Your Birthing/Delivery Experiences

Would any of you like to share your stories of when your kittens were born? I really didn't know what to expect, except that it was going to be a very warm, tender, Disney-like moment. I couldn't have been more wrong. Here's a story I shared in another thread.

Originally Posted by AMYSCRAZY
I called the vet this afternoon and scheduled a C-section for tomorrow. I told my boss I needed to take a vacation day. I called my son at 3:00 and he said she was still "fat and laying around". I got home at 5:00 and went to my bedroom to check on her. GUESS WHAT - 5 little kittens and I'm not sure she is done. 1 black, 1 gray tiger striped, 1 calico and 2 white with little black spots on their heads. I am so relieved. One kitten seems to be under her rear but they are all still wet, so I'm not sure if I should move it or not.

That is wonderful news. I am so happy for you. I am so in awe that a 7 month old kitten could have kittens! Ours was 11 months when she had hers last week and she seemed to have no idea what was going on. About 11:30 at night she climbed on our bed wanting some affection. About every 3 minutes or so she would meow like crazy. After about 15 minutes of this I got up and noticed a dead kitten in it's sack at the end of our bedspread!! A few minutes later she had the next right in the middle of our bed. She still didn't seem to be doing anything, so I tore the sack, then Rory immediately slurped up the afterbirth and licked the kitten like all get out. Then the next 3 birthed at about 2 hr intervals. That was a very long night. Congratulations.

This is a great thread idea, And it will give others something to do & Look for when anxiously awaiting their storks...lol So Here goes: Hope (my momma kitty) was on day 67 & as alot of you know I was a wreck wondering if I should take her to the vet since the x-ray (which was way off) said we were expecting 7-10 kittens & For a Persian cat births aren't always easy for them. Anyways...that evening she started having a discharge (kind of reddish-brown & clear combined) & she was also very clingy. She was also laying in her nest I had made for her that she hadn't ever stepped a foot into until that evening. She was making biscuits in her blanket as well. So I slept in the nursery with her yet again that night...expecting kittens & still none by that afternoon. But at about 8:45 that night she started meowing over & over so I went in to her and she had alot more discharge & had her 1st baby at 9:11 & Her last at 10:41. She had 5 healthy little ones without a hitch. The only worry was when she had 2 at the same time but both placentas were unborn so they just hung there together in my hand until the placentas were born. She took care of everything but did not eat or chew the placentas off the babies so I had to do this for her. I recommend anyone waiting on babies to practice tying floss with one hand around a rubber band to get the feeling of how tight and so on. If you can get hemostats these are ideal & work alot easier. rambling again. lol So..that was our birth story, I hope this helps someone.

Yen had only come to live with me two weeks before she had her kittens.

She was a few days earlier than I expected. She didn't like the nest I made for her, so instead she had her kittens underneath my dresser. Yen really likes her privacy. A few days before she had them, she became extremely affectionate and was sleeping with me. Then at around 7 she started meowing and had the first kitten. She did everything she was supposed to(as I was told thiswould have been her 7th or 8th litter) and then I checked on her once she had the first kitten cleaned. The second kittens back legs and tail were sticking out, so it was a breech baby. It took Yen a good two hours to get that one out and then she cleaned and fed both the babies. This delivery went with out a hitch.

Originally Posted by cookandcompany

This is a great thread idea, And it will give others something to do & Look for when anxiously awaiting their storks...lol So Here goes: Hope (my momma kitty) was on day 67 & as alot of you know I was a wreck wondering if I should take her to the vet since the x-ray (which was way off) said we were expecting 7-10 kittens & For a Persian cat births aren't always easy for them. Anyways...that evening she started having a discharge (kind of reddish-brown & clear combined) & she was also very clingy. She was also laying in her nest I had made for her that she hadn't ever stepped a foot into until that evening. She was making biscuits in her blanket as well. So I slept in the nursery with her yet again that night...expecting kittens & still none by that afternoon. But at about 8:45 that night she started meowing over & over so I went in to her and she had alot more discharge & had her 1st baby at 9:11 & Her last at 10:41. She had 5 healthy little ones without a hitch. The only worry was when she had 2 at the same time but both placentas were unborn so they just hung there together in my hand until the placentas were born. She took care of everything but did not eat or chew the placentas off the babies so I had to do this for her. I recommend anyone waiting on babies to practice tying floss with one hand around a rubber band to get the feeling of how tight and so on. If you can get hemostats these are ideal & work alot easier. rambling again. lol So..that was our birth story, I hope this helps someone.

