more questions about my pregnant cat

hey again, I was wondering couple things abouta nesting box. I made one for the cat and she didnt just rush into it she went back into her cylinder house once she saw it. Should I take the cylinder house away?? so she goes to the nesting box? also her name is ember... I know i know shes not red but thats her name

No guarantees she'll use the nesting box if you take away her house! Cats have had kittens in the weirdest places... there are worse places, I suppose, than a cat house. It's certainly better than inside a brick wall (yes, this has happened--and the rescuers who got the kittens out spent the entire day doing so!).

Perhaps make the box a bit more attractive; she seems to want a dark, enclosed space, so some blankets draped over top of it might help. Old blankets, of course; birth and young kittens are a bit messy. And find a quiet place where she can take care of her kittens in peace.

Still, no guarantees; making her use the nesting box is really a hit-or-miss affair. Just hope she doesn't have the kits somewhere inaccessible, make that nesting box very attractive, and keep her out of areas where it would be dangerous for small kittens (garage, outdoors, etc.).

If she is not yet nesting, she may just be in her cat cylinder (is this one of those carpeted scratching post things with a space inside for the cat to lie?) because she prefers lying there. Once she starts looking for a place to have her kittens, she may turn immediately to your nesting box. Keep it there, keep it available, and keep her in safe, warm rooms. At least that way, if she ignores your nesting box, she's more likely to pick someplace that isn't too dangerous.

hehhehehe I thought that cat realy had alot of nerve not to even look at it . because i spent SOO MUCH TIME ON IT heheheh

Joe I have 4 boxes and Skittles never touch it tell yesturday, But I think i made her mad because I know she felt better under my bed so I took the fram off so she could not get under it.... I am beginning to think she is holding labor off because of it... So dont take the house away let her queen there and maybe move them after it or like others say try to tempt her to it. You still have time correct....

Originally Posted by joeman11

hehhehehe I thought that cat realy had alot of nerve not to even look at it

. because i spent SOO MUCH TIME ON IT heheheh

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Of course you know with a cat, that was your FIRST mistake. I would stand in front of it and say, "Don't you dare go in there!"

yeah i know thanks a bunch I dont know how much time i have lol..... could be 2 weeks could be 1 week could be a month I doubt it though.

Originally Posted by joeman11

yeah i know thanks a bunch I dont know how much time i have lol..... could be 2 weeks could be 1 week could be a month I doubt it though.

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I thought you were planning to take her to your vet. Or did you change your mind.

Katie

i dont need to her belly is huge... and I think i can feel the babies... I just dont know how far along she is... btw I did take her to the vet already. For a physical.

I know if you see the babies moving it is said to only have weeks to go....

Yes, if you can feel the babies, there should be about two weeks. Give or take. You do have her on high quality kitten food? Sorry if you said that already.

Holstein had her babies 4 days ago. A couple of days before she had them we prepared two great places for her to deliver. One of those places was inside our closet with thick bedding and the other was a large basket with bedding. Guess where she delivered the kittens? Under my cold bed (on top of an air vent) on top of my wrapping paper and my big Victorian doll (here I was trying to protect the doll from my kids, never thought about a delivering cat). I was freaking. She had little bits of wrapping paper stuck to her and the kittens.
She didn't go into the bedding until well after they were all born.
So she may not go into what you prepared......at least not at first.
Of course this is the only cat I've been around that gave birth, but I'm sure Holstein isn't the only cat like that. lol

Hi
As with all cats, they are not at all predictable are they?! My cat has just had kittens and I moved her into a separate room (away from the other 4 cats) about 10 days before she had them. Of course, I wasn't sure when she would have the kittens, but I did read an article on the internet that said any time from the 7th week you can feel the babies moving around inside her. When I read that article, I immediately felt her belly and yes, I could feel them, 10 days later they were here.

Anyway, we have a built in wardrobe in this room (a bedroom we use as a study) so I cleared out the cupboard, lined it with newspaper, put a blanket in a basket and put the basket in a box (on its side so she's covered 3 sides but the front is open in case I needed to help!). She showed no interest in it until a couple of days before she had the kittens, in fact the night before she meowed at me to follow her and she took herself in there as if to give me a hint. Last Sunday morning I woke up and checked on her at 7.00am to find she'd had them all, all done and dusted, bit of goo in the blanket obviously but otherwise all very neat and tidy! (Good girl!)

So it is possible your girl will take to the nest when she needs to. All we did was ensure that she was in one room leading up to the birth, to keep her from the other cats and from going outside as much as anything, as I read that the mum cat can get a bit aggressive in the lead up. The other thing to look out for, which my cat did exactly as the 'text book' said, was that she was really restless, paced up and down and got very vocal the night before she had them, about 8 hours before.

But as I said at the start, cats don't like to be predictable. If I can help with any other pre-birth questions, let me know.

Good luck and keep us all in touch!

Susannah xx

It's great that you are worrying about this subject. When Zoe was only 2 weeks pregnant I found myself building her a wooden white box in good size and placing in a good dark spot, just like where they usually like to hide and lurk.

Thing is that a pregnant cat won't show interest in any special area or box until the "Searching" attacks start. These so called Searching attacks are when the female instinctually starts to feel a very hard need of finding a dark and comfortable area to give birth. Assuming that she has good mother instincts and that nothing in her environment is making her stressed she will find the best place and it will usually be the place you set up for her.

I can tell you that putting the nest box in an area that usually she likes been in, will be less effective than in an area that she usually doesn't go to. Why? Mother instincts tell her to go far from her normal environment as if she was hiding the babies from where she usually at, where we and other family cats know that she usually goes to.

Last days of pregnancy you'll notice that she's searching for a place, this would be a good time to quietly pick her up and put her in the nesting box.

Good luck to both of us