Pregnant Nahla

[samhainborn]

YES! The drop in body temp means that she's getting very close to birthing! Keep an eye on your girl! I agree with the vet, she should probably have them sometime this weekend! Can't wait to see pics of Nahla as a mommy and all her pretty babies!

As far as the male in the house, I would certainly keep him away once she starts going into labor. You might have a good boy that only wants to sniff and help care for the babies, as I've had before, or once he smells that they are not his, he might try to kill the young. I've had that happen too.

Once the kittens are AT LEAST a week old (better if 2 weeks or more), you can allow him into the room, keeping your hands on him. If Nahla doesn't immediately chase him out, which may happen, you can allow him to sniff the box and if he shows no aggression, the kittens too. At the first sign of hissing or aggression, you will need to remove him, and keep him away from the kittens until they are at least 6 weeks. If he has no problems, i would do the "supervised" visits until you are certain he means no harm to the kittens, and then if you feel confident he won't hurt them, you can let mom and tom come and go as they please, without stressing over keeping doors shut.

Best of luck, and I CAN'T wait! :-) for safe delivery.

 

[StefanZ]

About the moms, kittens and males. I agree with Samhainborn. Give it a try but be watchful.

If the male is a good friend with the mom, usually there are no real problems.
Some males acts like extra mom (it is quite common neutered males do so, but also intact toms have been seen to do this). Quite some are a little afraid at first and unsure about what is going on - may hiss a little!, but get more comfortable when the kittens gets a little bigger. Being then a friendly uncle to them.
Some are more or less uninterested.
And all variations inbetween thereof.

Some few are hostile/dangerous. The danger is small with friendly housecats but NOT null, and thus you must watch out, and keep an close eye and supervision the first times the male visits the kittens.

The rule of thumb is let the mom decide. If she accepts him, or better still - feels comforted by his presence, and everything seems OK, fine!
- This said when the kittens are born, but also now, as you tell the male is by her the whole time.


If the mom seems to be stressed by his presence - help her. Keep them apart if need be.
The mom and kittens goes first, before the feelings of the male. Natural father or not.
Keeping the mom unstressed and happy is one of the keys. Here and in most circumstances.

(a very stressed mom is too a danger for her kittens... It is my belief some of the tragic stories of visiting dog or tomcat harming the kittens was really the panicked and highly stressed mom harming them...)


Good luck!

 

[mira's_mommy]

The discharge should mean she's very close. I guess it would depend on the cat just like everything else but Mira's discharge didn't start until 5 or 6 hours before the first kitten. I wonder if cats' water breaks? Seems like Mira's did. She left a big wet spot on my bed, bigger than if she had urinated, then took off to my closet where she had her babies. Good luck with Nahla and the kittens.

Edit: About StefanZ's post above, do be watchful of the males around the kittens until they are big enough to fend for themselves. Chances are momcat will go back into heat soon after having the kittens and that's when we ran into problems. All the intact males that wanted to mate her were an extreme threat to the kittens. He *will* kill the kittens if he wants to mate the mother, especially if he is not the father of the kittens, or has any doubt that he is. I can tell you first-hand, it takes only seconds. If a male cat gets his jaws around a kitten, the baby is pretty much a goner. Even if the wound seems minor, the crushing injuries that you can't see are what kills them, and there is little a vet can do to help when they are that small. Also, if you suspect any of the kittens isn't healthy, keep all males *including* the father away from him/her. I have seen father cats single out a sick kitten even when he has been nothing but loving to the others. In the wild a mother cat will abandon a sick kitten, and a father will often kill it. If you see the mother leaving one kitten behind when she moves the others to another location, this is a good heads-up that the kitten may be sick.

 

[StefanZ]

Miras Mommy, Samhainborn. So you had both withessed tomcats, living in the household, harming kittens?
This is thus not so very rare??


Good there IS this recommendation to be very watchful before you see they all are friends...


