Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

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Ceedge
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Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ceedge »

Hello all!

One of the neighborhood kitties that has always come up to us when we were sitting on the porch appears to have adopted us. She is a sweet little grey and white girl that is VERY preggo and I wanted to join the forum and ask for some advice. I have never owned a kitty before let alone a pregnant one, but I am reluctant to put her back out because of the impending kittens. I think she is about a year and a half old, but she is very small.

I know she has had kittens at least once before... she was a bit bigger than she is now a few months back, but disappeared for a few weeks and I have not seen any of the kittens so I assume they must have died. I am concerned because of this and how small she is.

On Friday (this is TOO late Wednesday night) she waltzed right into the house and started snacking out of the dog dish (I have two 60+lb dogs). Took an hour or so nap on the couch next to me as I was working and then walked back to the door to be let out. The next day she was at the door early in the morning crying, so I put the pups out back and fed her some of their "special treat" wet food and decided to pick up a case of wet cat food and a little bag of dry. I rotated the animals out in about two hour increments all day because it was too hot to leave the pups out all day even with the frozen water dish. This continued for the rest of the week with six or seven roatations a day.

Today I let her into the living room in the morning and gave her a new treat I found at the grocery and she loved it, but when I tried to put her out to let the dogs in she cried and cried driving them crazy in the process.. so I put her little bowls in my office which is a small room that gets little air flow and the dogs are not allowed in. She has thus far not shown any interest in going outside unless I am going out to water the lawn or check the mail, but cries when I leave the room. There is a small bed In here that I am on right now, but I certainly can't live in here! She has been going to the bathroom outside when I walk out there, but I assume I will need to get a litter box for her when she has the kittens. She seems to have made this her home, and I don't want to kick the sweet little thing out, so I think we have gotten ourselves a kitty.

I'm not comfortable letting her out with the dogs, our larger boy is less than two years old and gets overexcited too easily. I don't think he would hurt her on purpose, but I think there is a good chance that he will try to play a little too hard. He doesn't realize how big he's gotten.

So I really wanted some guidance on a few things. I got her some kitty food, but will she need something special since she is so small and so preggers? I don't know about leaving an outside cat in a small room, but I don't think I have many other options. This is the only place in the house that the dogs know they aren't allowed (they are mighty interested now though). I have a box set up with some clean towels and an old pillow at the bottom, but she is not interested at all. Any suggestions to make it more appealing to her? She is being VERY affectionate right now, to the point that she seems distressed if I am not rubbing her head or her belly. She is also kneading and sucking on a soft blanket I have on the couch in the office. Is this normal behavior for a preganant cat? Oh, and she seems to be hungry every 2-3 hours, is it okay to feed her that often? Should I maybe be mixing the wet food into some dry food? (I can't imagine the rich wet food is being nice to her tummy)

I tried to attach a couple pictures here. One is her eating on one of the first days and the other I just took of her passed out right next to me. As soon as I try to move she wakes up and needs to be touching me, but I have to go to bed soon!

Thanks in advance for any advice and sorry for the long post. I am probably over thinking this, but she is a sweet little thing and I think it would be just awful if something happened to her just because I didn't understand how to take care of her.


TL:DR Pregnant cat adopted me and the girlfriend and we are trying to get her settled before she has the babies. Any tips?
Ceedge
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ceedge »

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Here are a few pics I snapped with my cell phone. You can see how tiny she is!
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Mayday21 »

Hi Ceedge 1st welcome & lovely to read that you are offering this little fur babe a home. Alas I can't provide advice on pregnancy but rest assured you'll receive excellent advice & support from experienced folks. The only thing I'd suggest, have you tried putting a litter tray for her to use in the office. My concern is she may have her kittens outside. And as queens are what I term hussies coming on heat very shortly after having kittens, please have her speyed. This also reduces wandering & cat fights (accesses, FIV) not to mention finding good homes for the kittens. She's a cutie - a blue & white. Vivian
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ceedge »

Hey Viv!

