Infection1 week after delivery??

Hello! I have a cat that had 4 kittens last Thursday (I'm writing this on Wednesday) through a very long delivery. It took her 9 hours to have 4 and last fall when she had a litter it only took a couple hours to have 5. I was worried that she still had some in there. I called 3 vets to see what they thought and said they would have to do an ultrasound to know for sure. Here's the thing. She's a semi-wild farm cat so getting her locked into a kennel isn't an option. She's tame enough to pet, but look out if you try to pick her up! She seemed to go back to eating and everything the next day, but I felt like she looked "fuller" than after her last litter, but I am far from a cat expert. My question is, is she probably ok since she is a week out now?? TIA!

if you think she may have more in there, i suggest wrapping her in a blanket which will help when picking her up and bring her to the vet

@StefanZ

Not all deliveries go fast, so 9 hours for 4 kittens could be okay, as long as she had normal pauses in-between. It's more the active labor you should keep an eye on. I wouldn't be too concerned about the labor itself.

Has she had any discharge in the past week, so after she delivered her babies? Have you counted all afterbirths, to make sure all 4 came out? If you do think she's sick (infection as your title said) I would highly recomment for you to take her to the vet. 

Do you notice any discharge or anything else unusual?

We took in a litter of kittens last year that lost their mom when they were 12 days old due to an infection from a kitten stuck in the birth canal, though no one realized that was the problem initially.

The mom was a stray and a lady had fed her a handful of times over about a week period. The lady knew the cat was pregnant, but thought she belonged to someone as she hadnt seen her previously. The lady came he one evening to find the cat laying on the sidewalk in front of her house, sick, but alive.

The lady rushed the cat to her vet (which happened to be the clinic out rescue uses) where the mom went immediately into surgery. It was initially thought mom had pyometria; but, turned out to be a deceased kitten. Mom, unfortunately, died during surgery.

The lady went back home to look for kittens; and, found them after a 2-day search. The 4 surviving were hungry and a bit underweight; but in otherwise good shape. We were lucky to have had a nursing momma cat that quickly adopted the orphans, who were 14 days old when we got them.

I say all that not to scare you; but, things can happen more than a week after the birth.

Do your best to keep an eye on mom and the kittens. If at all possible, you need to weigh the kittens daily. This will give you a general idea of how everyone is doing. If kittens are not gaining weight daily, then there is a problem.

If mom starts having problems, be prepared to get her to the vet.

Not sure about discharge. She won't let me look. I'm trying not to make her too mad since I want to know where the kittens are in case something does happen to her. We have five other cats (only two would let us pet them before the new kittens arrived) that won't come up on the deck where the mom and kittens are. Is that coincidence or is she keeping them away??

Jbvoneye said:

Not sure about discharge. She won't let me look. I'm trying not to make her too mad since I want to know where the kittens are in case something does happen to her. We have five other cats (only two would let us pet them before the new kittens arrived) that won't come up on the deck where the mom and kittens are. Is that coincidence or is she keeping them away??

Click to expand...

She is prob keeping them away!

Your title was alarming, but your text isnt very alarming.

If everything seems OK, its probably OK, but as said, keep watch, and if necessary wrap her in a thick towel, like MWallace suggested, and take her to the vet.

The vet will hopefully know how to  manage an unruly semiferale...   Although many cats gets submissive in there.

And yes, keep weigh of the kittens, if possible.  Double necessary here, if she has any problems, she will prob not give enough with milk.

Good luck!

CatPack said:

Do you notice any discharge or anything else unusual?

We took in a litter of kittens last year that lost their mom when they were 12 days old due to an infection from a kitten stuck in the birth canal, though no one realized that was the problem initially.

The mom was a stray and a lady had fed her a handful of times over about a week period. The lady knew the cat was pregnant, but thought she belonged to someone as she hadnt seen her previously. The lady came he one evening to find the cat laying on the sidewalk in front of her house, sick, but alive.