Perhaps best to start an own thread about this. It would be good to ventilate this more thoroughly.

Behavior Forum or this here Forum?

 

[samhainborn]

StefanZ, I'd guess behavior forum. :-) It would be interesting to get more input on tom cat behaviors.

I'm waiting breathlessly to hear about kittens! Oh Nahlasmommy, update us!

 

[nahlasmommy]

Still nothing...she is grooming more frequently and does have an appt on tuesday to see the vet. the kittens seem fine...movement and such...she seems uncomfortable and sometimes is seeking more attention and sometimes hiding...she is still having the clear discharge but her temp is back up to 101.00 so i'm guessing not today

she could have gotten pregnant any where up to the time we moved i suppose...as i never witnessed her going into heat i can't be certain...due date could be as late as Feburary 2nd according to calculator for cats...but even the vet thinks it should be soon...if nothing by tomorrow I'll probably be asking for a scan or xray at the appt....waiting is so frustrating lol.... I'll keep you guys updated!

Thanks for the advice about Kodi..(our male) she loves having him around and they groom eachother regularly

it's rather cute that they're such cuddlers...i've never really whitnessed cats being so lovey with oneanother...I WILL keep an eye out and make sure he's at a safe distance till it's safe to try interaction with the babe

 

[nahlasmommy]

Still nothing as of yet...still showing sames signs except temp was up again this morning

so according to that nothing today i would assume? She does have a vet appt tomorrow so we will see how that goes.

The kittens seem fine moving about and she's still being fairly active...just sleeping alot, but doesn't seem to be in any distress...according to vet and the fact i really have no idea when she was bred...her due date could be as far out as the 2nd of february...but even the vet thinks she's close...if nothing by tomorrow we will have a scan or xray at the vet just to check....maybe she'll surprise me tonight

Thanks for the advice about Kodi (our male) they seem so much in love...i've never whitnessed cats being so cuddly and affectionate with eachother...hopefully everything will be fine....when i leave i have started to leave little Nahla in my bedroom with all her necessities...just in case...Kodi has seemed very offended by this and is usually waiting at the door when i get home to let him in with her...she's just as offended by the seperation...i'm kind of torn on what to do...

 

[nahlasmommy]

and i thought the first post had gotten lost...sorry about the duplicate lol

 

[kluchetta]

Originally Posted by Nahlasmommy

and i thought the first post had gotten lost...sorry about the duplicate lol

Haha, I thought I was losing it, LOL. She will have them eventually. I know just how you feel!

 

[nahlasmommy]

ya someday lol..my luck is i'll be waiting till the 2nd

haha o well...just can't wait to see the fuzz balls!

 

[kluchetta]

Originally Posted by Nahlasmommy

ya someday lol..my luck is i'll be waiting till the 2nd

haha o well...just can't wait to see the fuzz balls!

OH! And TCS was down last night, and I was like, "I have to see if Nahla had her babies!" LOL

 

[nahlasmommy]

Originally Posted by kluchetta

OH! And TCS was down last night, and I was like, "I have to see if Nahla had her babies!" LOL

Ya...I wake up every morning lately running upstairs to check on the mama...

we are having a scan this afternoon at 2pm...i'll update everyone!

 

[nahlasmommy]

alright guys...so here's the verdict...she's DEF preggo lol..i was worried it was a false pregnancy even tho i could feel babes lol...but we only went for the xray as it was more then double the price for a ultrasound

He can count 2 MAYBE 3 skeletons...but there's no guarentee as it's not as accurate as the u/s. He says that he would estimate her due date to be 22nd to 24th but because no one is sure when she was bred and the size of the little ones it could be as late as the end of the month

sooo....we really accomplished nothing....IF she doesn't have the kits by February 2nd then he wants to see her that day...when she has them he wants me to be on hand and counting everything to the T because of her small size...luckily for her it looks like a small litter.