We have decided that we are going to adopt her and find her babies a home, for now she seems to be satisfied going outside to go to the bathroom when I am having a smoke break and coming right back in with me. We are planning on getting a box and litter for her the next time we go to the grocery so she doesn't have to leave the kittens to go to the bathroom after she has them. I do want to get her fixed as she is very active and I can see her being an inside/outside cat after the babes are weaned and she can go out again. She is taking to the office well so far and has been hanging out in a box that I put an older clean pillow and a sheet in so I think that's where she wants to have her babes. When I hold her I can feel them moving around like crazy so I imagine she is close to term, but she is so small so it is hard to tell. I will have to get more than 4 hours of sleep tonight, so I hope she is okay for a little longer tonight!
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

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Kitty has been alternating between climbing in my lap and being aggressively affectionate, laying on the kitty bed and panting and napping on the hard wood floors. I have the door open with the screen shut so we can get some air in there. It is a rather small room with only a ceiling fan to circulate air and it is a very warm August night here in TX. I think kittens are on the way tonight so I have resigned myself to sleeping on the small bed in there to be there for her when the babies come. I'll get some more pics of babies when they get here!

I am still hoping there is someone here with experience that wouldn't mind being a resource for some questions that I am sure will come up. I have been doing a ton of reading today and have a reasonable amount of information under my belt, but it is always nice to have a real person to reach out to.

Thanks!

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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ruth B »

Welcome to the forum and thank you for taking this little girl in when she is in this state, hopefully everything will go smoothly and there will soon be some kittens to fuss over.

Unfortunately I'm no expert on kittens, but hopefully Lilith with be along soon as she seems to be the forum expert on pregnant cats, or at least has had far more experience than the rest of us. There are however a couple of things I can add that might answer some questions.

If she has already had one litter there is a good chance she knows what she is doing and will be fine by herself, however I would suggest that you contact your vet and let them know the situation just in case problems arise.

Make sure she has cat food not dog food, there are certain vitamins and minerals that cats have to gain from animal products and are normally added to cat food, dogs can gain them from other sources or produce them themselves so they aren't added to dog food, without them a cat can go blind or die. It isn't common as a cat knows their needs and will supplement a bad diet if allowed access to outside but its better to be on the safe side.

A lot of cats can be left with a bowl of dried food to graze on when they want and then just given meals of wet food two or three times a day. Most cats won't over eat if they have enough stimuli to keep them occupied, bored indoor only cats or strays that have learnt to eat all on offer as they don't know where the next meal is coming from are the ones that are most likely to over eat.

I can also only emphasize the need to get her spayed once her kittens are weaned. There are far too many unwanted cats and kittens about, and once spayed she will have a far healthier and happier life than producing litter after litter of kittens, or suffering the frustration of coming into heat and being denied a mating.
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by bobbys girl »

Hi Ceedge and welcome to CC. You know, that's just how it starts - you take pity on one and before you know it your 'dog only' life is full of cats. Or is that just me? :lol:

Like you I was a total novice with cats when I found Willow who could not have been more than a week old. What a steep learning curve that was! It was cat-owning friends who helped out with advise (though none had reared such a small kitten) I did have a lot of help from one of our dogs, Rosie, who came over all broody and taught me how to 'toilet' a kitten - I didn't know you had to!

You little girl looks no more than a kitten herself - probably as a result of getting pregnant so young and wil probably always be a little cat. She certainly has fallen on her feet his time.

She does need a litter tray, but don't put it too close to her bed or food. It is dry food that is usually the 'richer' food, ie more nutrients. Try to avoid the cheaper mixes as already they have a lot of cereal in them, not good for cats. Also, it's quite alright to feed a dog on cat food (we did) but not OK to feed a cat on dog food.

She is a lucky little girl to have found you and as she has already had a family, she'll know what to do! :D

Good luck, let us know how you go on. Ooh, and get her spayed ASAP

PS can you send us some of your sunshine and heat - it's horrible here!
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

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Her and the kitties will be fixed as soon as they are able to be. I have reached out to a friend that runs an animal foundation and I am hoping that they can get me connected with someone local that can fix them for a reasonable fee. We can afford to take care of PK (Pretty Kitty, we are still deciding on a name), but if there are more than a couple kittens that will add up fast!

