Pregnant barn cat *update* We have kittens!

[LaynaDon95]

Sooo, we had what we thought was a kitten adopt us on Christmas. It's actually quite a funny story. We found her in our car trying to steal our Christmas dinner.

Well, she looked to be a tiny little thing and we had a bag of unused cat food. Our last cat had just died about a month before. We started feeding her and then... she went into heat. So apparently she wasn't as young as we thought... Well that was about three weeks ago and now she is pinking. :\ Can anyone say "kittens"? By our estimations she is due sometime around St. Patrick's Day. She is not very friendly. She will only sometimes let you pet her and almost never hold her. I think the only family member she likes is the puppy. We wouldn't dream about trying to put her in the house around delivery. I think she might murder us in our sleep just for thinking it... She likes to stay in our garage. That's usually where she spends the night.

So my questions are. Is there a good chance she will decide to deliver in the garage on her own or should we put her in there ourselves? Or should we just not worry about it and let her take care of it? How should we care for her and the kittens in terms of food, shelter, etc? Anyone have experience with barn cat deliveries? This will be her first birth so I want to oversee it if at all possible.

 

[Judy]

I've never interfered with cats having kittens. Granted, things can go wrong, but usually they manage just fine. As for where she gives birth, what has happened to me is they usually have the kittens where they want. I did fix up a box for a house cat once which she actually used. She even had a "monster" on her own - she hollered a bit with the delivery but all turned out well. It had two bodies joined at the shoulder and no head.

If she likes to sleep in the garage, I would think she would deliver there, too, especially if there are hidden spots and especially if some of those spots have some old rags to make them soft.

This will probably horrify people who want a vet at the birth, and I have no problem with that approach -- I've just never done anything like that. Good luck!

 

[watchdogps]

I'd call the local shelters and low cost clinics and get her spayed ASAP. She 's early enough along that it is very do-able. Otherwise, you need to keep her totally confined until she is spayed because she will be able to get pregnant again when the kittens are only a few weeks old.

 

[watchdogps]

Plus, if she is that tiny, she may only be 6 mos or so, and having a litter will be very hard on her

 

[LaynaDon95]

I've never interfered with cats having kittens. Granted, things can go wrong, but usually they manage just fine. As for where she gives birth, what has happened to me is they usually have the kittens where they want. I did fix up a box for a house cat once which she actually used. She even had a "monster" on her own - she hollered a bit with the delivery but all turned out well. It had two bodies joined at the shoulder and no head.

If she likes to sleep in the garage, I would think she would deliver there, too, especially if there are hidden spots and especially if some of those spots have some old rags to make them soft.

This will probably horrify people who want a vet at the birth, and I have no problem with that approach -- I've just never done anything like that. Good luck!

That sounds pretty much like I what I was looking for. Thank you. I'll just have to keep an eye out for her when it comes closer to time. I hope she decides to give birth in the garage. I definitely won't be able to have a vet there.
If I make her a birthing box, how soon should I put it in there for her to get comfortable using it?

 

[LaynaDon95]

I'd call the local shelters and low cost clinics and get her spayed ASAP. She 's early enough along that it is very do-able. Otherwise, you need to keep her totally confined until she is spayed because she will be able to get pregnant again when the kittens are only a few weeks old.

Quote:

Plus, if she is that tiny, she may only be 6 mos or so, and having a litter will be very hard on her

We are going to have her spayed after the birth as soon as we can afford it. But doing it now would be an abortion, wouldn't it? I'm not going to do that. I believe she is young, that is why I'm concerned about her birth. I'm going to try to supervise it and make sure things go okay as far as I can, but I won't get her spayed while she is pregnant.

 

[FarmGirl01]

We have spayed lots of cats that weren't very far along. Its happens a bunch.

But, I would go with the other poster. If she likes the garage she will most likely have them in there. I would get a hold on the kittens as soon as you can to tame them down. If momma is afraid, they will be also. Let us know how she does with the delivery. Good luck.

 

[FarmGirl01]

Just remember the OP is not looking for spaying advice.

 

[maizy'smom]

Quote:

We are going to have her spayed after the birth as soon as we can afford it. But doing it now would be an abortion, wouldn't it? I'm not going to do that. I believe she is young, that is why I'm concerned about her birth. I'm going to try to supervise it and make sure things go okay as far as I can, but I won't get her spayed while she is pregnant.

On November 9th, 1984, my soul-mate, Mona was born. On April 15th, 1985, I mid-wifed Mona's delivery of three kittens. I too, was new to kittens at that time...I had only been step-mom to Tasha, my husband's cat for about a year. I contacted Tasha's vet to ask some of these same questions, like do new-born kittens need a first check up, and his answer was, "What? Forget about the kittens, bring me the mother! I've been telling people to spay their cats at 6 months of age, and she just delivered a litter at 5months old! And it is a 6 week gestational period, so she conceived at 3 1/2 months!" That said, she did strain a bit with the last one, who was rather large-headed for her little body, but all survived the event without any medical intervention. In fact, Mona lived to be five weeks short of twenty years old. Part of our very strongemotional tie, I think, came from bonding over her delivery. All I really did was keep her comfortable and coo and caress her, and offer encouragement through her contractions, but she remembered it all her life. mm

 

[FarmGirl01]