Babies soon?

My baby girl Gilly is 7 months old and very pregnant. She was my neighbors cat but they moved away and just left her there roaming free in the apartment complex. So we took her in and she was already pregnant when we got her. About 3 weeks ago we took her to the vet because we were worried about her, she was already so big and didn't hardly want to move. He told us that she had about 2 and half weeks left but it's been over that. We called the vet and he said that if she doesn't have them by Friday to bring her in. She does nothing but sleep,cry and cleaning herself. It takes a lot of energy for her to move at all and you can tell she's miserable.
Her babies are kicking around in there like crazy.

How much longer do you think she has? I'm just starting to get really worried about her,I want to take her to the vet but he said it would just be a waste of money to bring her in now.

She was a very small cat before she was pregnant. This is also her first litter.

halesdoor said:

She was a very small cat before she was pregnant. This is also her first litter.

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• halesdoor
• Jan 3, 2016

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• halesdoor
• Jan 3, 2016

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I see you do have a honest vet.  He is probably good too.  He COULD start them up, there are several ways. BUT.   Kittens dont manage well att too early delivery, unlike humans.

But, again unlike humans, they seem to manage a little too long pregnancy well.

With humans, when in doubt, you can always go to hospital and make an cesarean, if you afford and the  obstetrician surgeon is any good.   Its no big problem if the child comes out weeks before its time.

Not so with kittens. More than 2-3 days early and its practically a death sentence.

And thus, with cats, when in doubt, its better to wait. The calculated risk weights into the waiting game.

Your girl seems minuscule, but I also think she is a decent  Norwegian forest cat look alike - save the size.   Pretty face!

Here some links.

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.thecatsite.com/a/kitten-development-stages-illustrated-guide

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/pregnancy-and-delivery-in-cats

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"  )  

Ps. And why the vet said 2,5 weeks?  Probably because she was big, and he didnt felt them move.  So he took the inspired deduction, they will begin to move now any day...

But its no exact science, just educated guesses.

StefanZ said:

I see you do have a honest vet.  He is probably good too.  He COULD start them up, there are several ways. BUT.   Kittens dont manage well att too early delivery, unlike humans.
But, again unlike humans, they seem to manage a little too long pregnancy well.
With humans, when in doubt, you can always go to hospital and make an cesarean, if you afford and the  obstetrician surgeon is any good.   Its no big problem if the child comes out weeks before its time.
Not so with kittens. More than 2-3 days early and its practically a death sentence.

And thus, with cats, when in doubt, its better to wait. The calculated risk weights into the waiting game.

Your girl seems minuscule, but I also think she is a decent  Norwegian forest cat look alike - save the size.   Pretty face!

Here some links.

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.thecatsite.com/a/kitten-development-stages-illustrated-guide
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/pregnancy-and-delivery-in-cats
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"  )  

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Thanks for the advice, she is nesting now but is crying out in pain a lot so I'm just really worried.

StefanZ said:

Ps. And why the vet said 2,5 weeks?  Probably because she was big, and he didnt felt them move.  So he took the inspired deduction, they will begin to move now any day...
But its no exact science, just educated guesses.

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They are moving and have been for about a week.

She is nesting now, but I'm just worried really worried about her.
This is my second cat pregnancy but the last one the mother aborted one of the kittens then killed the other 3 after they were born.

halesdoor said:

They are moving and have been for about a week.

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The movements may be felt 2-3 weeks before delivery. So if you began to feel them move one week ago, you may easily have one week more to go...

StefanZ said:

The movements may be felt 2-3 weeks before delivery. So if you began to feel them move one week ago, you may easily have one week more to go...

Click to expand...

Thanks for all you advice!

halesdoor said:

She is nesting now, but I'm just worried really worried about her.
This is my second cat pregnancy but the last one the mother aborted one of the kittens then killed the other 3 after they were born.

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That was tought!   Were the delivered alive kitten healthy?   Cat moms are not seldom killing non healthy kittens - they dont want predators nor scavengers smelling decaying corpses...  So they kill them and eat, or take away.

Also, it could be some sort of stress reaction.  Could be some threat from outside, could be pains from the abortion... She could have had some infection ongoing too...

Lets really hope next time will be better, because what you experienced wasnt that common - even if it happens now and then.

Yeah, they were perfectly healthy. The vet said that it was stress, he kept her after that because she went absolutely nuts and started attacking us and our other cats to the point where she was ripping her claws out and nearly killed one of our other cats.

The kitten is very pretty. Thank you for taking her in!

It's a shame she was allowed to get pregnant at such a young age instead of being spayed. It was during her first heat no doubt.

Your cat may be experiencing pre-labor contractions that are causing pain. It's good that you are keeping a close watch on her and plan on a vet visit on Friday. Most cats have normal labor and delivery, and do not attack their young.

My cat was HUGE just before she gave birth to 4 healthy cats, and also miserable. I took her in for an x-ray, and the vet saw 4 kittens and told me she had 7-10 days to go. She gave birth 12 days later! So do ask for an x-ray before inducing or asking for a C-section. As Stefan said, premature kittens do not easily survive.


This is my cat the day before she gave birth. She looked as though she swallowed a basketball.

Although you are worried about your cat, I think your vet is giving you excellent advice to wait.

Let us know how things go, and good luck!

Sarthur2 , thanks for the advice! She doing okay right now. She keeps switching between two of the nests that we set up for her and has stopped eating. She's a lot larger today than she was yesterday and her belly is rock hard and she is leaking clear liquid. I'm hoping that she has them soon.

I have to go back to work on Wednesday, and I'm just scared to leave her alone because of how young and small she is. Also because of what happened with our other pregnant baby.

We currently have 4 cats other than her and I was wondering if I need to separate her from them right now instead of waiting till she goes into labor. I tried to separate then before but she freaks out every time I take the two 5 month old ones away from her.

I just want to make sure that I do everything I can to help her thru this pregnancy.

It does sound as though your cat is moving towards labor. The rock hard belly and clear discharge are both signs that labor is coming.

I know how much you want to be there when she has her kittens. Hopefully, it will happen when you are not at work. In the meantime, she seems to be enjoying the 5-month-old kittens, so I would not separate them right now.

Sweet Gilly still hasn't had her babies yet. We took her to the vet on Monday and he said that she should have them by yesterday. Still nothing. She will lay in her nests for about 5 minutes and then get out and just go sleep in random spots around the house. Still eating every time she wakes up from her naps.

Her nipples are huge and have been this size for about 3 days now, but her lady bits are still tiny and not swollen at all. Her babies are huge.

She has stopped going to the bathroom in the litter box and is now just going on herself. She randomly cries out but hasn't shown any other signs of labor really.

I'm getting really worried about her and my vet isn't really telling me much except to just keep waiting. What should I do?

Something doesn't sound right.  She should be using the litter box.  Call the vet or take her there.

I agree. Please contact your vet.

How is it going, @halesdoor

Woke up this morning to six little ones!
Gilly is doing great and as happy as can be. I talked to my vet and he said that her going to the bathroom on herself was because her body was trying to go into labor.

I have a happy momma and 6 healthy and feisty little babies.

Wonderful news! Congrats!

Beautiful family!  Glad to hear there wasn't anything wrong.