Hi all,
I have some questions concerning a cat I recently took in, the following is a LOT of information of how I ended up with her, currently health issues, and as much of her history that I know, sorry its so long, I just want to make sure I have everything covered
I took in my sisters cat on July 18th. She had an emergency situation and had to re-home her two cats. Her friend took one, the other cat was dropped off at my house, and she was going to bring her to the shelter within a few days. I didn't mind having her here for a few days, she was an outside cat, so I set her up a little house, and had food and water available for her.
We had a storm coming in, so I set her up in a spare kennel for a day. Needless to say, she kind of grew on me, and we decided to keep her. My fiancee was adamant about her getting a flea bath asap, and getting her wormed. I gave her a flea bath, and dewormed her with one we had gotten from the vet a few months ago. It was strongid, which I have since researched and seems to be safe for pregnant cats.
I had set up her spay and vaccinations through a low cost clinic I've used a lot, and the soonest I could get her in was in September. I figured I'd keep her in the house until then, and if she did sneak out and get pregnant, I would have them aborted because it would have been an early termination.
.
On the day of the appointment, which was July 26th, I could feel whats best described as gas bubbles/little taps. Based on the massive diarrhea she had been having, I kind of figured that's what it was. I also noticed a lump by her hips, on both sides, and figured she probably had kidney issues. Her nipples were slightly pink, and rather large, but she had a litter on mother's day, so I didn't think too much of it.
I told the vet I think she may be pregnant, he confirmed she was pregnant. Did an xray, but there were no bones visible at that time. He guessed around 2-3 kittens, and that she may have them in 2-3 weeks. She has a yeast infection in her ears, I have since found two fleas on her, and have been combing her once or twice a day and haven't found any more as of yet. I flea bathed all my other animals as a precautionary. Vet wanted to wait until after kittens are born to treat her ears.
I have to reschedule her spay at the low cost clinic, and will be getting all the kittens done there as well. I can't abort now, I felt them moving, and I saw them moving yesterday a little bit as well. I don't have the heart to do that at this stage. The kittens will be staying with us for 12 weeks, and will get all the vet care they need before rehoming.
I picked up some KMR, bottles, I have syringes, been feeding Momma Cat grain free kitten food and wet food. She has had diarrhea in varying stages since I started her on grain free food, it was like pure liquid for some time, switched to more of a playdoh type, and now it switches between the two. I have been mixing a small amount of canned pumpkin in, and also added some cat probiotics. Its helped a little. I'll be getting her stool tested in the upcoming days.
Her past info- is that she has always been neurotic, and always have ripped out her fur according to my sister. Seeing her myself, I think she was tearing it our due to fleas, and possible allergies from the REALLY poor quality food she was fed. She was about 1yr old when my sister took her out of an even worse situation. She is approximately 3yrs old now. She has had only one litter that my sister knows of. The litter of kittens she had was on Mothers day she wasn't able to produce milk for all four. My sister had to tube feed 3 of them, and only one survived. She also gave birth on the highest shelf in the bathroom closet and knocked one kitten down. I am trying to make sure she can't have them in an unsafe location. She was okay with my sisters other cat, but when she was pregnant, turned into a 'Mama bear", and would attack her.
My questions are about how aggressive she is when my neutered male cat is anywhere near her. She chased him onto the bathroom counter and took an impressive amount of fur off him. I'm really happy I clipped her nails, I would have hated to see what the damage would have been with claws. She has been getting worse over the last few days. I don't blame her for being aggressive, but really don't want my cat to become skittish or traumatized from her, or worse, severely injured. She doesn't attack him every time she sees him, it had only happened once in a while, but has been a bit more frequent lately. I realize her whole world has been turned upside down, and hormones won't be helping any, so I bought some feliway to see if it would help, but it doesn't seem to make a difference for her.
Should I keep her locked in my bedroom for the time being? I have two boxes set up in my closet for her, as well as food, water, and a litter box too. She has been starting to nest, and was trying to get under an aquarium, but all the power strips and equipment are not good for a birthing cat, so I completely blocked it off. She has since been going into my closet now. My room is pretty chilly with the ac running, and turning it lower isn't an option. I do have a heat lamp I could set up over part of a nesting box, if that would work?
Also, is it normal that her stomach will change from being rock hard to not so hard throughout the day? I know when I was pregnant, and those braxton hicks would come, my stomach would get hard and then more soft. I don't think she'll be having them for at least another week or two, but I haven't been around pregnant cats in four years. I am not sure if cats get braxton hicks, but being mammals and all, I figure its a possibility.
She has been really loving belly rubs lately, and has been my shadow every where I go. Last night she actually slept by my stomach instead of my feet and was pretty adamant about having her belly rubbed around 1am lol The kittens were really active, it was so amazing feeling them
She's gained 1.5lbs in two and a half weeks, is that okay/normal? She looked malnourished when my sister dropped her off, but the vet seemed to think she was fine. She weighed 8lb when I first got her, and is now up to 9.5 lbs. She doesn't eat a LOT at one time, but I am thinking if she was loaded with worms, that would have caused her to look so scraggly, and maybe thats why she wasn't able to produce milk for all her kittens. I wormed her a few days after she got here, she has been steadily gaining. She was 8.4lbs at her vet appointment.
I think I have most things covered as far as supplies needed for the birth, I do have a kitchen scale that measures in grams because I weigh my guinea pigs weekly.
If there is anything I am missing, or any tips/advice for helping her out, I would greatly appreciate it
I have done a LOT of reseach, and want to make sure I am doing everything I can possibly do to help her with her pregnancy, and make sure the kittens are healthy as well.