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I don't know if I could have done that. What did it taste like?

Giggling.....and now have slight nausea...

when i was about 13 i ahd been feeding a stry in my neighborhood my dad had let me use an old dog house i put it in the garage and she slept in there at night. i noticed that she was getting really really fat she was normally a realy slim trim beautiful calico i started noticing that she would hang around more and mroe during the day. i came home from school one day and she met me at the door something she enver did. she kept leaving to go to the garage and then would come back i walked over to the dog house and she crawled in and next thing i know i see legs she had 8 kittens and they were all breech it took her about 4 hours to have them all i helped her deliver all the kittens the only one that died was the very last one a solid white kitten the biggest of them all i had never seen a newborn kitten this big he looked like he was about a week old just cause of his size i found a home for all the kittens a couple of months later and my aprents (the one time they let me have anything to do with a cat lol) let me use my savings to get the momma neutered and then we found a home for her too.

My queen Just had her third litter recently (she is a three year old registered ragdoll, she doesn't just get out and get bred over and over with out me spaying her.) her first two litters went very fast and very smooth. This time was not so smooth
She started labor at 11:00 pm on 4/4/06 after a couple minutes she had a premeture still born. All labor stopped. by the next morning still no more kittens so I took her to the vet and we decided to wait it out (after feeling movement and an r-ray showed that the kittens appeared to be alive. later that afternoon I was not satisfied with one vets oppinion so I took her for a second oppinion who checked her cervics took temps, ect, and said she wasn't in labor or having stress, if we induced she would most likely have them immediatley and I was concerned they were premeture so we thought waiting was best too, the longer in the oven the better done they will be, right? Well after going all day the 5th with nothing happening I decided in the morning I was going to induce labor and take my chances with the kittens, instead of taking my chances with mom as well, I was waiting for the vets to open, and at 6:30 am on 4/6/06 31 long agonising hours later, she started to have labor again and this time she gave birth to 5 live kittens. She is a great mom and did every thing her self and I didn't have to interfer. She cuts the cords eats every thing and cleans them right up, and when she has a break in between births gets them nursing. I only took them for a second to mark them and weigh them and put them back with her. a few hours later one started to become very weak and cold and drifted off and crossed the rainbow bridge to join his little sister. The 4 kittens are now 6 days old and gaining like crazy. So It isn't just cats are individuals, but every labor for every cat is different too. This was my latest expirience with labor, like you have seemed to have picked up on, it isn't always the touching Disney monents, but still a great expirience, and if some one thinks they are ready for this kind of expirience and is aware of what can and may happen, then I strongly suggest they expirience birth, there are so many pregnant cats at shelters that need to be fostered.

On a side note (and not meaning to offend in any way), your sig is too big. I've made you a smaller version of the photos to use, if you'd like.

I've only had one birth experience. Cat was sleeping on my lap when she started having contracrions. I put her in the nesting box and went into the other room for a second. She came in and meowed at me, then ran back out about three times until I realized she wanted me to be there. I sat next to the box, and she gave birth to the first one. An hour and a half later, kitten number two squeaked its way into the world. a Half hour later, number three was born breech. I had to help her with him a little. She only made a sound when he was born (the head after the tiny neck had to be painful). If I stepped more than three feet away from the box, she'd meow frantically, as if to say "and where do you think YOU'RE going?!"

It was fairly uneventful. I helped her out by drying them off, and moved her foodbowl into the box (it was huge). The waterbowl, I put just outside the opening of the box.

Strangely, there was only one placenta between the three of them, but they did not look alike (and a vet visit confirmed that she was empty).

I do not have a birthing experience to share...but I do want to point out:

I am so in awe that a 7 month old kitten could have kittens!

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Cats can get pregnant as early as 4 months of age, which is why we want to encourage individuals to please keep their kittens indoors until they are spayed.

I can appreciate this thread to share information, but part of the goal of TCS is to help get through the pregnancy so that the mom can safely be spayed. We do not want to encourage individuals to purposefully breed their cats unless they are a responsible breeder of purebred cats.

