Never Had A Pregnant Cat

[Violetsnotblue]

I took home a stray cat from work about a month ago. She was very small, and skinny, only four pounds, and maybe a foot from head to butt.
The vet said she was healthy, though very under weight, and might be pregnant. I took her a week later to be spayed and they call me an hour later to come pick her up because she was pregnant. They said she would probably give birth in about a month.
It's been about 3 weeks and she is a pretty healthy weight, and her stomach is very big, and I can feel the kittens moving around.
I have lots of experience with cats, but I have never had a pregnant one before because we always get them fixed. I would love some advice on what to do from here. I think she will give birth within the next few days? This is probably her first pregnancy as she is around 8 months. Also any idea how many kittens she may have?
Thank you so much!

 

[maggiedemi]

One of my childhood cats had 4 kittens, the other one had 2. It was their first pregnancies. So hopefully there won't be more than 4!

 

[catwoman707]

Honestly, no telling how many she will have.
Sometimes the first litter in a young teenager results in only 1 or 2, but other times there are 7.......just ask me, I recently dealt with that one!
Depends on how many 'partners; she had during heat too.

From here, create a couple of nesting spots for her, best is usually a quiet darker closet with the least amt of foot traffic and disturbances and noise. She will choose what she prefers when it's getting close and will likely ignore it until then, showing no interest.

A large box cut down to having sides just 4-5" tall enough so babies will have a barrier that stops them from scooting too far away.
Line the bottom with old towel(s) You don't want something that is fluffy where a baby can get buried in it and end up dying there if not noticed and found by you within a few hours.
Mom will also lay on a buried baby too.

You will notice her behavior changes a bit right before she starts labor, showing interest in a nesting spot, some will eat less, show more affection, etc. No telling as they all will vary but the sure fire clue is you will notice her 'plug' coming out, which is a sort of blood tinged mucous discharge, it is the naturally made protection barrier between the babies in her tummy and the first inches of her vagina, to keep outside bacteria away.

It may show as seeing where she had been laying down there are a few bloody spots, this is normal and means she will begin labor soon, usually within a couple days.

If possible, once you see she has discharge try not to leave her alone, or at least not for the entire day, I know if you work that is near impossible, but even checking on her during lunch or ask someone to is helpful.
Once labor begins actively, meaning full on contractions you can see on her body, pushing, just comfort her with your presence and calm soft voice, pet her if she wants and reassure her. She's still a kid herself and inexperienced.

Once babies are popped out, watch that she cleans them up vigorously so that the sac tears away from the face and baby is breathing. Sometimes especially after delivering babies after the first 2 or few are born, she is getting worn out and may not do this, so you will need to help by simply tearing it away and rubbing the baby vigorously with a hand towel until it's breathing. She/you have a good 2 minutes before taking action to get the breathing going.
Watch that a sac comes out with each baby, she will eat them but keep track because if a sac is left inside she will get a bad infection and need emergency vet once it gets to a point of noticing something is not right with her or she starts acting unwell.

Have dental floss or thread handy and short scissors to help with the cord if mom doesn't do all of them.
This is common.
It's simple, cut a piece, tie it about an inch away from the tummy of baby and cut.
It does not need to be sterilized, but at least clean.

Once baby is out, cleaned up and breathing be sure it is by her nipples to begin nursing for colostrum which is their protection from viruses (maternal antibodies) until old enough to begin vaccines.

To be continued, I have to get ready for work!

 

[maggiedemi]

So the more partners she has, the more babies she has? I didn't know that...

 

[catwoman707]

Yes, although one partner can mate multiple times too so it isn't a great indicator for size of litter unfortunately! lol
It's a wait and see thing, surprises but can also somewhat tell from how big her tummy gets too, but you would have to have plenty of exposure to prego kitties to know what is big and what is really big.
Or of course a vet can do an x-ray/ultrasound.

 

[Sarthur2]

You've received great advice. Here are some helpful links:

Pregnant Cat? What To Prepare For The Birth

How Do I Know When My Cat Will Give Birth?

Help! My Cat Is Having Kittens!

 

[Violetsnotblue]

No kittens as of yet!
With the info given I think we may still have awhile, she hasn't lost her mucus plug yet, I would know because she hasn't been able to lick back there to clean herself for about a week. I've been having to clean her up after she uses the litter box.
She's even more affectionate than normal, she wants me to be touching her constantly. She's just been eating and relaxing the last few days.
I can still feel the babys moving around, and I'm hoping they come soon.
Thank you all so much for the help!

 

[Violetsnotblue]

Lulu went into labor this morning but wasn't progressing like it should, so we are at the emergency vet. Please keep her in your thoughts.

 

[Sarthur2]

Oh my! Please keep us posted as to what is happening.

That all goes well!

 

[Violetsnotblue]

They took her in to check the kittens heart beats, hoping they are all still alive.
They said they are probably going to need to do a c-section no matter what.
I just hope shes going to be ok.

 

[Sarthur2]

I hope so too!

What happened with her labor today?

 

[Violetsnotblue]

She was having frequent contractions and pushing but no kittens after several hours, and she started to get really weak.
The vet came back and said the kittens seem fine, but they are pretty big, and she is such a small cat. They are going to give her a few shots to help her have stronger contractions, and if that doesn't work shes going to need a c section.

 

[Sarthur2]

That sounds right. They will give her oxytocin to stimulate contractions. If that does not work they will perform the c-section.

Have they done an ultrasound or x-ray?

Do they know how many kittens she has?

 

[Violetsnotblue]

They did an x ray, and they THINK there are 3, but made it clear that they were not quite sure?
They have her in to give her the shots, I really hope it works, coz otherwise I'm going to have to borrow some money from my dad
Not a great fathers day gift

 

[Resa]

Hey, I just went through the oxytocin/c-section rodeo with my cat Willa. Lots of good thoughts for your girl! Hope she's able to push those kittens out.

 

[Sarthur2]

It's most important that mom and babies all come out of this healthy, so if it takes a c-section, it's okay.

How long do they want to give her after the shot? And can you be with her while she labors?

I hate that mom has to go through so much!

 

[Violetsnotblue]

I thought that they were going to bring her back in after her shots, but its been about half an hour and they haven't.
They are going to give her an hour, and if nothing changes after that its going to be c section time.

 

[Resa]

Oh yikes! I didn't mean to suggest that c-sections are bad. I personally wouldn't be alive if it weren't for c-sections!

 

[Sarthur2]

Ask if you can see her.

 

[Violetsnotblue]

They brought her back in, said she past part of a placenta ! And when she pushed there was a bit of the amniotic sack, hopefully we get these guys out.