First time and nervous!

My family began fostering cats and kittens for a local rescue about 6 months ago.  It has been a very fulfilling experience so far, and we have had the opportunity to rehabilitate and rehome so many wonderful cats that probably would have died without our help.  I have become proficient with medicating, socializing, grooming, and identifying problems.  However, it is now the beginning of kitten season, and we have our first pregnant foster cat.  I know I will learn a lot, and will get the opportunity to gain a lot of experience this year and into the future, but at this moment I am terrified.  Every pet I've owned was fixed before reaching maturity, so I've never dealt with this phenomenon.  

Anyhow, we've had Amelia with us for just under 3 weeks.  She was surrendered to the rescue when someone found her on their property and wanted her and her kittens to be cared for, but couldn't do it personally.  She was likely dumped on the rural property when someone moved from the region, as she has clearly been a housecat at some point.  She is sweet and beautiful, and we are all excited to welcome kittens.  As soon as she arrived, I started combing the internet for information on caring for her and her kittens.  I got proper supplies from the rescue, and spoke with my vet.  Everything seemed like it would go smoothly and be a great experience.

Then, I read too much.  The children and I were making guesses on how many kittens there would be, and my husband chimed in with a guess of "4, but maybe 2 or 3 will make it."  I hadn't even thought of the possibility of any of the kittens dying!  I thought since we had moved mom to a clean and safe environment with good food and proper care, that everything would be fine.  So then I started researching kitten mortality and now I'm so scared that I will mess something up and end up killing the poor babies somehow!  Or that there's something wrong with mom that will cause a poor outcome.  I am especially worried because Amelia seems to be barely more than a kitten herself.  We were given no ideas about her probable due date, but she is fairly huge now, and started leaking milk as of yesterday, so I assume the birth is not far off.  Also, she desperately needs her nails trimmed, but is quite skittish and I don't want to stress her out or injure the kittens by clipping them. 

I apologize for the long narrative.  I am simply looking for some positivity and reassurance...maybe some real life examples of what to expect rather than just statistical breakdowns.  I have had such good luck with saving fur babies that I can't imagine the opposite.  I turned to this site because I have found some wonderful articles and threads here so far, and I figure the people here are the some of the most knowledgeable that I will find anywhere.

Have you come across the articles on pregnancy

For First few weeks she will do all the work just check on them and weigh them each day to see it they are gaining enough. After she done giving birth replace the blankets with a clean one. If you provide everything they need I think the chances one dying is pretty low.

It sounds she not too far off, is she licking herself? Going in closests?

You can feel how many she going to have by feeling her sides and counting the bumps

Do you got milk replacer in case she don't produce enough milk or something?

Thank you for your response!  Yes, I have read so many articles my head is spinning...I'm half ready to hunt down veterinary textbooks!

I have a food scale that measures grams, and two secluded spots for her to choose from to birth in.  I have plastic-backed disposable pads topped with old towels.  After the birth, I have old sheets and flannel blankets to replace the bedding so no little claws will get stuck.  It's good to hear that their chance of survival is decent...she's almost certainly a first time mom, so that's a concern for me.  I do plan to be present the entire time, though.

She has not been licking herself more than usual, but she has spent slightly more time hiding out.  She doesn't have access to any closets because she is staying in a single room...we are trying to keep a calm environment for her while she is expecting.  She does go into the places we've prepared for her: a pack-n-play that unzips at the bottom so she can get in, covered with a large blanket to be dark and cozy; and underneath a bed with blankets hanging down nearly all around for her to feel secluded.  Even so, it's my daughter's room, and she LOVES my daughter, so she spends the majority of her time sleeping squarely in the middle of the bed or cuddled with my daughter.

When I feel her sides I feel one bump on one side and two on the other....but I'm very inexperienced so I don't trust my judgement much on that.

We do have a bunch of milk replacer because I've needed it for sick kittens and cats in the past, but the rescue will provide more if I need it.

Thank you for your input!

Hopefully her instinct taking care of them will kick in. Doesn't matter where she at just as long, it calm and peaceful and she feels safe. Try not to bother them for first 2 to 3 weeks too much as it might cause her feel unsafe and wants to move them. Just bother them when you need to.

One of our advisors like stefanz should reply soon.

I can totally sympathize with you! I fostered my first pregnant cat last summer and like you, I read way too many articles and was on information overload. I'm currently on my second one, her kittens are almost five weeks old now. Both of my fosters really wanted me present when they gave birth, the first one practically had her first kitten in my lap. Some cats don't really need any help at all, both of mine needed some assistance. I had to tie off and cut umbilical cords for some of the kittens and clean them off. I've been lucky that all the kittens have been very healthy and the mothers have been very attentive, but I know that the more I foster, there's always a chance that one or more won't make it. You just have to hope for the best and provide the best possible conditions you can, which it sound like you are doing! The mothers tend to be very relaxed when they are nursing, so that may be your opportunity to clip her nails. My first foster had long hair and was quite a mess after delivering. She wasn't very cooperative about letting me do anything to her before the kittens arrived, but afterwards she let me trim the hair around her nipples and clean her backside with a warm, wet washcloth and she just laid on her side and purred through it all.

Best of luck!

Thank you for the input! [emoji]128522[/emoji] It's very good to know that things can end up just fine. I'm still on kitten watch currently, but not quite as apprehensive. I also just got another foster kitty today who is also pregnant! So it looks like I will be getting my fair share of experience pretty quickly! I will definitely update when the birth happens!