Katie

Originally Posted by TNR1

I do not have a birthing experience to share...but I do want to point out:



Cats can get pregnant as early as 4 months of age, which is why we want to encourage individuals to please keep their kittens indoors until they are spayed.

I can appreciate this thread to share information, but part of the goal of TCS is to help get through the pregnancy so that the mom can safely be spayed. We do not want to encourage individuals to purposefully breed their cats unless they are a responsible breeder of purebred cats.

Katie

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You just don't want to share one, or you have never seen any of the many rescues (I assume you have had many rescued cats by the expirience you seem to have) have birth? I know you talk about the foster that didn't make it due to phenmonia, (Matilda?) Do you just catch ferals and release them (after altering) or take care of litters after they are born? I thought you had pregnant rescues as well?
I really agree with your last statement, that's why I pointed out that my cat was registered purebred and I am a breeder, (i'm sure you wasn't saying it in mine or other breeders direction, just making a very important point, so i'm not being quick to defend, but to agree with your statement) and also stated that if any one wanting to expirience a birth should do so by fostering a pregnant rescue. Any one who has a cat or kitten should try to keep it in, untill it is spayed (and really for it's life, I just read some where out side cats only live an average of 5 years, when they normally can live up to 20+ years, that's a drastic life span drop, by allowing them out you can loose up 15 years of your cats life) Like so many say if you want to expirience a cat having birth help one of the many cats in shelters, they are already pregnant and those kittens will need homes. A lot of people say, "well my friends and family really wanted a kitten so we are going to let her have a litter", but that takes a home away from a stray that is already here and needs a home. So with that being said, if your cat is unfixed get it done, if it's too late and it's already pregnant, or you have a rescued pregnant cat, I hope peoples expiriences in this thread helps you to know a little of what can be expected.

You just don't want to share one, or you have never seen any of the many rescues (I assume you have had many rescued cats by the expirience you seem to have) have birth? I know you talk about the foster that didn't make it due to phenmonia, (Matilda?) Do you just catch ferals and release them (after altering) or take care of litters after they are born? I thought you had pregnant rescues as well?

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Truthfully...I don't have one to share....I received Matilda's mom after she had given birth to Matilda and her 2 sisters. They were only 2 weeks old..but none the less...were already born by the time I receive them.

I have 2 organizations that I volunteer with 1. Lost Dog and Cat Rescue...I mainly handle the cat adoptions at our cat adoption event on Friday evenings and when I foster, it is mainly adults 2. Alley Cat Allies monthly feral cat clinic...where we spay all cats and yes, they are then released back to their colonies.

Katie

Originally Posted by CommonOddity042

On a side note (and not meaning to offend in any way), your sig is too big. I've made you a smaller version of the photos to use, if you'd like.

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Yes, that is better. I didn't create the first one; I let my 11 yr old daughter do that. Too complicated for me.

As most of you know I was posting like crazy when Missy went into labor.
@ about 8 at night I noticed her bleeding and within 1 hr there was Tiny, about a half later Tom cat came along (both breech) Missy cried alittle . Then while I was posting ofabout the 2nd birth , she must of had the 3rd. When I went to check on her I saw a dead calico. Soright away I posted for Help. (Dun dun dun da) Wendy and Pooh came to my rescue and talked me through this hard time. By 8am there was still no more babies and with the vet saying there were 6-7 in the x-ray I was getting worried. So I called the vet and took her in @12pm. They induced her with a shot and a half later nothing!!! They wanted to do a c-section (I just couldn't afford that) so I said lets give it some more time and maybe another shot. Low and behold a half after I came home they called and said two more came but one was still born. Well about an hour later I called and they said Missy had one more but it was defored I didn't understand exactly how the nurse decribed it so just waited to see myself (thats Spock). Then @3 I went to get my son from school and tried to pop in and see if she was done so I could take her home.... nope. they said she was done (seven in total) but wanted to keep an eye on her. So @ 5:30 I got to go pick her up and all 5 babies Then 2 days later Lil Miss past away I reaaly thought the rest would make it but it's in GODS hands not mines. I really wanted to be there for all the babies but she need a profesinal and thats something I am not. So all in all I am just happy to have her and 4 healty babies !!!

My Sissy didn't any help at all for her first and only litter. I didn't even know she was in labor!! LOL we went to bed and when we woke up, she had 2 sweet little kittens.

But when I was a kid, I helped many a mama kitty give birth.