Help! my cat is pregnant and I need advice on when the kittens are born
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Hi
My cat Marge is pregnant, any advice on how to prepare and what to do when the kittens get here will be much appreciated!!
Many thanks
My cat Marge is pregnant, any advice on how to prepare and what to do when the kittens get here will be much appreciated!!
Many thanks
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When she lies down on her side, and you see her huge bump, but - its actually moving around (it really does lol), you litterally have a week at the most.
Good luck, I hope she has a heathly fit litter.
I'm not an expert on cat pregnancies, but she will need a nice, cosy quiet place to give birth, and to look after the kittens, so you could start thinking about that now, and introducing her to it (although I believe cats will sometimes choose their own place, generally in your airing cupboard on top of all your best linen!). Otherwise, if everything goes smoothly, cats are more or less preprogrammed to look after kittens, and if she's not disturbed, she should be fine.
x x
Hope it all goes well... I wish I could help more but it is a long time ago since I experienced it lol.
Also, I agree with the other poster about getting her spayed, my cat was very young when she had kittens, and also got pregnant again very soon after giving birth. It was too much of a strain on her and she aborted the pregnancy part way though - much to my distress, and hers I'm sure.
Also, I agree with the other poster about getting her spayed, my cat was very young when she had kittens, and also got pregnant again very soon after giving birth. It was too much of a strain on her and she aborted the pregnancy part way though - much to my distress, and hers I'm sure.[/QUOTE]
This made me smile, I dread to think where mine would have chosen if they hadn't been neutered, I know it would have been somewhere random and awkward.
They do it all by instinct and in my experience like the least interference possible. But the kittens will start playing with you when they're about 3 weeks. Which is very funny cos their legs don't work very well and they keep tumbling over.
They're funny at that age, their back legs keep trying to overtake the front ones. I remember one of ours used to fall over because he'd fallen asleep standing up.
Oh, I've just seen that I was the last person to post in this thread ^
Winnie is pregnant and I thought I'd ask for advice on this thread rather than creating a new one.
I've heard that feeding a pregnant cat kitten food is a good idea as well as feeding them adult food. How do you go about doing that? One kitten food meal and one adult food meal? or mix some adult food with kitten food?
I've also heard that they should have regular small meals rather than 2 big meals per day.
She will be spayed as soon as possible.
Any other cat pregnancy advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.
The pregnant cats I foster all go straight on to kitten food when I get them, it's more nutritious apparently! I've had 2 litters in the past 4 months, the mum also has kitten food while she's feeding the kittens, and yes lots of small meals a day, in fact, the ones I have get fed whenever they're hungry.
I hasten to add these are not MY cats, these are cats that come to me when they are pregnant and their owners don't know what to do!
I've had one who had a litter of 4 and all went so well, she's an amazing mum and i've ended up keeping her and one of her kittens.
The other one didn't go so well, she had a litter of 3 a week prem, one stillborn, one died at 4 days old after she rejected her and we bottlefed, and one is still going strong.
When mum cat has stopped feeding the kittens and they are weaned, please contact the CPL for a voucher to have her spayed. They CPL can also help with spaying/neutering the kittens and can re-home any you struggle to find homes for.
If I can help at all when the time comes, just shout.
We think Winnie will have her kittens in the first week of April. She's such a tiny little thing so she's really starting to show now.
I bought her some kitten food today (apparently it's a good idea to feed them kitten food towards the end of pregnancy as it's higher in everything).
Is it true that they are not supposed to go outside while pregnant? I can understand why they shouldn't be out in the final week or so, in case they have their litter outside etc.
I'll let you all know how the kittens are when she has them.
she won't be going out until she is spayed.
ETA - My Mum said that it is not uncommon for one of the kittens to die at birth
thanks.
Get her de-fleaed and de-wormed - consult the vets for the later. You can get Frontline at lots of pharmacies these days or oneline. The various powders from the pet shops are not effective. Both fleas and worms are a menace to tiny kittens and effective control is a necessity not a luxury.
If you noticed her nipples 'change' - go pink - that happens about 3 weeks after mating and 6 weeks before giving birth.
She needs to look after her kittens for at least 8 weeks, preferably 10 and 12 is idea though they have to be vaccinated before going to new homes if they are 12 weeks old. They need each other as well - when you see them playing you will understand why.
Leaving home is quite stressful and 12-week old kittens cope far better than younger ones, plus they have a resonable immune system of their own. They get some immunity in the first milk but that gradually declines and their own immune systems gradually take over, but the low point is at about 6 weeks after birth. Obviously lots of kittens have been rehomed successfully at that age, but waiting until they are older reduces the chance of them getting ill.
The proud new owners should be happy to pay to at least cover vets costs - worming, flea control and vaccination if they are vaccinated while with you. I'd advise getting them chipped as well, and not waiting until they are neutered. And if you can home them in pairs even better - firstly two kittens are four times as much fun and half the work as one, and secondly it really helps them settle. Don't assume Winnie will thank you if you keep one of the kittens - if you feel tempted try to work out which one is her favourite, not yours. When I kept one of Sparkies kittens she would have nothing to do with it once her favourite had gone, but thankfully Uncle cat proved to adore him, and him Uncle.
Winnie can be spayed once they are happily tucking into 'solid' food as it won't matter if her milk dries up, though my own cat carried on happily feeding her kittens after being neutered untilt her favourite went to his new home. My friend bred some litters of pedigree kittens and they were hillarious as they weaned themselves by swimming in tinned kitten food and then cleaning themselves up!
Ring your vets, find out what their emergency details are - you might find you have to go somewhere different. If she gets in trouble in the middle of the night that's not when you want to start having to find all this stuff out. Cats are usually OK, but not always.
You might also want to get a pair of cheap electronic kitchen scales (if you don't already have some) and keep track of their weight. Weigh them at the same time each day, some lose in the first few days is common but often the first sign of problems is a kitten stops putting weight on. They are quite skinny when they are born, but by the end of the first week they should be fat furry little slugs.
Lastly, photos. We demand photos, lots of photos! And enjoy the kittens while you have them - it's a real treat,