How much longer???

Ok, I am a first time poster here, but have been avidly reading all the different threads about kittens since we discovered that our little girl was preggies... So firstly hello!!

Ok...I know it is impossible to tell how long a pregnancy exactly will be (approx. 9 weeks though). Here is the story so far...

We discovered our little girl was preggies approximately 3 weeks ago when she bacame noticeably bigger. Since then we have confined her inside, confirmed she is pregnant, switched to a high quality kitten food, set up 3 different 'queening' areas and taken more notice of changes. Her belly is huge, and has recently began constantly moving for longish periods (like the description I read somewhere of worms moving around in her belly), especially in the evening. She follows us around (not overly affectionate but will want to be at least in the same room as my wife or I) and is sleeping ALOT. She began her confinement eating TONS but has since gone down to about the same amount she was eating before becoming preggies, although she goes LOOOOOOOOOOONG stretches without food, and spends most days fast asleep.

She hasn't really taken to any queening areas, just a few areas she likes to sleep in, although all are dark and quiet like queening areas should be...

She still has 'active' periods every now and then, although they are progressively shorter...and followed by LOOOONG periods of inactivity

We think she is really close, is there anything else we should be looking out for that might give us some sort of idea?
Our kids are really excited at the prospect of kittens and driving us nuts asking when they will arrive???

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer

Mischief...if you did not see her mate..it will be difficult to determine an exact date of delivery..but the following link should be useful:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46743

It is good that you have set her up with different queening areas..but oftentimes if the areas are "busy" locations (with lots of traffic or activity), a cat may prefer to have her kittens in a quieter area and pick a location you may not prefer. If you can put some extra queening boxes in the locations that she is prefering (as long as they are safe)...that would help.

I do hope you plan to have mom cat spayed after this litter has been born and weaned (around 6 to 8 weeks of age) and please keep her indoors only until she has been spayed because she can go back into heat and become pregnant again soon after giving birth.

Katie

thank you for that link Katie... is there anything else not in there that may give indications?

rest assured our little miss will be spayed after weaning...one batch of kittens is enough for us...

Originally Posted by Mischeif

thank you for that link Katie... is there anything else not in there that may give indications?

rest assured our little miss will be spayed after weaning...one batch of kittens is enough for us...

Click to expand...

Great to hear that Little Miss will be spayed after this litter. As far as other indications...have you scrolled down and read some of the other posts from other members who found themselves in a similiar situation? There are quite a few posts from members who were anxiously awaiting the delivery date...in fact, 2 members had pregnant cats at the same time and were taking bets as to whose female would give birth first...so I would scan those posts first to see if there is any additional helpful information. Also....our moderator Gayef is a breeder of Old Style Siamese cats and she will most likely visit this forum over the weekend and can probably suggest some other signs.

Are you close to the 60-67 day timeframe as is stated in the article?? That is also a good mark by which to be "looking" for her to have her kittens.

Just keep checking back and I'm sure you will receive other replies.

Good Luck.

Katie

Since cats are not exact (they can deliver anywhere between 63-68 days on the average), one of the ways I could tell when my females delivered (and I KNEW when they were bred) was to gently squeeze their nipples. When they produce a bit of the clear colustrum "milk" they are usually within 24 hrs of delivery.

Some females will stop eating just before delivery and others will continue to eat so you can't really tell by that. But they do seem to get pretty quiet and if you watch them you may see them start to go into labor.

I've sat up or checked thru the nite waiting sometimes and they didn't deliver till the next morning

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Since cats are not exact (they can deliver anywhere between 63-68 days on the average), one of the ways I could tell when my females delivered (and I KNEW when they were bred) was to gently squeeze their nipples. When they produce a bit of the clear colustrum "milk" they are usually within 24 hrs of delivery.

Some females will stop eating just before delivery and others will continue to eat so you can't really tell by that. But they do seem to get pretty quiet and if you watch them you may see them start to go into labor.

Click to expand...

Is there a special way to do this... have read somewhere that the milk is stimulated just as much by the kittens pawing at them near the nipples (not sure on the accuracy of this though). Her nipples are certainly large and look even more swollen in the last couple of days... also seem to be turning a slightly darker pink...could just be jumping at shadows though... deadset the waiting is making me crazy!!!

She stoppped eating yesterday for like 12 hours (and was otherwise normal) so we thought maybe that was it...but no...back on the tucker and no kittens...

Hi Mischief and welcome to TCS.

You're looking for things like her losing her mucous plug and a little pinkish mucous around her vulva, diahorrea in the 12-ish hours before giving birth and going off her food, although, as you've experienced that one is not always an indicator.

Good luck with her.

Originally Posted by TNR1

I do hope you plan to have mom cat spayed after this litter has been born and weaned (around 6 to 8 weeks of age) and please keep her indoors only until she has been spayed because she can go back into heat and become pregnant again soon after giving birth.

Katie

Click to expand...

Katie, I'm just curious... I've seen you post something similar before. Why do you hope that they get their cat spayed after having the kittens?

