Pregnant Luna

Hi. Its my first time owning a pregnant cat and i had a few questions. I took Luna to the vet on Saturday and he said that i should expect kittens by the end of this week or sooner. Shes expecting 5 little babies but I'm kind of concerned.

Her nipples are kind of turning pale, even white and are a little crusty. Should i be concerned?

Also it seems like 4 of her nipple are more dormant than the others. They arent as enlarged. Should i worry about some of her kittens not getting milk?

As far as scales go....i do not own one, and lacking a job i have no funds to get one. Are there any other techniques or anything i could use to be sure that the babies are doing well without me having to supplement?

Her nipples are crusty with dried milk that is leaking. Most moms have some nipples that are more productive than others. The bottom nipples near the hind legs are usually the choicest, but after giving birth milk comes in fully within a day or two.

Can you borrow a kitchen scale from someone? It is the only reliable way to know if a kitten is not gaining, otherwise, you will know when the kitten is fading, which is often too late.

You'll want to have a small, needleless syringe in the house, along with powdered kitten formula, called KMR by PetAg, in case you need to supplement. Mom should drink a dish a day for extra calcium while nursing. Walmart carries PetAg for $10.

Is mom getting unlimited wet food and dry kitten chow 24/7? She needs it.

Have you made a nest for mom in a quiet, private place, such as a closet?

Welcome aboard TCS! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

I have the kitten formula and a kitten bottle. And ive set up a nest for her in my bedroom. The closet or bathroom is too cramped. She seems to have been doing a bit more cleaning than usual this morning.

And I've checked her nipples. No milk is coming out.

Great! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Kittens with moms will not usually accept bottle nipples, so if they need supplementing you'll need a 1 or 2 mL syringe.

I have something like that i think. She scratched at the litter box this morning for about 15mins straight and then vigorously groomed down there after words. Well.... The best she could anyway hahahaha.

Now shes pacing and restless. She lays down and then a couple minutes later gets up and moves somewhere else. Shes breathing pretty fast too. Idk if shes in labor or not.

It sounds like labor! Stage one can last up to 24 hours.

Ok. I'm clearing out the closet for her. The kittens are moving like crazy and it looks like her vulva is kind of swollen and has dried mucas discharge on it. She gets a little irritated if i try and check hahaha. I'm so excited. Still no scale though :/ I've asked everyone i know.

Luna is doing good. It looks like she might have lost her mucas plug while she was in the litter box. Shes still breathing fast, but shes still eating a few bites here and there while trying to get comfortable. Shes in and out of sleep and when shes not either of those shes kinda dozing off a bit. I hope she goes into the 2nd stage of labor soon.

How are things going? This stage can last quite awhile.

No real progress that i have noticed. Shes still breathing fast and uncomfortable. But the babies have stopped moving around like crazy and it looks like her stomach may have dropped.And her nipples look like tgey have gotten pinker. No milk though

It does sound as though she is slowly getting there. Keep us posted.

I will. Its her first time being a Mommy so perhaps thats why its kinda slow.

It's not unusual at all. The body has to go through many processes to get to the pushing stage. It probably does take first-timers longer though. Your cat sounds like she is doing fine so far! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

I sure hope so. Lol my poor baby girl.

Her temperature is at 99 degrees. So i would think she'd be progressing?

She probably is, but you may not be able to see it yet. But temperature is not always the most reliable indicator.

Any discharge?

Not so far. Except for the mucas i found on her leg near her vulva yesterday.

Ah, that was discharge. She's getting there. Hang in there!