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- Jan 4, 2015
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Hello, this is my first post in an online pet forum.
We have had our house cat Dinah for 18 months since she was a kitten. She has never gone outside or shown an interest to and will ignore open doors. However, From June to November myself and the children moved out to stay with my parents while we had a very large extension built on our house. My husband slept at our house with Dinah. One time I visited our house in the afternoon while all the windows were all being replaced. Dinah was nowhere to be found. I called to her and she came trotting back from the bottom of the garden.
It was only when her tummy became swollen in the middle if November that I even began to consider what had happened during that day. Once I research that I realised that during this hour or two outside it was not only possible, but very likely she had been mated. She has not shown any interest in going out since that day and I can only think that because the men were in every room that day she fled. Either way, we are now having kittens.
So, since then I have offered kitten food, which she won't switch too, although she is eating three times her normal amount. I can feel the kittens move and have trimmed around her now swollen and pink nipples (she has long hair on her tummy). We have given her sole use of a sitting room with a nice nest cardboard box filled with blankets, underneath a desk. There is now a blanket draped over the desk to darken it as we are getting near. Dinah seems very content and spends time in this nest but also in other rooms with us and especially likes to stretch out fully on hard wooden floor. Since Christmas Eve my husband and I have alternated sleeping on the sofa in this room so we are there incase she goes into labour. I have a birth pack ready and have read and watched all I can find on cat birth/probs etc.
However, I still have some questions, if anyone can offer any help or point me in the right direction.
Dinah will be getting spayed as soon as possible after the birth. When will the vets do this, generally. How long will someone need to be with her for this (so we can plan time off work if necessary).
How soon can kittens be spayed/neutered - I would like to send the kittens to their forever homes already done?
I have read about getting litter that it is safe incase the kittens eat it. Are these just the recycled paper pellet ones?
What will I need to get ready for the kittens in the coming weeks? How soon do the move out of the nest, where do I house them then (I have to say, I've focused on getting them here safely, but could do with some pointers on what happens after that).
I noticed Dinah's tummy was rounder from 15th November. Most sites say that you would not notice a swollen abdomen until 28days onwards, that would put her due date from between Xmas Eve (hence why we have been sleeping on the sofa since then) and 1st jan. But as you can see we are past that. Has anyone else noticed a rounder tummy before, or is she possibly overdue? The kittens are moving on both sides of her abdomen and are about 4inches long in there.
Does anyone have a link to birth weight/length data.
Does anyone know what things I should record and when, once the kittens are born. Birth weight?, gender (havent the first clue with that) then weigh them how often?
Once Dinah's given birth, do I disturb her to change the bedding in the nest, or leave her in it?
Many, many thanks. I thought I would start a thread now while have the time, as no doubt I will have my hands full very soon, and may have lots more questions.
We have had our house cat Dinah for 18 months since she was a kitten. She has never gone outside or shown an interest to and will ignore open doors. However, From June to November myself and the children moved out to stay with my parents while we had a very large extension built on our house. My husband slept at our house with Dinah. One time I visited our house in the afternoon while all the windows were all being replaced. Dinah was nowhere to be found. I called to her and she came trotting back from the bottom of the garden.
It was only when her tummy became swollen in the middle if November that I even began to consider what had happened during that day. Once I research that I realised that during this hour or two outside it was not only possible, but very likely she had been mated. She has not shown any interest in going out since that day and I can only think that because the men were in every room that day she fled. Either way, we are now having kittens.
So, since then I have offered kitten food, which she won't switch too, although she is eating three times her normal amount. I can feel the kittens move and have trimmed around her now swollen and pink nipples (she has long hair on her tummy). We have given her sole use of a sitting room with a nice nest cardboard box filled with blankets, underneath a desk. There is now a blanket draped over the desk to darken it as we are getting near. Dinah seems very content and spends time in this nest but also in other rooms with us and especially likes to stretch out fully on hard wooden floor. Since Christmas Eve my husband and I have alternated sleeping on the sofa in this room so we are there incase she goes into labour. I have a birth pack ready and have read and watched all I can find on cat birth/probs etc.
However, I still have some questions, if anyone can offer any help or point me in the right direction.
Dinah will be getting spayed as soon as possible after the birth. When will the vets do this, generally. How long will someone need to be with her for this (so we can plan time off work if necessary).
How soon can kittens be spayed/neutered - I would like to send the kittens to their forever homes already done?
I have read about getting litter that it is safe incase the kittens eat it. Are these just the recycled paper pellet ones?
What will I need to get ready for the kittens in the coming weeks? How soon do the move out of the nest, where do I house them then (I have to say, I've focused on getting them here safely, but could do with some pointers on what happens after that).
I noticed Dinah's tummy was rounder from 15th November. Most sites say that you would not notice a swollen abdomen until 28days onwards, that would put her due date from between Xmas Eve (hence why we have been sleeping on the sofa since then) and 1st jan. But as you can see we are past that. Has anyone else noticed a rounder tummy before, or is she possibly overdue? The kittens are moving on both sides of her abdomen and are about 4inches long in there.
Does anyone have a link to birth weight/length data.
Does anyone know what things I should record and when, once the kittens are born. Birth weight?, gender (havent the first clue with that) then weigh them how often?
Once Dinah's given birth, do I disturb her to change the bedding in the nest, or leave her in it?
Many, many thanks. I thought I would start a thread now while have the time, as no doubt I will have my hands full very soon, and may have lots more questions.
