i really need some advice

hello . i am a new member here and i need some advice. my room-mate has a five year old pregnant manx, Minxie, with her first litter. we also have a de-sexed five year old male, Azzie, and before we found out that Minxie is pregnant I adopted a now 17 week-old male, Spike. she still has another 3 weeks to go before she delivers her kittens and she has been really moody lately, hissing and swating at the other 2. is that normal behavior or should i be worried? also, how will she be with the other 2 around when she has her kittens? this is my first experience with pregnant cats and also my first kitten and i was wondering if anyone could give me the answers to my questions. Thank you very much.

Originally Posted by spikesmom

hello

. i am a new member here and i need some advice. my room-mate has a five year old pregnant manx, Minxie, with her first litter. we also have a de-sexed five year old male, Azzie, and before we found out that Minxie is pregnant I adopted a now 17 week-old male, Spike. she still has another 3 weeks to go before she delivers her kittens and she has been really moody lately, hissing and swating at the other 2. is that normal behavior or should i be worried? also, how will she be with the other 2 around when she has her kittens? this is my first experience with pregnant cats and also my first kitten

and i was wondering if anyone could give me the answers to my questions. Thank you very much.

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Welcome to the board....it isn't unusual for mom to get moody during her pregnancy....it will be really important to set mom up with her own "space" (her own room is ideal) because some moms don't exactly like other cats around her kittens. Also....if I am reading correctly Spike is a little over 4 months of age...it is probably a good time to get him set up for his neuter. I had my male neutered at 5 months with no issues. Also, I'm not sure the backgroup of Minxie's pregnancy...but if this was an accidental mating...she needs to remain indoors only and away from intact males until her kittens are weaned and she can be spayed (around the time the kittens are 6 weeks of age).

There is a lot of really good information in this link about pregnant cats:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74659

Katie

Moody Yes. Pregnancy is alot on them Skittles is really moody these days.

Jada was very moody with my 2 male cats during her pregnancy. She would literally walk up to them and smack them. It got to the point where the boys would seriously "lay low" and in a submissive position when she walked by them. Sometimes they would even flinch if they thought she was gonna smack. I noticed it started when one of the boys sniffed her backside. She was letting them know to back off and then it just progressed from there. It was almost like she was picking a fight but they never retaliated. It was a good thing though because now if they go near her bathroom (where the babies are) she only has to look at them funny and they run off.

Maybe that is why Skittles slaps Baby on the butt... Teach her to keep away from her and the babies.

that's how she is with them. she will sit in the hallway and when the "boys" try to go down there to use the littebox, she will hiss at them. it gets to the point that they don't want to go down there if she is there.

Originally Posted by spikesmom

that's how she is with them. she will sit in the hallway and when the "boys" try to go down there to use the littebox, she will hiss at them. it gets to the point that they don't want to go down there if she is there.

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It would probably be a good idea to set her up with a seperate litterbox from them.

Katie

i have one litter box in the hallway that has been there since we moved in here and another one set up by the back door. i read somewhere that she won't use a litter box or let her kittens use the same one that other cats use, is that true? the other question i have is, the only place that we have that is private for her to be alone with her kittens is the bathroom. we only have one bathroom, would we disturbe her if that is where she choses to have her kittens? i really appricate all the advice. this is my first experience with pregnant cats and cats in general.

We have 3 litter boxes. Jada's is in the bathroom with her which she will use at night when we close the door. But she will come out and use the boys' litter boxes during the day. I'm not sure why she does that. They don't use hers though.

Jada and her kittens are in our main bathroom and right now my kids still use that bathroom to potty and wash hands but they are bathing in our master bathroom for now. If we only had the one bathroom I wouldn't see a problem with bathing in there though. It's good for the kittens to be around all the activity of the house so they'll not be too skittish or scared when they eventually come out and are adopted out.

Originally Posted by spikesmom

i have one litter box in the hallway that has been there since we moved in here and another one set up by the back door. i read somewhere that she won't use a litter box or let her kittens use the same one that other cats use, is that true? the other question i have is, the only place that we have that is private for her to be alone with her kittens is the bathroom. we only have one bathroom, would we disturbe her if that is where she choses to have her kittens? i really appricate all the advice. this is my first experience with pregnant cats and cats in general.

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Spikesmom...unless your roommate intends to be a breeder...let's try to make it your only experience with this particuliar pregnant mom cat. If the only room for her to have her privacy is the bathroom..then I would start to prepare the bathroom for her...most of the time, if there is too much going on..a mom cat will feel the need to move her kittens and you definately do not want her to move them some place unsafe or where you cannot get to them. I had a foster mom in my bathroom and it was fine. I actually think she preferred being close to her kittens so she could go back to them if they needed her but she could still get out of the nesting box for a good stretch.

Katie

my roommate is planning on getting her spayed when the kittens are 6 weeks old. since minxie adopted my roommate a couple of years ago, and minxie was always an indoor/outdoor cat, she just assumed that she was spayed because she never went into heat before. like i said this is her first litter and i am sorry i was wrong about her age, minxie is 7 years old, not 5. we are worried about her age and why she has never had litters before.

Originally Posted by spikesmom

my roommate is planning on getting her spayed when the kittens are 6 weeks old. since minxie adopted my roommate a couple of years ago, and minxie was always an indoor/outdoor cat, she just assumed that she was spayed because she never went into heat before. like i said this is her first litter and i am sorry i was wrong about her age, minxie is 7 years old, not 5. we are worried about her age and why she has never had litters before.

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That's a very good plan. I didn't know this before but cats are induced ovulators meaning that they don't have to be in heat to get pregnant (good information to share by the way) all it takes is an intact male and an opportunity. Sounds like Maxie just has been very fortunate the last couple of years. I can certainly appreciate your concern regarding her age...hopefully she will have no issues with delivering but it would be a good idea to keep the vet number handy just in case. Also, feel free to come and ask any questions you may have as Maxie approaches her date...there are lots of individuals on this board who have had pregnant cats (and several who are like you and are trying to prepare). Now would also be the time to curb Maxie's outdoor time. Call it a sabatical until she has been spayed. The last thing you need is for her to have her kittens outside.

Katie