Can a cat go through the first stage of pregnancy twice?

Hi, so my cat gave birth to two healthy kittens this morning around 930 the first one and 10 the second one. She then cleaned the kittens off, fed them and went to sleep with them and was totally content and fine until 5 pm tonight. She started to breathe heavily and begin to groom herself again and just looked tired and uncomfortable and it felt like there was another kitten in her abdomen. So I called the vet and told them and they told me to take her into the animal hospital which I did and they took an ultrasound and said there was definitely one more in her and they could hear the heartbeat. They said since I haven't seen her had any contractions that she doesn't need an emergency c section yet but if she doesn't end up having the kittens by tonight to bring her back in. So now I'm just anxiously waiting for her to have this kitten meanwhile she keeps breathing heavy and laying on her side and cleaning herself. She's doing great taking care of the other kittens at the same time while she's struggling like this but I'm curious since there was so much of a break in between the first two kittens and this one if she has to start the whole process over and is going through stage 1 all over again? Has anyone else had this happen either? I really would love advice because I know if I take her back in they're going to want to an emergency c-section which is $3,000 and I don't have the money for that, I'm a college student who adopted the cat cause she needed a home and I live in a apartment on the top floor so she never gets out but she was staying at my parents house for a week during school break and got out once. Advice would be great also I am going to get her spayed when all this is over i don't need to hear the lecture on that, Im just really worried and need to know if anyone else's cat has gone through the same thing and it took 12 hours to get started again. 

Yes they can go through it twice. You won't get a lecture, accidents happen. You can get the kittens fixed when they are 8 weeks and the mom as well. Good luck!

bmob7795

Thank you for taking her in!

And congrats on the kittens!

I'm not sure I agree on an emergency c-section tonight unless she's in distress or actually pushing for an hour with no success, or bleeding heavily.

I would wait 24 hours at least if she's not having problems to see if she has the kitten. Cats can have hours and even days between kittens sometimes.

I would also first ask for a shot of oxytocin to bring on stronger contractions to help deliver the kitten before a c-section.

The chances of her delivering this kitten herself are probably good. A c-section is a last resort if she is truly unable to have it.

How is she doing now?

Yes, there can be pauses in between. Good that you got momma to the vet to get checked out and that you were able to see that the other kitten was ok. You also received good advice about watching for signs of distress.

If she is actively pushing for more than 20 mins without producing a kitten or if she appears in distress or, of course if the kitten appears to be stuck in the birth canal (if you see a portion of the kitten) seek immediate medical care.