Hey y'all,
So I'm a neonatal kitten foster through a local shelter and I brought home my first pregnant mama cat on Sunday. Miss Lucy came to us from a shelter in another city so unfortunately we don't have any background information on her. She's pretty small, probably only 10-11 pounds if she wasn't so hugely pregnant! We don't know how old she is or if she's ever had kittens before. All we know is that she's super sweet and seems pretty laid back.
The manager of our foster program did a great job of preparing me for when Lucy goes into labor, giving me an exhaustive run-down of possible outcomes and things to watch for. The only thing she couldn't tell me was how far along this little lady is!
I did some research and based on what I read we know that she's past the 3-4 week mark because of the shape/size of her nipples. Also, since the kittens are visibly moving inside her, that puts her in her last couple of weeks right?
I can't really tell if her milk production has started; she has a very small amount of white crusty stuff around the base of some of her nipples, and this morning had what looked like a little white scab on the tips of a few of them.
She is eating like a PIG and chowing down the minute the wet food touches her bowl. I'm keeping it constantly full, and she gets up to eat more about every 15-20 minutes. She has shown no interest in either of the two nesting boxes I have made for her, or the fluffy fleecy blankets in the closet. She has preferred this bathroom rug instead, right in the middle of our master bathroom.
As far as her behavior goes, it's been a little odd. I would have expected a new foster to be a LOT more shy at first; Lucy has been all purrs and pushing her face against my hands for more ear scritches. She also gets really excited when I rub under her chin, and flops down like in the picture then stares at me like "ok, why did you stop petting me?" If I don't start petting her again, she'll get back up and come nuzzle my hand more.
My foster manager and foster mentor told me that I should leave her alone in the bathroom and only check on her every few hours, but I did that yesterday and she didn't seem to like it. Every time I left the bathroom and came back to check on her she would be huddled in an uncomfortable position in a corner or behind the toilet. As soon as I'd come in to the room, she'd rush out to greet me and plot back down on the rug. She meows a lot at the door when I leave, and then lays down to nap when I come and sit with her.
Yesterday afternoon while she was laying down I noticed that she was occasionally clenching all her muscles; she would tighten all her leg and back muscles and flex a bit, and then relax again. I thought that she might be starting her pre-labor and sent a video of it to our Vet. Vet said probably pre-labor, but about 30 minutes later the got up and started to play. She kept that up for the rest of the day, and has continued the same behavior so far today.
My mentor has suggested the she might be having some false-labor; I went ahead and set up the heating pad and the kittening box, and got all my supplies gathered just in case but nothing seems to have changed since this started at 3:30pm yesterday.
Any advice for me from y'all who have done this before?
So I'm a neonatal kitten foster through a local shelter and I brought home my first pregnant mama cat on Sunday. Miss Lucy came to us from a shelter in another city so unfortunately we don't have any background information on her. She's pretty small, probably only 10-11 pounds if she wasn't so hugely pregnant! We don't know how old she is or if she's ever had kittens before. All we know is that she's super sweet and seems pretty laid back.
The manager of our foster program did a great job of preparing me for when Lucy goes into labor, giving me an exhaustive run-down of possible outcomes and things to watch for. The only thing she couldn't tell me was how far along this little lady is!
I did some research and based on what I read we know that she's past the 3-4 week mark because of the shape/size of her nipples. Also, since the kittens are visibly moving inside her, that puts her in her last couple of weeks right?
I can't really tell if her milk production has started; she has a very small amount of white crusty stuff around the base of some of her nipples, and this morning had what looked like a little white scab on the tips of a few of them.
She is eating like a PIG and chowing down the minute the wet food touches her bowl. I'm keeping it constantly full, and she gets up to eat more about every 15-20 minutes. She has shown no interest in either of the two nesting boxes I have made for her, or the fluffy fleecy blankets in the closet. She has preferred this bathroom rug instead, right in the middle of our master bathroom.
As far as her behavior goes, it's been a little odd. I would have expected a new foster to be a LOT more shy at first; Lucy has been all purrs and pushing her face against my hands for more ear scritches. She also gets really excited when I rub under her chin, and flops down like in the picture then stares at me like "ok, why did you stop petting me?" If I don't start petting her again, she'll get back up and come nuzzle my hand more.
My foster manager and foster mentor told me that I should leave her alone in the bathroom and only check on her every few hours, but I did that yesterday and she didn't seem to like it. Every time I left the bathroom and came back to check on her she would be huddled in an uncomfortable position in a corner or behind the toilet. As soon as I'd come in to the room, she'd rush out to greet me and plot back down on the rug. She meows a lot at the door when I leave, and then lays down to nap when I come and sit with her.
Yesterday afternoon while she was laying down I noticed that she was occasionally clenching all her muscles; she would tighten all her leg and back muscles and flex a bit, and then relax again. I thought that she might be starting her pre-labor and sent a video of it to our Vet. Vet said probably pre-labor, but about 30 minutes later the got up and started to play. She kept that up for the rest of the day, and has continued the same behavior so far today.
My mentor has suggested the she might be having some false-labor; I went ahead and set up the heating pad and the kittening box, and got all my supplies gathered just in case but nothing seems to have changed since this started at 3:30pm yesterday.
Any advice for me from y'all who have done this before?
