Pregnant Cat

[Slooow_Jo]

I was adopted by a stray on valentines evening, so she's been with us about 2 months now, the past week she is looking very rounded so I'm guessing is pregnant, she is still very young herself, I doubt she's even 1 year old.
So my question is, how do I prepare? & what do I expect? I've been told by a friend I need to give her a room or quiet place, unfortunately thats not possible! another friend has offered to loan me a cage which I can put at the top of the stairs, but we will still have to pass there, so what do I do?

[mushroom25]

hehe - you could be in for the fun-est 2 months of your lives....
the exact same thing happened to us last year; mother cat was barely more than a kitten, came to us pregnant and presented us with 4 offspring. we borrowed a cage but no matter how much we encouraged her to use the cage beforehand, the kittens were born in the cat-post tube.

The cat post we moved to a dark lobby for a few days, then carefully transferred the kittens (and mother) to the cage, which was set up in the lounge in front of the TV. The cage was covered with a blanket. She wasn't overly bothered about us handling the kittens, but sadly we lost one (it faded and we didn't notice until it was too late).

You should think ahead when placing the cage - they'll be able to escape from it after 2 weeks (through the sides, unless you board them up), plus when you let them out, they need to be somewhere where they can't come to much harm, so the top of the stairs not ideal.

[mushroom25]

.....and when they do come out on a regular basis, they'll be into everything - under beds, in cupboards, climbing up the curtains, sitting on top of units, racing around the house. you'll be able to keep them from areas where you don't want them (like the kitchen) by boarding over doorways, but not for long, they learn to climb quite early.

- and we've still got all of the remaining three.

[jakep]

Cats are pregnant for 63 days, so if she is, she should be about to pop. Check her nipples. Are they pronounced with a bald area around them? If so, then birth is imminent.

[Kleiber]

All I can say is, "Well done, you - and good luck!!" I was adopted by a stray female cat, 7 yrs ago (we already had 2 of our own, and 3 dogs). She'd been dumped by her owners and of course, not spayed, so was pregnant. She took up residence in an old mobile home we've got and eventually gave birth to 8 (!) healthy kittens. We kept 2 of them, along with their mum and found homes for the rest. Sadly our little male kitten was killed by a feral tom cat when he was only 2yrs old, but I still have the little female and her mother (both now spayed!). The mum chose her own place to give birth, so if you have a spare room, maybe you could make a little comfy space for yours in there? Don't worry, she'll find somewhere (probably somewhere inconvenient for you, like a kitchen cupboard) and when she does go into labour, you don't need to do anything except keep an eye on her and make sure that she's managing OK. She'll know what to do. If you decide to keep her after the kittens are born, don't get her spayed until the babies are completely weaned. If you contact one of the cat protection charities, they may be able to help with the cost of spaying her, as you've kindly taken her in as a stray. Good luck!! K

[mushroom25]

kleiber, in our case cat protection unable to help with spaying of mother cat, but they did help with the cost of neutering the kittens.

[Kleiber]

Glad you got some help, mushroom. I paid for my kittens to be neutered, but the cats' charity did mum for us. I guess it varies from area to area.

[Brinjal]

Congratulations you are going to be a grandma

[wolf63]

Here is a link to a brilliant site http://www.fabcats.org/owners/kittens/index.php


I love this picture http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s136/wolf63/Funny%20pictures/cutekittengate-1.jpg

[Messalina]

Well done , you. My friend's cat gave birth in her basket of ironing. You do realise your life is about to be turned upside down. ......

[Slooow_Jo]

my friend dropped off said cage today, which I've set up at the top of the stairs, there really isn't any where else suitable! I happened to have a load of charity stuff I'd not dropped off yet including quilts, so I've folded up a single quilt covering 2/3 of the cage & put her feeding bowl at the other side, she went in happily! I've also used another quilt to cover the cage & have locked her in it! I'm hoping she will get cozy tonight then realise she can still get out in the morning??

[Kleiber]

Do keep us posted, won't you, Slooow_Jo?

[boxtops]

Have you got her registered with a vet yet? That would be my first port of call!

[DJHawkes]

it can be quite a long process, my daughter was about 13 when last we had a cat here having kittens, (she's 27 now) and she kept a vigil overnight whilst it all went on and kept a diary of the events, the 3 kittens, one short haired ginger, one black with white chin, one long haired barred, came about and hour apart but the mother was making deep mewing noises for a good 2 hours before the first arrived. she sorted it all out for herself in the cupboard under the stairs, my daughter just made sure there was water. Cats mate with several toms and the litter was so varied we were able to identify the toms responsible for each kitten from our street and the next street. we kept the black one with the white chin, he died 2 years ago.

[Slooow_Jo]

update; as soon as she got let out of the cage she ran to the back door looking to get out! she hadn't touched the food that was left for her, she was let out & when she came back still didn't bother with her food, she's been left in the area of the cage but seems to be relaxing anywhere but the cage!

[Brinjal]

Leave a wardrobe door open for her with a nest with the duvets and things in the dark corner. She really will find her own place and they like dark. Don't let her out or she will runoff to have them and you may not see them for awhile.