Just Found Out Cat Is Pregnant And Due Very Soon And I'm About To Leave Town.

[moxiewild]

This is long, please stay with me, I'm a little panic-y right now.

A few weeks ago, one of my ferals I've been trying to trap for months showed up on our porch with an injured kitten with a severed paw, about 4-5 weeks old. We'd never noticed she was pregnant, and never found any other kittens.

We managed to get the kitten to the vet and then trapped Mom the next day. They've been staying in our house since May 12. Both are doing fine, and socialization with the kitten has been going really well.

Luckily, Mom has also been coming around, so we've decided to keep them together for the full 12-14 weeks rather than separate early. Over this past weekend, Momma cat actually came out of the entire crate for the first time while I was playing with the kitten.

And I immediately saw the belly...

So we went to the vet today and sure enough, our poor girl (who is still a kitten herself) was pregnant again. Vet said possibly 5 or 6, but definitely at least 4. According to her, we should expect delivery in the next week, maybe two.

Problem? I'm maid of honor in my best friend's wedding this weekend and traveling quite far for it.

Our vet seemed to feel very laid back about the whole situation. "This isn't Momma's first birth", "they know what they're doing", "let nature takes its course", "it shouldn't be a problem if it happens when you're not there", etc.

And I know that it's very likely that everything will go well. But there's still that chance, both leading up to and during birth, and then after the kittens are born. Also, this is a sizable litter, plus the original kitten is not yet weaned. That's a lot of kittens for mom to take care of and increases the risks.

So we're trying to evaluate any and all options.

We have fantastic pet sitters who we'd already hired for this weekend. One of them has worked in rescue for over 25 years. The other sitter works for her, and she's a vet tech. I cannot stress enough how much we trust the two of them.

The woman who owns the company lives near us, and the vet tech is temporarily living with her right now. So both will be very close by. We are the vet techs only clients this weekend, and the owner has only several other clients to tend to (who all live within 15 minutes of my house).

We just talked with the sitters on the phone for a long time and they assured us over and over they are willing to do whatever necessary should Mom give birth while we are away. I made sure to go through different scenarios with them, to make sure everyone was on the same page and ensure they realized the extent of what I may possibly end up asking of them.

Both have experience with this and with newborns and hand rearing. Both know what to look out for.

Additionally, because Momma was feral and we wanted to reduce stress but keep an eye on how everything was going when we initially brought them in, we bought a nanny cam that we can access wirelessly at any point through an app. It has two-way audio and we can tilt it and rotate it 360 degrees. We're hoping this may possibly be the key to everything (and our vet felt very comfortable with it).

Our sitters said they are perfectly okay with downloading the app for our nanny cam and keeping an eye on things when they aren't there.

So all four of us (and very likely my mom as well, who will be at the wedding with me) will be able to check on them at any point, 24 hours a day. I know my boyfriend and I will be checking obsessively, and the two of us agreed to take shifts checking the camera throughout the night.

So there's a decent chance that among the five of us, someone will catch if/when Mom starts queening and be able to alert the sitters to head over. We agreed that if/when that happens, they will stay at the house throughout the entire labor, and keep an eye on the camera and only intervene when necessary.

I'm honestly having a hard time thinking about leaving. I'm seriously considering staying, even though I know my best friend - who I love but does not get the cat or rescue thing in general - and my mom will be very pissed at me and think I'm overreacting if I bail. I obviously don't want to disappoint my best friend and make her feel like I'm not supporting her on their big day.

But... I know our friendship would eventually recover.

However, I feel like I would never be able to forgive myself if Momma cat did give birth and something went wrong, and I wasn't there and there was nothing I could do but watch through a stupid camera from miles and miles away as things fell apart. Even if the sitters were there and doing their very best to handle it, I would be devastated.

I just don't know what to do. I don't have a clear idea of what labor would entail or require in terms of monitoring and intervention in order to accurately assess if it would be safe to use the sitters. I'm going to do my research obviously, but for now, I just don't know what to expect and how to proceed. And I don't have a lot of time to figure it out.

So ultimately, I guess my question comes down to this -

- Would the situation with the sitters be a reasonable and safe solution? What would you do?


Any other feedback or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all!

 

[moxiewild]

Some pictures of the two girls and our set up. These pictures are all taken from the nanny cams. We had to go through three different ones before we found one we really liked/worked reliably. The last photo is the current camera we're using.

 

[ArchyCat]

Sounds to me that you have the situation well handled! Have a good time at the wedding! And thank you for rescuing the mom and kitten!

 

[FeebysOwner]

It would seem you have your bases covered! But, I get you, I would be a basket case the entire weekend! But, if your sitters are willing to go over there on a moment's notice, that is super!

Two things:
1.) I would guess the sitters know to look for any signs related to mama reacting negatively to the older kitten and be able to remove him/her, if needed? It's not terribly likely, but I know you want to be prepared on all fronts.
2.) If your friend and mom are concerned that you are somewhat distracted, please remind them why and ask that they be patient/compassionate with you!

Keep us posted and let us know how things go!!!

 

[moxiewild]

Thank you both!

You bring up a good point about the older kitten! It's difficult because I feel like she would almost certainly allow me to take any of her kittens if necessary since she's watched me take her current kitten multiple times a day and has been perfectly fine with it for a while now. But I have no idea how she would react to a stranger doing it. I've bought them some thick gloves they can use though if the situation calls for it, and the older kitten at least can be lured quite easily with toys now. It's all I can think of to help them be prepared.

I am just keeping my fingers crossed that Momma can wait until Sunday night.

 

[moxiewild]

I was also wondering what other supplies I should have available to prepare for the birth. I've read the main article on here about it, but wasn't sure if it was up-to-date or there was anything else that would be helpful to have in addition to that. Especially for post-delivery care of the kittens if there are any complications, like rejection or a premature birth.

So any suggestions would be very welcome!