications. I have only had her for three months, and I have become very close to her. As soon as I can after her birth, I'm getting her fixed.

You may very well be right on this. It does sound like it's any time now.

Usually the one thing that inexperienced moms might do, well NOT do is chew off the cord and or clean them and get them going soon after birthing.

You just need some dental floss to assist.

Towels in case you need to rub them to get them circulating, etc.

Be sure to plug them in to mom right away if she doesn't do this.

Once she is done and they are all nursing, things will likely go smoothly after this.

If not, that's what we're here for!!

This is my first time having kittens as well as hers, so if you have a bunch of advice, please tell me! I have been researching the whole time throughout her pregnancy, but I want advice from you experts. What is the dental floss used for, to tie off the umbilical cord?

Yes, the floss is in case you need to tie off the cords.

It might be easier if you were to tell me what you know and are prepared with in case something should go awry.

Does she have a whelping box or area?

Yes, she does have a large cardboard box with towels as her whelping area. We are keeping her in my bedroom (where my young sister won't bug her much.) She likes to be sneaky, so I'm not sure if she'll use the box. She doesn't like to go in there when she can find a way behind furniture. I know that cat birth usually goes well, and to leave most of it up to her. One thing that's really important is to make sure you have as many placentas as kittens. When she does go into labor, I will let you know how it goes so you can help if something goes wrong. I really enjoy the online communities where people will be very helpful. When I was raising chickens, I was on a very similar site for farm birds.

catwoman707 said:

 
Yes, the floss is in case you need to tie off the cords.

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In an emergency, its entirely possible to cut off with your nails.  The cats mom teeths arent entirely bacteriefree either... 

But most people feels it rather grossly, some other has short nails,  hence - the practical tip for the floss.

Main thing is you dont use sharp scissors.  Blunt scissors may be OK, but not sharp.

Its not common such an assistance is necessary, but it does happens now and then, and quite a few of our forumists did saved the day by being present, and acting vigorously when acting vigorously become necessary.   Some of them were quite a newbes at this.

But with the need arises both the courage and the resoulcefullness...

Good luck!

StefanZ said:

 
In an emergency, its entirely possible to cut off with your nails.  The cats mom teeths arent entirely bacteriefree either... 

But most people feels it rather grossly, some other has short nails,  hence - the practical tip for the floss.

Main thing is you dont use sharp scissors.  Blunt scissors may be OK, but not sharp.

Its not common such an assistance is necessary, but it does happens now and then, and quite a few of our forumists did saved the day by being present, and acting vigorously when acting vigorously become necessary.   Some of them were quite a newbes at this.

But with the need arises both the courage and the resoulcefullness...

Good luck!

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Exactly, string, floss, your nails, whatever works if needed.

I just found that floss is alot easier to handle in the tying process when you have squirming babies

I once had a tangled up mess, all kids had cords intact and were so knotted together when I found them, cold, etc but mom was not well either which would be why she didn't properly care for them immediately after.

Usually they do just fine.

Good luck!

Yesterday my cat Venus started producing milk! She still has quite the appetite, but her babies haven't moved much in the last couple days. I was out of the house for a few hours yesterday and my brother said he could hear her meowing loudly from my room. Since I have been home, I haven't heard her cry out. I thought I saw her scouting for a nest again, but she must have got distracted by food because she stopped and went to eat. All she does is lounge in the middle of my bedroom, sleep all day and night, and eat, Very early this morning she had diarrhea.  She hasn't been quite as loving in the past few days like she usually is. If I come sit on the floor next to her and pet her head like I normally do, she gets annoyed. Yesterday morning I thought I saw some mild contractions on her, but I might be mistaken for kitten movement. We are in the process of moving right now, and we should be in the new house in two days. We are hoping she will either have them today, or after we move. Things have been very stressful in finding a house and getting everything set up. When I'm with her, I try to be calm and talk in a mellow tone as to not stress out Venus. 

It may be close!

I add some links, you will perhaps have some use of them.

Good luck!  @ILuvKitties

Most of these links have been readied by our forumist  Red Top Rescue:

We have a good collection of articles in the Cat Health section which you can access by scrolling up to the brown bar, clicking on Articles,and then choosing the Cat Health section and scrolling through the choices.  To make this super easy for you, I am copying the links regarding birth, delivery and newborns for you here.  After reading this information, let us know if you have any more questions.  And good luck with your approaching new arrivals.