And Mischief, it's true about the queening areas. They are excellent ideas, however cats often choose very unlikely places to have their babies (my cat Babs had her last litter on our papasan chair) while Toots, our other cat, broke her water on our bed and had a kitten in the middle of the basement floor (the other two had to be extracted because they were stuck in the canal). If you see your girl's belly moving more and more, she's getting close to D day. Three days before Toots had the babies (3 weeks ago), she had small contractions... she would crouch down and breathe quickly. And then be all normal and playful... maybe something to watch out for...

Good luck!!

Katie, I'm just curious... I've seen you post something similar before. Why do you hope that they get their cat spayed after having the kittens?

Click to expand...

Zabby...first I'll point to the TCS forum guidelines:

As a general rule, TCS is primarily concerned with cat welfare. Because of our strong committment to responsible cat care and treatment, we do promote and strongly encourage a pro-spay/neuter policy here. Unless you are an experienced, responsible, ethical breeder of pedigreed cats, we do not advocate breeding. We feel strongly that you should spay and neuter your pets so it should not at all surprise or offend you when we tell you so in our replies to your posts.

When a person finds their cat is pregnant..we want to assist them with the pregnancy...but if they are not part of a pedigreed breeder program, we want to encourage spaying of the mother cat once the kittens are weaned(as well as placing the kittens into homes that will spay/neuter at the appropriate age). It is healthier for a cat to be spayed as it reduces a cat's chances of developing several cancers and an intact female cat that mates with a cat of an unknown background (such as a stray) can be put at risk of diseases such as FIV or FELV which can be spread through mating. Also, there is in most countries an overpopulation of cats that we are trying to reduce through the promotion of spaying/neutering. I hope that answers your question.

Katie

Congrats on your kittens mischief,
Maybe your queen will start to use the litter tray alot more frequemtly. And sometimes go off their food. However first time mums don't often know the signs of labour and carry on as normal.
Some will meow all day and follow you around a lot.
Sounds as though you have got yourself prepared, with nests, food etc. I found my queen ate everything in sight especially for the last 3 weeks of her pregnancy.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone for your replies so far ... lots to look out for, and from the sounds of things she is pretty close given what we've read before this and some of the other things that y'all have posted!

if anyone has any more info that would help, we'd really appreciate it...never had kittens before and really excited by the prospect... we will let you all know how the little lady goes when the big day comes and definitely post some pics as the little fluffies come!!!!!

Katie,

Thank you for your answer. I was not offended by the statement, merely curious. However, I still feel that nature will take its course as cats have been giving birth and raising kittens without the help of humans forever and do not need our help most of the time. On the other hand, I do understand the worry of diseases and the overpopulation of cats. I'm glad to know where TCS stands on this issue!

Mischief... Any new developments with your girl???

still waiting but thanks for asking zabby27, I noticed this morning, and my neighbour commented on it as well, that she is looking pretty thin and scruffy around the face and neck, she is losing her winter coat at the moment though the amount I just brushed out of her. We have her on a really good brand of food and she is eating all the time.

It's good that she's eating. Has her behaviour changed at all?

It's exciting, that last stretch til she gives birth! When Babs was last pregnant with Toots (she only had one kit), we didn't even know she was pregnant til we found the baby under a pillow on a livingroom chair! It was a nice surprise!!

It is good that she is eating. I would also recommend keeping in touch with your vet and having plans in case there is an issue that arises during the birth or afterwards. It's always good to be on the safe side.

Katie

Update.... (for those who are interested)

No kittens yet, and no labour... took the little girl to the vet to be checked and he said to keep an eye on her...looks like she is happy and healthy enough etc, but if no kittens by Fri lunch time to call and talk about a caesarian... GULP!!! Hope the poor little thing doesn't have to go through that so prayers etc would be really appreciated.

Also he believes there are 4, maybe 5 kittens in there, so there's a whole bundle of lovin just waiting to come out and we can't WAIT!!!!!!!

Thanks all...will update when we know anything

here is a picture of our little miss by the way...

it's a hard life as a cat...

Prayers and Good Vibes coming your way! Hoping you have many furry bundles of joy!

Awww she's beautiful and so huge!

Originally Posted by zabby27

Katie,

Thank you for your answer. I was not offended by the statement, merely curious. However, I still feel that nature will take its course as cats have been giving birth and raising kittens without the help of humans forever and do not need our help most of the time.

Click to expand...

I'd just like to interject here - it is true that nature takes its course and cats have been giving birth to kittens without human help. However, I do not agree that those cats raise those kittens - I believe many of those kittens suffer horrible deaths in the wild, fending for themselves as strays, never knowing a warm, safe home. Some ignorant people go so far as to drown unwanted kittens which wouldn't have been born if the cat had been spayed before she got pregnant with the unwanted kittens and if the male had been neutered he wouldn't have been able to get her pregnant. Others abandon the baby kittens in malls and shopping areas, in the woods, by the side of the road, in ditches and some even think they are doing a wonderful thing by giving them to their local humane society to deal with. Unfortunately these are often shelters that are already overburdened with unwanted animals and have to put the animals down - animals that did not need to be born in the first place.

So yes - nature has been taking its course, but even in nature there are things that can be made better.