So, Amelia has now been with us four weeks and still no kittens! She seemed to be getting bigger for awhile, and now she's only slightly round. I stared at her for an hour yesterday until I was certain that I saw little kicks, as I was beginning to wonder if maybe she was having a false pregnancy. I am guessing that she will be having a very small litter, but really wondering when it will happen at this point. When we got her, the rescue said they were told she was due any day! This is a picture I took of her last week...she still looks the same to me. Not sure if that's good or bad.

Will she let you feel her tummy? It's usually easier to feel the movement before you can see it. Quite honestly though, from that pic that you posted, she really doesn't look very pregnant, especially if she was due any day four weeks ago. Does the shelter you're fostering for have a vet?  If they do, they should be able to tell you if there are indeed kittens in there.  I recently fostered a cat for several weeks that my local Humane Society told me was pregnant, and five weeks later, she really didn't look much different, so I took her to their vet and found out she was not pregnant. They have an exam team which is made up of volunteers that examine new arrivals at the shelter. They are not vets, so they just do their best to guess about pregnancies. I have a friend in another city that had the same experience. My foster was adopted quickly after she was returned to the shelter. But she spent five weeks unnecessarily confined to a bedroom by herself when she could have gone on to her home much sooner, so that was the unfortunate part of it.

She doesnt quite look ready yet, did the cat rescue tell you how far along they thought she was when you got her? I was exactly like you about 6 months ago when I found out about my girl being pregnant. I researched everything I possibly could about the pregnancy. You will be absolutely amazed at how natural the process is and how their insticts kick in. When she is ready, you will know. You wont have to guess. Her nipples will be huge, she will probably stay in her nesting place for long amounts of time and she will be ginormous. I was that overprotective mom and had this fancy place with blankets all setup for her just for her to completely disregard it and have them under our living room couch lol. Anyways, just be patient and conscious of her actions. OH, and since you mentioned how much she loves your daughter, dont be suprised if she decides to have them right smack in her bed

The rescue I work with is foster-only, so there's no physical shelter. We do have the cat room at Petsmart (where we also do adoption events on the weekends), but our volunteers take care of that, also. We try to only go to the vet in emergencies to save on costs, doing vaccines and deworming ourselves, as well. That said, she has not been examined by a vet. I suspect that the individual who surrendered her only stated that it was an urgent situation to get her off of their property right away. Since her nipples were pink upon arrival, she would have been a minimum of 3 weeks pregnant when she came to my house. This would give her 1.5-2 more weeks maximum before any kittens would have to appear.

If they don't, we assume it to be a false pregnancy and get her spayed so she can go up for adoption. I believe she truly is pregnant because she has grown, though not a ton, her nipples have become enormous, crusty, and slightly baggy, and she is resting a lot more. She's also been nesting a bit lately, and I could swear I saw some little kicks, but she won't let anyone near her tummy to feel. The only reason I would doubt the authenticity of the pregnancy is because our other pregnant foster cat (that came to us a little over a week ago) is absolutely GIGANTIC. However, she has also clearly been a mom before, so I would guess she may be having a larger litter anyway.

So, Although Amelia is holding a foster slot that another cat could be in if she turns out NOT to be pregnant, she is well cared for and getting socialized, so we wait and see. What does irk us a bit is that she was obviously only barely pregnant when we picked her up, so she could easily have been spayed at that time without any difficulty, but we don't spay in advanced pregnancy (cost, potential complications, and probably the moral values of those running the rescue). At any rate, we just wait to see at this point, and make sure she's happy and healthy. Thank you for your remarks...it's always nice to consider points I hadn't thought of! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

As of today, Amelia has still not given birth. I have definitely seen movement in her tummy at this point, so I am sure she both actually pregnant, as well as nearing the end, despite her small size.

The problem I'm having is that she seems to be getting somewhat aggressive. She's always been a little jumpy and quick to scratch, but it's usually playful scratching. She is generally friendly and likes attention. However, I was scooping her litter box just a few minutes ago, and she came over and bit me. I jumped a little, and went back to scooping. A few seconds later, she just attacked my arm for no reason whatsoever, scratching and drawing blood. I finished quickly and left the room.

Is this normal? What did I do to cause her outburst? If she's freaking out on me for cleaning her litter box, how will I be able to weigh her kittens or help if she has labor difficulties? I know she must've had a hard time as a stray, but I really thought she was adjusting fairly well. Now I'm concerned and confused. What should I do?!

You did nothing, her Maternal Instincts are kicking in, if she attacking you, it probably best for you not to be the same room when she having them, just be nearby and keeping checking on her.

Oh ok, so it's relatively normal, then? What if she has problems delivering? Does it mean she's going to have the babies soon? Do you think she would attack anyone? She is closer to my daughter, but I wouldn't want my daughter to get attacked if Amelia has decided she doesn't like anyone anymore!

How old is your daughter? If old enough she could probably handle it,

You could try talking to her with calm, soothing voice

She is only 9....very bright and responsible, but still....

I understand, i edied my post

I think my daughter could handle some things but not if there was really a big problem. I will try to be more soothing towards mama...maybe she didn't like my reaction when she bit me and that provoked the attack.

but don't wait too long for a repiy call a vet

It probably best to call the vet before posting anything

Yes, I would generally call a vet if something went wrong. In this case, though, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to bring her in or do what they suggest because she would become aggressively defensive, injuring herself or her babies. The mobile vet is not open all night, and the emergency vet does not do house calls. I am REALLY just hoping she pulls it all off without needing someone to step in, at this point!