The lady rushed the cat to her vet (which happened to be the clinic out rescue uses) where the mom went immediately into surgery. It was initially thought mom had pyometria; but, turned out to be a deceased kitten. Mom, unfortunately, died during surgery.

The lady went back home to look for kittens; and, found them after a 2-day search. The 4 surviving were hungry and a bit underweight; but in otherwise good shape. We were lucky to have had a nursing momma cat that quickly adopted the orphans, who were 14 days old when we got them.

I say all that not to scare you; but, things can happen more than a week after the birth.

Do your best to keep an eye on mom and the kittens. If at all possible, you need to weigh the kittens daily. This will give you a general idea of how everyone is doing. If kittens are not gaining weight daily, then there is a problem.

If mom starts having problems, be prepared to get her to the vet.

Click to expand...

Wow, does that means newborn kittens did survived alone 2 full days?   Its a new record, I had earlier met cases of  24 hours alone newborns, surviving.

I presume it helps to be children of a survivor, whom herself has immunity system stronger than average...

The kittens all seem to be growing already. A couple of them are pretty round! BTW.... 2 of them are missing tails! One I would assume genetic issue. Two made me do some research. Are these Manx kittens?? Are there any special needs of them?

Jbvoneye said:

The kittens all seem to be growing already. A couple of them are pretty round! BTW.... 2 of them are missing tails! One I would assume genetic issue. Two made me do some research. Are these Manx kittens?? Are there any special needs of them?

Click to expand...

I suppose you could compare them with Manx kittens, but thereby not said they are Manx kittens.  Unless you do live on Island of Man...  

But this genetic defect / spontaneus mutation isnt that rare.

And your question is good.  Most often its no big deal for them.  They can live normal lives.  But somethimes, there are damages, esp if its a genetic defect.  They may have internal damages too.  They could have for example, problems with control over elimination....  Its too early to know as yet.  But if they gain and thrive they too,  I suppose and hope its not so bad.

Just to wait and see.

Anyways, kittens thriving is a good sign, it hints mom is OK.  Mom in distress usully have difficulties with producing lotsa milk, and perhaps not have patience to take care of them kittens properly.

@StefanZ, yes, based on the time when the mom was found and when the kittens were located (they were well hidden in overgrown grass/shrubs) it was over 36 hrs. Close to about 45.

Best we could figure is mom must have fed them shortly before she was found on the sidewalk.

They truly are our miracle kittens; especially 1 that we nearly lost to Fading Kitten Syndrome at 4 weeks of age! They are now very healthy and thriving 1 yr olds. The only issue we are having to monitor for are inguinal hernias.

Mama cat has been gone for a few hours now, should I be concerned?? We live on a big farm and I know that she will leave for a bit and then come back, but it seems like she's been away longer than usual. Kittens are 10 days old now and are growing and some have their eyes open. Mama has seemed to be doing really good so I don't know if she's having medical problems or if she's just taking a break. My kids are out searching for her but thought I'd look for wisdom here!

At this stage they feed every 3 to 4 hours so if there nothing wrong with her or a predator didn't got to her she should come back soon.

What the temp there?

Keep looking, if she don't come back within two or three hours, I would become concern

Temp is 63* I have 2 blankets wrapped around their kennel. They've been sleeping pretty much this whole time, but now one of them is starting to meow a lot. At what point should I worry??

Didn't see the last post before I sent my last one! So worst case, what does that look like? What do we do with 10 day old kittens??!!

Considering they can't go too long with feeding I say if she don't come back within three hours I would become concern,

Do you have supplies to take care of them if you have to? A syringe or a dropper? Do you have goat milk or kmr on hand?

The temp needs to be 85 degrees so I don't think two blankets is going to do much

Do you have a heating pad?

No supplies! I have my kids medicine syringe. No on the goats milk and don't even know what kmr is!

Kmr is kitten milk replacer,

How big is the syringe?

It's the kind that comes with baby ibuprofen