Mother Foster Cat

picklewickle

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Hello!

I've been lurking around the site for the last two months while I have been fostering kittens for the local shelter. Kitten season is hitting them hard, and it doesn't look like it was going to get any better. I brought home a pregnant mama, but I don't know how far along she is. Either way, she has her kitten chow, and her fancy feast pureed pumpkin mix, her own room that is quiet, a nesting box filled with old sheets and I'm allowing her to rest. It doesn't look like her milk is in yet, but It seems like I can feel the kittens in her really round tummy. I will attach some pictures to the post. :)

While I am waiting for my kitchen scale to get in, I have KRM, Bottles, Loads of blankets, uncoated floss, cute heated stuffed animal (ive used them with other nursing kittens, Its a rice sock stitched into a stuffed animal giving it something to cuddle with and stay warm), a heating pad, and some other necessities. 

I have two things that I worry about. The shelter that I volunteer and foster for has had a really bad outbreak of PanLuke. All of my cats are vaccinated, so I am not worried about them, but I am more worried about her seeing as she was brought in as a stray. They gave her a shot but it has only been four or so days since the medicine has been in her system, and she's been at my place since yesterday. While she hasn't shown symptoms, I do know how quickly it can hit. So I'm watching her, and hoping that her and her kittens were lucky while staying in the quarantine room. Also, Because she is a foster for a low income shelter, they don't pay much for medical bills for the fosters that people take home. So would an X-ray really be needed for her?

Fortunately, I thought it would be a good thing to open the thread now just in case anything serious happened, but she seems very happy, healthy and glowing right now. So that makes me optimistic about her situation. Shes eating and drinking normally, no signs of any issues on that front. 



 

handsome kitty

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X-rays aren't necessary.  They are done when people are worried about the cat being pregnant past 65 days. 

The vaccination could cause problems for the fetuses but it sounds like it needed to be done.  You'll find out when the kittens are born.

Welcome to TCS.
 

Sarthur2

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Welcome!

Since she's already pregnant, if she carries panleukemia the kittens will be exposed either way. All you can do is hope she is healthy.

If the kittens have it, you'll know within the first five days or so after birth, usually.

Hope for the best!
 
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picklewickle

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I'm hoping for the best! She has a bit of a sniffle, so I'm taking her back to get some medicine tomorrow. I hope its not a URI, but they will know better than I when I bring her in. Its really unfortunate that the cats at shelters have such an easy time getting sick, but I'm hoping that her and her kittens are healthy in the coming weeks. Thanks for the advice. 
 
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picklewickle

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An update on Raven!

I was incorrect about her vaccine time. I thought she had gotten it only a few days before I took her home, but its been over two weeks since she's had it. While she hasn't shown symptoms for panluke, from what I've read and been told, she has a better chance of not getting sick from it because of the time that she got her vaccine. Whether that is true or not doesn't much matter, she's not showing anything for that so i'm cautiously optimistic. For the sniffles, they do think it is the beginning of a URI, but everything is clear, and watery as of now. I have the skills and equipment to give sub q fluids in case she keeps refusing to drink/eat wet food.

She started eating less (but that could be from a multitude of things including her getting closer to having the babies.) so I am watching her. Otherwise she is doing fine! loving her box I made her and relaxing like the queen she is. 
 

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Was she given meds for her URI? Did the vet comment on the pregnancy at all?
 
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picklewickle

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Shes on 1cc of amox twice a day. She's not a fan of it, but shes taking it like a champ. The woman who acts as the stand in vet at the shelter said she feels around eight weeks, but they didn't do any further tests on her to check. 
 
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picklewickle

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For now yes! While she still is wheezing a bit, it is getting a lot better. :3 So I will try and keep you guys updated! 
 

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Hopefully she will be well by the time she has the kittens. [emoji]128522[/emoji]
 
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picklewickle

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Update, 

she had a premature kitten this morning. I woke up hearing a bunch of shuffling in her litter box and found the kitten there. I have pictures but they are kinda graphic. I opened the sac as fast as I could, seeing as I had just woken up, but it didn't look like the kitten was breathing or moving, I gubbed it gently, but im pretty sure its was dead before I got to it. the mother haswhat looks like the next sack out o her but is no longer pushing. . She doesn't seem too distressed. I don't know if she conginues to have the babies if any of them will make it.
 
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picklewickle

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Sorry that post was so scrambled, I was a bit shaken by the dead baby and making sure the mother was okay. The sack is still out of her, and I called the emergency vet close to me and they told me only to come in or go to my normal vet if it has been longer than 2 hours between kittens. Do you know if there is a possibility of the other premature kittens being older, and if so, is there a chance of them living even though they are premies? at that age?
 

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If you can see the sack and she's not pushing I would be concerned. Is anything different now?
 

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It sounds like the other sac was the placenta for the premature kitten. I'm so sorry it did not make it.

Hopefully, mom will hold off and the other kittens will be born healthy. She could still be days away. I hope this birth was not a result of the vaccine she received.

Keep us posted.
 
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picklewickle

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Mama is not acting pained or distressed, but I took her into the shelter to get her looked at, and the premature kitten, to make sure nothing else should be done. They agreed the kitten was probably only five and a half or six weeks of age, and wouldn't have survived. Aside from her sniffles, shes alert, has pink gums, and is hydrated. On the way back, as I was putting her back in her nesting box, I saw that the sac (it was only about half a thumb sized and full of liquid, had either ruptured or come out. The towel she was on was wet, very little blood, and her back end was clear. 
 
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picklewickle

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I felt her tummy to see if there was any contractions, and while I didn't feel any, I did feel a kick or two. So I am hoping that is a good sign. Im crossing my fingers.
 
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picklewickle

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UPDATE UPDATE

She had two more premature babies, one died but the other is alive. The mother refused to care for it, after it cried, so I went and took action.

Right now it is under a heat lamp and i have kmr, supplements, and a syringe. It has whiskers, claws, pads, and it looks like you can start to see color along the pink body, but its still kinda skin like. I don't know if it will make it. I don't know how old it is so I don't know how much formula to give it. its about 40 grams at birth.
 

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40 grams is a super, super low birth weight. I would try to get .5-1ml into it every hour and see what you can do. Best of luck.
 
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picklewickle

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@talkingpeanut  It looks about 7.5-8 weeks old. whiskers, claws, pads, and a tiny bit of fur color showing through. It did cry, and although its not now, it keeps opening its mouth like its trying to. Im going a few drops at a time because of how tiny the thing is. the picture makes it look dead, but its moving and warm.

 
 

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picklewickle picklewickle

Oh, goodness! The kitten weighs 1.4 ounces, about half a healthy birth weight.

It will be a challenge to keep this kitten alive.

Is it swallowing the drops of KMR you are offering?
 
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