As for Kodi...he thinks it's a good idea to let them do as they will do...if she seems aggrivated by him I'm to take him away...but as long as she welcomes him the vet seems to think it would be more stressful to keep them seperated then not. He's neutered and young also and VERY laid back...he even tolerates our three dogs and walks all over them at times.

Keep your fingers crossed for us...hopefully everything will turn out fine....

as for the discharge he seems to think that because she is so young (he estimated about 7-9 months) that her body has to prepare early for the hardship delivery is going to cause and she will probably go very slowly into labor...so he wants me to look for every possible sign (including temps) and to call him when either her temp drops or she begins having very positive signs so he can be ready...but feels no concern for anything that she's showing now...her teets are def getting ready to feed babies as they are rounded and can be felt very easily....We're all hoping by this weekend to see some fuzz balls....

sucks everything the vet had to say was an estimate....anywhere from today till the 2nd...atleast i have you guys to wait with me!

 

[kluchetta]

Haha, I know just how you feel! How "2-3 kittens in 10 days" turns into eight kittens in 21 days!

 

[StefanZ]

Originally Posted by Nahlasmommy

As for Kodi... He's neutered and young also and VERY laid back...

so he wants me to look for every possible sign (including temps) and to call him when either her temp drops or she begins having very positive signs so he can be ready...

the vet seems to be a helpsam and nice guy. Stick to him as your vet!


Ah, Kodi is neutered and non territorial? I got the impression he was tomcat. I think this is why we got into this discussion.
Of course, do watch on him meeting the kittens first times anyway just in case, but the dangers are lesser with neutered males, and chances he will help to nurse them - quite bigger.

Good luck!

 

[krazy kat2]

It must be nerve wracking to wait for the babies to be born! I hope she has a safe and easy delivery.
Kodi sounds like a great cat. I had a male cat that loved mommies and kittens. He would lay in the box with the neighbor's pregnant cat and groom her, even sat with her and licked her head while she gave birth. He helped clean the babies and babysat while mom went to eat and potty. When they got a little older, he would carry them around in his mouth if they got too far away from where he thought they should be. We kept a box on our porch, and mom would bring the kittens over to visit, and he would help her take them back. He would have made a great mommy.

 

[nahlasmommy]

Originally Posted by krazy kat2

It must be nerve wracking to wait for the babies to be born! I hope she has a safe and easy delivery.
Kodi sounds like a great cat. I had a male cat that loved mommies and kittens. He would lay in the box with the neighbor's pregnant cat and groom her, even sat with her and licked her head while she gave birth. He helped clean the babies and babysat while mom went to eat and potty. When they got a little older, he would carry them around in his mouth if they got too far away from where he thought they should be. We kept a box on our porch, and mom would bring the kittens over to visit, and he would help her take them back. He would have made a great mommy.

LOL....I can totally picture Kodiak doing that.He's sucha loving kitty

and he loves to TALK...he's probably what warmed me up to cats. I've always been a dog person. We have 2 AKC Huskys and 1 mutt 100% but when we got Kodi I fell in love...and then Nahla's just a sweety I found her underneath the trailer we were living in...she kept escaping by opening the solar panel windows on our roof in our bathroom...i just couldn't figure it out till I watch her do it while we were packing up. Then it all made sense

I can't wait for babys....

 

[mews2much]

I bet you can not wait.
We guessed Cocos due date by a ultrasound and the vet said around July 26th.
She ended up having them on moving day.
Good luck to you.

 

[samhainborn]

Well at least you've got some good answers and you have us to wait with you. I'm glad that it's likely to be a small litter. for a swift and easy delivery.

 

[nahlasmommy]

Sooo...i was petting Nahla's belly this morning and there was some clear wetness on her nipples!!! She had been lying there for atleast an hour so i'm almost certain it was some milk! Must mean we're getting closer

just thought I'd share....Is there anyone else waiting on kittens right now???

Jess