 Birth, Delivery and Newborns

How to Tell if My Cat is Pregnant?

Cat Pregnancy

How Do I Know When My Cat Will Give Birth?

Pregnant Cat? What to Prepare For the Birth

Help! My Cat is Having Kittens!

Premature Kittens

Post-Birth Complications in Cats

And also:

http://www.icatcare.org/advice/my-cat-having-kittens     ( This is a link to a group of articles on cat pregnancy, birth and kittens.   Read the ones on normal cat birth and on " when to wait and when to worry"  )  

Fleece or flannel good to use in the bedding for kittens.

Thank you for the links. I have seem most of those pages before and have re-read the one one when to worry and when to wait. If anything changes with her, I'll let you know.  Again, thank you so much!

Moving is quite stressful for her, actually she will be much easier to stress now.

It sounds very close, her annoyance is due to preoccupation of her body preparing for birth, and she knows it.

The sudden diarrhea is also common just before birthing.

If her labor starts before we move, I will stay at the house with her. The drive to the new house isn't very long, and she is used to being in the car. If she starts labor after we move, I will do all I can to make sure she is calm and happy. We need to be out of our apartment by the end of the month.

Just a few moments ago, she charged out of my bedroom at the other cats. I caught her and put her back before she started a fight. She has been locked up in my bedroom for a few weeks now. She has become exceedingly aggressive as her pregnancy has progressed and one of the other cats (the pregnant cat's buddy) had to be taken to someone else's house because Venus (pregnant cat) was attacking her. 

I am watching carefully for any signs from her, stress and labor. From what I can tell, she seems normal.

She is just resting on her side. Half the time she is sleeping, the other half of the time she is awake- just staring around or stuffing her face. The kittens are still moving occasionally. She is not having any discharge, no panting, no meowing, and no pacing. She doesn't go into her nest either. I'm not sure when she is due, so I'm just waiting for the birth signs.

That is totally expected for her to act more aggressive and is due to her protective mom mode

Anytime now.

From all of the stories I have read on this site, I'm expecting her to take her time as I do not know when she conceived. She will probably take another week or two, haha. Her babies have been moving more today than they have in the last couple days. She almost seems a bit thinner. Her belly is slightly smaller. Maybe it just feels that way because her belly isn't growing much, or she is dehydrated. I always have fresh water for her, and I feed her wet and dry food. Her mood has improved a lot today since we had visitors. My cat loves people. She started rubbing all over my sister-in-law. She is letting me pet her again. She keeps trying to escape from my bedroom though. I think she wants to either nest in other parts of the house or try to kill the other cats. Possibly both. She will sit by the door and meow. 

Every day of a kittens life now at this point is like a week to an unborn baby at this point.

It's all about weight gain now for them.

In other words for each day mom has kittens early is like a week early for a human baby.

Interesting huh?

So the longer she takes, the better. They always seem to hold out until you can't hardly stand it, and then poof, here they are

When cat labor starts, how long does each stage of labor last? Like, how long will she pant and look for a nest? Once she begins contractions, how long until I should expect kittens? I have researched but could not find the generalized lengths of time, so I'm hopeful that your experience will help. 

Sometimes when she is lying down, she will suddenly hop up or sit up. Could that be her reacting to contractions or kitten movement? 

One more question. When she sits up, she keeps her bum just slightly off the floor. She doesn't seem to want to let anything touch it. Why is she doing that? She isn't leaking discharge, or even licking her bum. She doesn't seem to want to do anything as far as getting up. She does come running when I get her food though.

Her genitals seems a bit swollen and wet. Still no contractions, and still gorging on food. She can't get comfy, but she isn't pacing.

ILuvKitties said:

 
When cat labor starts, how long does each stage of labor last? Like, how long will she pant and look for a nest? Once she begins contractions, how long until I should expect kittens? I have researched but could not find the generalized lengths of time,

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I dont have clear rules either, it seems vary.  The only to say is it generelly takes shorter than with humans, even if it can sometimes take several hours, and still be OK.  Usually its shorter.

So if the labor is prolonged too much, say more than 6-8 hours for the first kitten, contact your vet.   The labor of the following kittens shall of course be shorte. If the labor goes over 30 minutes be worried and contact your vet.

Observe, they can have some precontractions before the real labor starts. So dont count them as active labor.

Pauses between kittens may occur.  Hours and even days.  If she is OK, no troubles, no problems, happy with her already born kitten, you can usually wait and see.  But of course, be watchfull on any troubles.