Just took in a pregnant calico

My family took in a pregnant stray calico approximately three days ago and plan to allow her to deliver in our home, spay her, and keep her and one kitten as our family pets.

Obviously, I don't know when she's due, but her belly is huge. Is there anyone on here who could estimate how pregnant she is from a picture?

Also, she seemed to have a contraction yesterday. It was long enough for me to be able to clearly visualize and palpitate at least 4 kittens. All seem to be active in the tummy and feel to be about 4 inches long.

Any help is appreciated.

I don't have any words of wisdom or advise, but I wanted to thank you for adopting this little stray and offering her a safe home to have her babies and then to live permanently. What a wonderful person you are!

Stephanie

Hi welcome to TCS.

The link should answer some of your questions and help you prepare.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80724

I know I have heard it mentioned that when you start to feel the babies moving that normally in two weeks you can expect delivery. I am trying to verify this but I could be wrong.

Honestly, without know when she became pregnant it really is a guessing game on a due date. Has she seen the vet? They can help as well with advise and due dates.

Again welcome and keep us posted!!

We only have one vet in our town, so when I called to get her an appointment yesterday, they couldn't get her in until next Tuesday. I am fairly certain that will be too late. Hopefully, the kittens will come over the weekend and will be able to be seen all at once on Tuesday.

I never felt sadies babies until the night she had them her belly got really hard and I could actually then feel the babies moving. Don't have any other advice then that.

Have you set everything up for her? They will have kittens just about anywhere. Under beds, behind the couch, in the closet to name a few.
I know that some of the members set up several different spots to chose from.
I hope everything goes well.

awww thats sooo good of you, just make sure she cant get behind the washer/dryer, when taz was pregnant, she wanted despratly to get back there and i kept trying not to let her, but believe me she wanted to big time, It was hard to keep her out, so i had to keep it blocked off, make sue she has a nice warm safe place to have her babies with lots of food water, and her litter nearby and she will be a happy camper

I made a bed for her in our garage (that's where she prefers to sleep). I have noticed her taking a special interest in our master bedroom closet, so I am keeping her out of it as well as our girls rooms during the day so she doesn't get any ideas. We also just got a new bed, so our old matresses are in the garage and she seems to hang out between them alot.
Our plan is to let her have the babies in the garage and then move them into the master closet because it is more out of the way.

good luck with you new baby. make sure they are kept warm and be sure to post pictures as soon as she has them! did you name the calico or did i miss it?

Here are some pictures of the mama kitty. We've decided to name her Ruby. The pictures don't really show how huge she is.

http://photo-origin.tickle.com/image...O322148855.jpg

http://photo-origin.tickle.com/image...O507407196.jpg

Ruby, our mama kitty, has been laying around for about 5 hours now. She would get up briefly if my kids were bothering her up until about an hour ago. Now, she just ignores them and goes to sleep. Do you think she might be resting up for the big night?

Could be. Or she could just be resting. Hey, if I had to carry half my body weight in kitten, I'd be resting, too.

She is gorgeous!

Originally Posted by Callista

Could be. Or she could just be resting.

Hey, if I had to carry half my body weight in kitten, I'd be resting, too.

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I definitely sympathize with a big pregnant mama. I gained 50 lbs. with my first.

My husband thinks that she is probably just resting from living in the woods for who knows how long now that she is comfortable in the house.

But, he cleaned up the garage and reassembled our queen size bed, set up a smaller box on top of the bed for the babies, and put a ton of blankets and towels on it. He checked her one more time for ticks (she had lots when we found her). I swear that man is working harder for this cat than he did for the births of either one of our kids.

Meanwhile, I found the nasal aspirator, sterilized some scissors, and got tons of delivery advice from our vet tech neighbor, just in case.

Now I guess its a wait and see.

Originally Posted by AnnasMom

We only have one vet in our town, so when I called to get her an appointment yesterday, they couldn't get her in until next Tuesday. I am fairly certain that will be too late. Hopefully, the kittens will come over the weekend and will be able to be seen all at once on Tuesday.

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I think if she has the kittens, you will just cancel the vets appt. Usually, so long as everything goes fine, you wait until 6 weeks to take the kittens in for their first vet check and initial shots. You might want to take a poo sample in sooner. Often kitties have worms, and at about 4 weeks the vet give you some wormer that is safe in kittens and nursing Moms.

(Don't use over the counter wormer...it isn't really safe!)

How exciting that you are fostering a preggers Mom! Best of luck with the kittens...I hope you get one as cute as Ruby!

Good luck, and many thanks for such a wonderful deed!

One thing I'd like to suggest: please spay her kittens as soon as they weigh 2 pounds (usually around 8 weeks) so that they go on to their forever homes already incapable of reproducing. This will help stem the cycle of cat overpopulation And thank you for getting her spayed when the kittens are weaned.

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

One thing I'd like to suggest: please spay her kittens as soon as they weigh 2 pounds (usually around 8 weeks) so that they go on to their forever homes already incapable of reproducing. This will help stem the cycle of cat overpopulation

And thank you for getting her spayed when the kittens are weaned.

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Definately agree on that great suggestion. Don't let them leave your home before being spayed and neutered! Also I agree also to not take the babies into the vet when they are so young. That type of stress and exposure to who knows what could be a big mistake.

Great job on rescuing her and finding the babies new homes! She is an adorable little girl! (Oh just FYI, you might want to resize your pictures before posting them since they are really really huge and hard to see since you have to scroll over and everything)

hi here in uk she would be a torishell and white not calico but what ever she is a beauty i have a 10mnth old just like her just been speyed good luck and a big hug for you well done for saving this beauty

All of the kittens will be spayed and neutered. I have been in close contact with our local animal shleter regarding her care and the future of the kittens. In our area, the shelters don't spay and neuter themselves, they have a voucher program with the local vet.

After we found her, a friend who works for the shelter came over to see if maybe it would be possible to abort the litter and spay immediately. (We have a huge stray population in our area because it is wooded and a popular drop site for unwanted kittens from the nearby suburbs.) All of us decided it was too late (our local vet will only abort a litter up until 3 weeks before expected delivery). Therefore, the shelter has given us vouchers for free spay/neuters for both the mama cat and all of her babies although we wouldn't meet normal income requirements for the vouchers. We plan on making a big donation this year!