New Bengal Breeder w/ questions on expectant queen

Hi all,

I'm a new Bengal Breeder & I've only tried having kittens once before. My first queen whom I now spayed due to her size & temperment & an extremely complicated first pregnancy that resulted in no kittens. It was very dissapointing & this was back in March.

I'm hoping to have much better luck the 2nd time around. I just had my other girl to the vet yestorday & the vet said she felt at least 2 in there. She just made championship at the last show we were at in July too!

I'm still new to this & the vet wanted me to bring her back for an ultrasound & x-ray. I was told by another breeder this is a bad idea, because the stress could result in her aborting the litter. Any suggestions, is it best to keep her comforable at home & let things happen naturally? She's about 39 days into the pregnancy now, so I estimated around the 18th of October. I had thought an accurate count would help in knowing that they all came out during delivery though, too?

Any advice would be much appreciated...

Thanks,
Kerrie Lasso
Wee Little Cats Bengals
A TICA Outstanding Cattery
http://www.webspawner.com/users/yvette1740/index.html

did vet say why she needed x-ray and ultrasound

Originally Posted by WeeLittleCats

I just had my other girl to the vet yestorday & the vet said she felt at least 2 in there. She just made championship at the last show we were at in July too!

I'm still new to this & the vet wanted me to bring her back for an ultrasound & x-ray. I was told by another breeder this is a bad idea, because the stress could result in her aborting the litter. Any suggestions, is it best to keep her comforable at home & let things happen naturally? She's about 39 days into the pregnancy now, so I estimated around the 18th of October. I had thought an accurate count would help in knowing that they all came out during delivery though, too?

Click to expand...

I personally wouldn't risk an ultrasound at this point in her pregnancy. Normally they will shave a good portion of her pelt off to get decent diagnostic images. Pretty stressful for any cat and if she's not co-operative, she will have to be restrained or sedated to get good images.
The ultrasound would show the kittens movements in the womb versus a radiograph, just showing kittens bone/structure formation and giving a fairly reliable kitten count.
If you're concerned about how many kittens she's carrying, an x-ray won't harm her or the kittens and she probably won't get too upset about it. It only takes a few moments to get it done.
I would steer way clear of the ultrasound unless your vet suspects she has problem kittens.
Just an FYI....I've never had any of our pregnant queens radiographed or ultrasounds performed during their pregnancy and our vets have never recommended it. Abdominal palpatation was always sufficient.

Good luck with this new queen!

Thank you guys for your advice. She's happy & comforable here at home (where she's going to stay). She has her own bedroom with a comforable kitty bed & show cage for her to have her babies in. The vet never gave me a clear reason for the ultrasound & x-rays either. I'm starting to think it's just more money for in their pockets much like I think of people doctors, .

Plus she gets colitis from stress & that's not good either. Every time I've showed her or drove her practically anywhere in the car we discover blood in her stools. At first I thought it was something horribly serious then later learned it was all from her being stressed!

Thanks Again!
Kerrie Lasso
Wee Little Cats Bengals
A TICA Outstanding Cattery
http://www.webspawner.com/users/yvette1740/index.html