Advice on care for a soon-to-be mama cat

Hey,

    Through an unplanned turn of events, my lynx point Siamese Lily got pregnant. She is about 6 weeks along. I have never had a pregnant cat before and am wondering if there is anything I should or should be doing. I have been feeding her half a can of moist cat food twice a day (as she likes moist better than dry), have been careful not to pick her up and have made her two nesting boxes in different quiet corners of the house. I want to do whatever I can to make sure that she has a safe, healthy delivery.  Also, she will be spayed as soon as the kittens are weaned.

My other question is, looking at the picture, can anyone give me an estimate how many kittens there will be? I know there will be at least two, as she has a round bump on each side (presumable a kitten???). The only reason I'm asking is because a lot of people are interested in getting her kittens and I would like an estimate. I plan on keeping one, so that she is less heartbroken at losing them and then ensuring that she has no future litters.

Any advice/comments would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

You need to let her eat as much as she wants.  You can feed her kitten food, it has more nutrients and fat that the kittens need to develop. She is going to get much bigger. The two lumps you felt are probably the uterus.  You should see kitten movement soon.  Then you may be able to 'count bodies'.

She won't go into her nest until the last minute, she will check them out before giving birth.

You may want to get a few supplies before she gives birth.  Kitten Milk Replacer (KMR)  We've been recommending the Pet Ag powder other brands are ok but do not  get Hartz or Seargents.  this will not go to waste.  You can feed it to the mother cat and to the kittens mixed w/wet food when they start to wean.

  A scale that weighs grams or ounces w/a decimal so you can see any kittens need supplementing.

A needleless syringe, small 1-2 ml/ccs in case you need to supplement.  You can get one at a pharmacy.

What a pretty cat! Do you know who she mated with?

Yes, feed her as much wet food as she wants, and put kitten chow down for her to munch on too.

Good that you plan to spay her after this litter. There is no good way to tell how many kittens she may have without an x-ray, which is really not necessary.

I suggest you read some of the articles on pregnant cats and kittens that can be found at the top of the forum.

Please feel free to ask questions, and welcome to the forum!

After she got out in early June, I chased off a few tomcats before being able to bring her inside, so I have a general idea of who the father/fathers could be. I have read many articles on caring for pregnant cats but it feels like there is never enough information! I know everything will be fine, but since she is my baby, I cannot help worrying. I even made her a little home made fleece throw for when she babies.

Thank you so much for the advice. She is due the first week of August (at least from what I have read, it should be around then) which means it will not be too long before I know how many kittens she will. My biggest struggle has been keeping my other cat (who I took in when her mother died) from being too rough. She keeps wanting to roll around on the floor and attack her, all in play. However, my cat Lily hisses and growls whenever she tries to play. I do not know if the other cat could actually harm her unborn kittens but, as a result, I am doing my best to keep them separated.

Your other cat means no harm and just wants to play, and will likely not harm the babies inside, but Lily is not in the mood!

How old is your other cat and is she spayed yet?

My other cat is getting spayed in a couple weeks. She is still young and very energetic. I took her in because a neighbors cat had kittens and he took his cat but left her babies behind. They were not even ready to be weaned at the time! I wasn't able to keep them all but my cat took a liking to her and essentially became her "mother." However, I have been very careful to make sure this one gets spayed before she ever goes into heat. Partly because the world does not need more cats (there are so many that need homes) and partly to avoid going insane again from experiencing a calling queen in heat. All the other cats I ever owned as a kid were spayed well before that could happen. It was not until I got Lily that I learned how quickly a queen in heat can try your patience.

Your other cat will calm down some after she is spayed. It was sweet of you to take her in. Do you know what happened to her litter mates?

Lily had her kittens early this morning. Thought I would share a video, since everyone was so kind with their advice.

Congratulations to Lily . It looks like all is well! Let us know if you have any questions.