I have some questions concerning a cat I recently took in, the following is a LOT of information of how I ended up with her, currently health issues, and as much of her history that I know, sorry its so long, I just want to make sure I have everything covered
I took in my sisters cat on July 18th. She had an emergency situation and had to re-home her two cats. Her friend took one, the other cat was dropped off at my house, and she was going to bring her to the shelter within a few days. I didn't mind having her here for a few days, she was an outside cat, so I set her up a little house, and had food and water available for her.
We had a storm coming in, so I set her up in a spare kennel for a day. Needless to say, she kind of grew on me, and we decided to keep her. My fiancee was adamant about her getting a flea bath asap, and getting her wormed. I gave her a flea bath, and dewormed her with one we had gotten from the vet a few months ago. It was strongid, which I have since researched and seems to be safe for pregnant cats.
I had set up her spay and vaccinations through a low cost clinic I've used a lot, and the soonest I could get her in was in September. I figured I'd keep her in the house until then, and if she did sneak out and get pregnant, I would have them aborted because it would have been an early termination.
.
On the day of the appointment, which was July 26th, I could feel whats best described as gas bubbles/little taps. Based on the massive diarrhea she had been having, I kind of figured that's what it was. I also noticed a lump by her hips, on both sides, and figured she probably had kidney issues. Her nipples were slightly pink, and rather large, but she had a litter on mother's day, so I didn't think too much of it.
I told the vet I think she may be pregnant, he confirmed she was pregnant. Did an xray, but there were no bones visible at that time. He guessed around 2-3 kittens, and that she may have them in 2-3 weeks. She has a yeast infection in her ears, I have since found two fleas on her, and have been combing her once or twice a day and haven't found any more as of yet. I flea bathed all my other animals as a precautionary. Vet wanted to wait until after kittens are born to treat her ears.
I have to reschedule her spay at the low cost clinic, and will be getting all the kittens done there as well. I can't abort now, I felt them moving, and I saw them moving yesterday a little bit as well. I don't have the heart to do that at this stage. The kittens will be staying with us for 12 weeks, and will get all the vet care they need before rehoming.
I picked up some KMR, bottles, I have syringes, been feeding Momma Cat grain free kitten food and wet food. She has had diarrhea in varying stages since I started her on grain free food, it was like pure liquid for some time, switched to more of a playdoh type, and now it switches between the two. I have been mixing a small amount of canned pumpkin in, and also added some cat probiotics. Its helped a little. I'll be getting her stool tested in the upcoming days.
Her past info- is that she has always been neurotic, and always have ripped out her fur according to my sister. Seeing her myself, I think she was tearing it our due to fleas, and possible allergies from the REALLY poor quality food she was fed. She was about 1yr old when my sister took her out of an even worse situation. She is approximately 3yrs old now. She has had only one litter that my sister knows of. The litter of kittens she had was on Mothers day she wasn't able to produce milk for all four. My sister had to tube feed 3 of them, and only one survived. She also gave birth on the highest shelf in the bathroom closet and knocked one kitten down. I am trying to make sure she can't have them in an unsafe location. She was okay with my sisters other cat, but when she was pregnant, turned into a 'Mama bear", and would attack her.
My questions are about how aggressive she is when my neutered male cat is anywhere near her. She chased him onto the bathroom counter and took an impressive amount of fur off him. I'm really happy I clipped her nails, I would have hated to see what the damage would have been with claws. She has been getting worse over the last few days. I don't blame her for being aggressive, but really don't want my cat to become skittish or traumatized from her, or worse, severely injured. She doesn't attack him every time she sees him, it had only happened once in a while, but has been a bit more frequent lately. I realize her whole world has been turned upside down, and hormones won't be helping any, so I bought some feliway to see if it would help, but it doesn't seem to make a difference for her.
Should I keep her locked in my bedroom for the time being? I have two boxes set up in my closet for her, as well as food, water, and a litter box too. She has been starting to nest, and was trying to get under an aquarium, but all the power strips and equipment are not good for a birthing cat, so I completely blocked it off. She has since been going into my closet now. My room is pretty chilly with the ac running, and turning it lower isn't an option. I do have a heat lamp I could set up over part of a nesting box, if that would work?
Also, is it normal that her stomach will change from being rock hard to not so hard throughout the day? I know when I was pregnant, and those braxton hicks would come, my stomach would get hard and then more soft. I don't think she'll be having them for at least another week or two, but I haven't been around pregnant cats in four years. I am not sure if cats get braxton hicks, but being mammals and all, I figure its a possibility.
She has been really loving belly rubs lately, and has been my shadow every where I go. Last night she actually slept by my stomach instead of my feet and was pretty adamant about having her belly rubbed around 1am lol The kittens were really active, it was so amazing feeling them
She's gained 1.5lbs in two and a half weeks, is that okay/normal? She looked malnourished when my sister dropped her off, but the vet seemed to think she was fine. She weighed 8lb when I first got her, and is now up to 9.5 lbs. She doesn't eat a LOT at one time, but I am thinking if she was loaded with worms, that would have caused her to look so scraggly, and maybe thats why she wasn't able to produce milk for all her kittens. I wormed her a few days after she got here, she has been steadily gaining. She was 8.4lbs at her vet appointment.
I think I have most things covered as far as supplies needed for the birth, I do have a kitchen scale that measures in grams because I weigh my guinea pigs weekly.
If there is anything I am missing, or any tips/advice for helping her out, I would greatly appreciate it
I have done a LOT of reseach, and want to make sure I am doing everything I can possibly do to help her with her pregnancy, and make sure the kittens are healthy as well.
