Maple's kitten adventures...

[maple]

On thursday I was going back and forth along this country road moving stuff to my storage shed getting ready for my move.

On the way back home I stopped to see if this freshly hit cat was still alive. It was not. I picked the cute lil calico up and brought her over to a tree and then went and knocked on the farm house that I found had been recently abandoned. When I knocked I heard this desperate meow. I looked behind me and there was another little cat that was so desperate and I thought, she had to be hungry and thirsty and then when I picked her up I could feel her bones and I saw a wound on her neck.

So I took her to my vet. He said the wound was dry and would heal by itself. He said he was thinking she was pregnant. I said, what's her chances at the pound if she's pregnant? Because I was thinking she looked so small and was SO friendly that she would get adopted soon. And since I'm in the middle of a divorce and being forced from my childhood home...I thought I would be trying to do what responsible people would do. Well, he shook his head and said, they don't keep pregnant cats because they can't adopt them out pregnant and so forth. So I have taken my new little pregnant mama home.

I have noticed in the last couple of days she has fattened up around the belly...I'm letting her eat as much cat food as she wants. She is in my wood shop with a box and blanky she likes to sleep in. She is using the litter box and is a good kitty. She's not too overly frightened of the dogs. And she has not been exposed to my other cats as of yet because I didn't want to upset everyone and I bet she hasn't had her shots but at least my cats are up to date. But vet said, can't give her shots while she's preggers. And I noticed today that her teats are pinchable...so even though the vet said, he wasn't 100% sure if she was pregnant...now that her teats are dropping down...I feel like she is.

I have never been part of a birth...besides incubating eggs in a bator.

What should I do for mama cat at this point? And how should I prepare for kittens? I assume this will be her first litter so what can I expect? A couple kitties? Do you think they'll be healthy? Do you think she will mother them? She's super cuddley. And is gestation 63 days? I wonder how long we have before she delivers?

Ok, any help and information and suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

oh and how long do they stay on mama's milk and what do you feed them after that? Ok, so when the birthing moment gets nearer...I feel I will be asking a ton more questions and freaking out at the birth itself...ok, talk me through this....I'm very excited and can't wait for my 2 little girls to get home today to share the news!!! I've wanted to be a part of this amazing experiance my WHOLE life!!! I'm sooo excited!!

Yay!!! I will be divorced from a miserable abusive marriage. I'll be leaving from my childhood home where I have had many happy and very sad moments from both my childhood and marriage years. I'll be moving into a home in the same school district, zoned ag, more affordable to me, and it has a POOL!!!! I am soo excited and now we get to help this mama kitty and her kittens!!!! What a great spring this is turning out to be!!!

Geez, what a hell of a couple of years I've had with my heart attack and multiple sugeries and other health complications and a bitter divorce and worrying about my children and I and our well being and safety....How I thank You Dear Lord for my blessings.

Thank you my chicken friends.

 

[Mak]

Six years ago, my youngest daughter brought home a very pregnant little cat. She took up residence in a drawer in Krysta's dresser. We took out the clothes and put in towels. She gave birth to 5 adorable little girl cats 3 days later. Sounds like yours was not quite that far along. We could see kittens moving inside her when she lay down. She birthed them overnight, and we missed the whole thing! Kryss said she kind of woke up at one point and thought, "Jasmine is having her kittens..." But didn't stay awake long enough to come get me. I've always been sad I didn't get to see it.

How old does the vet think your girl is? Jasmine was just barely over a year, and she was an awesome mommy! Gave birth, cleaned everything and everybody up, and when we got up in the morning, all 5 were nursing quite contentedly. For the most part, nature takes its course and momma knows what she is doing, especially with the mixed breeds. Just make sure she has food and water, and her litter box, and a place that is safe and warm to keep the babies. When they are old enough, she will show them food, water and how to use the box. You can put her on kitten food if you want. The extra nutrition in it will be ok for her till the kittens are weaned, since she'll be producing milk for them until then.

Once they get their eyes open and start crawling about, make sure their area is safe, with nothing they can get stuck in, under or on, no tiny spaces they can crawl into and you not be able to get them out of, no dangerous stuff lying around, because they WILL get into it! Just like a baby. It's fun watching them learn to crawl, and totter, and walk and run, and tumble over on their heads!

