New cats & pregnancy.

[Lauryn]

Okay, that's great to know.

A cat charity would be willing, you think? I'll certainly have a look into what's in my area. I'm not sure I know of any immediately.

Would anyone else be able to direct me to one in either the Leeds or Manchester area? I'm about halfway between in Huddersfield/Todmorden.

[Angiew]

it won't matter when you move them, just keep them all together.
another good reason to have a cage - you just move them and their home.
have you a local cat charity that may be able to lend you one?

[Lauryn]

Thank you again for your advice! And believe me, Gill, we have everything crossed in this house! This is so stressful. Tells me yet again that back yard breeders of all animals have no soul, I'm worrying myself stupid. 

Not sure where I'll find a dog cage but will give it a go. We don't know any dog owners. I am, however, pretty certain she'll give birth in my bedroom here, since she seems to see it as hers. I can but hope, right? Will see if there's an alternative to the cage if necessary.

I'll keep Brian separate, then. I had planned on doing this since I prefer to be safe than sorry, but it's good to have that confirmed.

The matter of moving them remains. How old can they be before we move house? Will it be very disruptive for them? I do plan to rehome the kittens (if I can bear to part with them - I may have to get my family to stage an intervention!) but that's months away and I don't want to unsettle either the mother or kittens unless totally necessary.

[Angiew]

Its hard not to worry about young ones. I was with Hazel last week but she happily (well a bit of sounding like a goat!) gave birth to 5 and is so far being a good mum.
as far as the other cat goes, keep then apart. Mum will be very protective and he may see the kittens more a prey.
If you can borrow a dog cage, then keep her in tat. It will stop her deciding to have the kittens in the most inconvenient place she can find.
Its important that you have access to her during birth so you can help if needed and can keep an eye on the kittens to make sure all looks well.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Hope everything goes well 

[Lauryn]

Thanks for the advice, Angie. I'm glad it's not just my vet who hasn't been so great with pregnancy. That's fairly comforting to know, since they are great with everything else. Particularly when I had to have another animal PTS and with my tomcat's neutering last week. I was beginning to lose faith.

I'd say that her nipples and mammary glands in general have been large since the first time I took her - so the 6th May. Is this quite a long time for them to be filling with milk, or not?

An update on what I said earlier - kittens feel active today. I've given her the daily all over body massage she demands! 

I really just wish this wasn't happening to her, I could wring the necks of her previous 'owners', allowing them to roam the neighbourhood intact. The reason I worry so much is that she's very tiny. She's apparently about 8 months, but to me and with my previous experience she seems smaller.

*sigh*

Hopefully this will be all over for us soon and I won't struggle in finding excellent homes for the little ones.

[Angiew]

if mum is eating then don't worry.

she may go off her food for a few hours before birth. but if it continues longer than 8 - 10 hours then you should think of a vet visit.

vets don't always seem good with pregnancies.

Are her nipples swollen and feel as though they are filling up a bit with milk?

she will become very restless and not be able to settle and you may notice a change in body shape as the kittens move down.

Look out for some discharge - this is a sign of the first stage of labour and thing will happen within the next 6 hours or so.... she may be cleaning herself more.

[Lauryn]

Thanks for the quick reply. Well, that was my fear last week when I took her back on Thursday yet again. She is quite a lot bigger since I took her the first time and I was told there didn't seem to be any complications. I have to say, I don't feel lots of movement like a few weeks ago, but I do feel the occasional kick from both her sides.

The basic thing I got from the vet (she saw someone different the next few times) is that she just wasn't ready yet. Her temperature measured slightly lower than average and that's been the only change. I think the first vet relied too heavily upon me asking if her activity was nesting (which she seemed to be doing, but she could have equally been exploring new surroundings). It's all a bit confusing!

She doesn't seem off colour as such. More uncomfortable in her body, if that makes sense.

[souffle]

Can you see and feel the kittens moving about? It's an awful long time after the supposed due date! If there is no movement then it could be that she is unable to deliver but if they are moving then she was obviously not as far along as thought.
If she seems a bit off colour it may be best to have her checked because if the kittens are not alive she is going to need an operation to remove the womb to prevent infection.
I hope she is OK and they show up very soon x

[Lauryn]

Hi everyone,

I'll be introducing myself properly in another thread in a moment, but for the time being here's the reason I've joined the forum and I hope you can help with some advice!

I recently took on two cats (one of each sex) who had effectively been abandoned (it's a very long tedious story which took a few weeks to solve). I have very little information about them, but both check out as healthy and well. The female has been to the vets a couple of times since she is heavily pregnant. On 6th May I was told to expect kittens that night given her behaviour and how she checked out. We still haven't had any. I'm not too concerned since the vet says she's still healthy enough and she just isn't ready, but I do feel awful for her. So here are a few of my questions:

1) Is there anything I can do to make her feel a little bit more comfortable? She has trouble settling. Yesterday her eating slowed and she threw up a tiny bit - I was hoping that was it, but she's back to eating like a horse! She has all the appropriate things like a nesting box and an adjusted diet.

2) They are at my parents house at the moment since that is where they showed up and my flat isn't appropriate for them. We have a new house which will be available early June. When will it be okay to move her and the kittens?

3) I've read and heard conflicting things about tomcats around new litters. What's the general advice about this? He isn't aggressive in the slightest, but he can be a bit too playful since he's still quite young. He has recently been neutered.

I might add to this list as I go along. I think there were more points.

Thanks in advance!