There really is nothing like watching baby kittens grow from helpless, blind, barely able to pull themselves along on their bellies, into bright eyed, super curious, bouncing, running, leaping bundles of kitten energy! Have fun! I hope she is as good a mommy as my Jasmine was!

 

[BrattishTaz]

I would just give her a box with one side cut a little lower than the others with some old rags or towel (t-shirts work too). Put the box in a corner or quiet place and let her start getting used to it being there. Since she probably wasn't eating well, slowly incorporate some kitten milk replacer into her diet. It is a good idea to have the replacer just in case she does not nurse properly or a kitten needs a little help getting started. I would try not to interfere during/after the delivery unless absolutely necessary. Be prepared, the babies are born still in the "sack", this is normal. The mother will free the kitten and clean it.

I took in a very pregnant stray that was already in labor. I kept seeing something come partially out of her and then go back in. This young cat was so scared she was trying to run from her own behind. Once I had her in a box she held on to my hand with her paws through the whole process. Mother nature did most of the work. At one point I did have to remove a kitten because she was stepping on it while delivering the next. I put it back as soon as she finished.

I hope everything goes smoothly for you and Miss Kitty. Keep us posted.

 

[lockedhearts]

It has been many years since I had a pregnant cat, but kitten food and if you can find some wet kitten food, you can mix a little yogurt in it, will help her digestion and will also give calcium to help produce milk. Kitten Milk Replacer would be a good supplement as well and some good vitamins. She will probably be fine with supportive care.

 

[redhen]

Awww! Post pics of her...
I also had a cat that had kittens.. it was amazing. She came to me meowed so i'd followed her back to the box and be there when she had the babies.
I still have her "babies" too....

One thing i was worried about was having a baby get stuck or something... so i had the vet do an x-ray so we knew how many babies she had in her.. and how many to expect come birth time.
Sadly Gibby had to be put down last year..

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Start her on a good kitten food. Also, maybe see about worming her. I know roundwormer can be given when they are pregnant, but not sure tapewormer can.

Good Luck with her!

Theres some info on here about cat pregnancy, birth, etc. http://cats.about.com/od/reproduction/tp/catsreproduction101.htm

 

[maple]

Thanks everyone.


I can't get a pic of her until dd comes home from her trip as she's the only one with a working camera...but tomorrow I should be able to. I can't wait till the girls get home tonight and see what mama found.

But she's white with black tiger stipes patches and a lil bit of orange here and there...she's so tiny.

 

[dewey]

Awww, what a lucky kitty. She sounds like a sweetie, and it sounds like you both will be starting a new, happy chapter.

Sometimes they like someone near during birth, other times they prefer to be left completely alone even if they're very used to a certain person. She may have them in the middle of the night. If there's a small room or bathroom that she can stay in that would be good, so at least if she travels while birthing it'll keep them contained to a small, accessible-to-you area where you can lend a hand if needed, or find them easily if you discover she's had them but in different areas.

One of mine birthed her last kitten on my lap while on the way to the ER vet. I lived about an hour from the vet and it'd been an hour between kittens and she was still in labor, so off we went just in case. She had the kitten on the way so all was fine.

It'd be great if you can watch some videos of cats giving birth and how to assist if they don't get them going right away or if they have them all quickly. It's really very simple stuff.

Hoping all the best!

 

[maple]

I just spent some time with her and she crawled into my lap...nestled her head on my skin on my chest and nestled the rest of her body inside my coat. As I sat there holding her I could feel little tiny movements in her belly.

I am thinking tomorrow I will set it up so she can be in the back bathroom....this is an older house and doesn't have regular doors really...lots of sliding pocket doors that the cats can all open...so I'll put her in the bathroom. It will be warmer there too...it's not so miserable in the wood shop, it's insulated and such but the temps aren't as warm as they were last week and I wouldn't want the babies to be in this up and down spring weather. Mama likes the box with the warm blanket I have in there for her. She will get lots of love once my girls get home tonight after the movie.

 

[Mak]

Don't worry as much about her size, as long as you are giving her good food and as much as she wants of it. Jasmine is still tiny- barely 6 lbs. She had 5 very healthy kittens. All of them are now in the 8-11 lb range! She sounds a lot like Jazzy- sweet and loving. She should be a good mama. She's lucky she found you! And you are super for taking her in and giving her and her kittens a good chance!