We did get her cat food, and were advised to pick up some kitten food and some milk replacement as well for the calories. She had dog food the first couple of days as that is all we had and we had to discuss bringing a new animal into the house, but she will have her own from here on out.

She has been munching on and off on a small bowl of dry food all day, but did not seem interested in the wet food after this morning. The dogs on the other hand tore the trash apart for the rest of the can.. lesson learned, cat food cans go right out to the dumpster now. I also just noticed that our younger boy has managed to sneak into the bedroom and is passed out next to my girlfriend as I am on kitty watch. How quickly I was replaced! Lol. PK is currently wrapped around my foot and is purring like a little motor boat. I have a feeling the babies are coming tonight so I grabbed some caffeine and a fresh pack of smokes and I have settled in to get some work done as I wait. Wish us luck!
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ceedge »

Hey Bobby's Girl!

I would love to send some of this heat your way! It was lovely and fall perfection a few days ago and we were back up over 100 the last few days. I am ready for the cool down! Just none of that nasty snow and ice stuff, I'm a southerner to the bone and I lock myself in against that nonsense on the rare occasion we get some.

I love that your doggo helped with the baby! We have two very sweet dogs, but they are also very large and we have decided to wait until she has the kittens and they are a bit bigger to try to introduce. Our boy is only a year and a half old and sometimes does not realize how large he is (He is my almost 80lb lap dog) I am concerned that he will get too excited and accidentally hurt one of them. He actually played with this kitty and another boy neighborhood cat quite often when he was a puppy, but as he grew they got more and more stand offish. I can't say I blame them as his "I love you" involves a lot of slobber and him trying to lay on you. It takes a certain type to appreciate the enthusiasm. :-)

Thanks for keeping me sane tonight, I am exhausted, but I really feel like it is any time now and I have at least a few hours left in the tank.
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by bobbys girl »

My three friends from college days are coming over to see me next week (hence the request for good weather). I am spending the day cleaning. But I'll pop onto the site every now and again to see how you are all doing. Good luck!
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ruth B »

I'll wish you all the luck I can.

Knowing cats, you will probably find that when you end up nodding off for a few minutes is when she decides to get on with the job and you end up waking up to the squeaking of kittens and a momma cat slobbering over everything getting it all cleaned up.

I hope you have your camera handy as well we will all be wanting to see the newborns.
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

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Thank you guys! PK is still napping on and off as am I. She woke me up a few minutes ago by flying across the room to kill a paper towel that dared to fall off the desk. She is a killer, lol. I am going to try to get another cat nap in and I'll check back in, in a few hours. My phone is charged and ready to get pictures of the new babies as soon as they join us :-)
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Lilith »

Hi Ceedge and welcome - you've come to the right place as loads of people on here foster pregnant cats and kittens. I've done some breeding and a little amateur rescuing in my time, and can only second what has already been said, about spaying asap, and that in 99% of cases the mother cat knows exactly what to do; hope this is so in PK's case, bless her. She's very very lucky to have found you.

Feeding - she will have hollow legs. Try to choose a cat food that's not bulked out with cereal/veg, and give her what she likes. However I was in the same situation once with my Emily (avatar cat) and generous feeding after scavenging was a shock to her system - she had the most amazing diarrohea and wind :o :shock: Plus she was such a good girl, she used a tray straight away, but unfortunately she tended to dig her hole and then squat with her paws in the hole and her backside hanging out over the edge of the tray ... lovely. In the end I got a big cardboard box with low sides, lined it with newspaper and put the tray in that. Happy days.

All the best with PK and any queries you have - we're always here :)

ps your dogs sound cool (unlike your weather lol) - what breed are they? I once had an Alsatian who mothered and played with small kittens :)
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ruth B »

Still no update? She is going to keep us all waiting.

I should have mentioned before that the kneading she is doing is perfectly normal in any cat and you are about to see where it comes from. It is the same action that the kittens use to stimulate milk from their mother, hence the apparent suckling that sometimes goes with it. A lot of cats do it and it is a sign that they are happy and feel safe, as once they did when curled up with their mothers.
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ceedge »

Hey guys!

Pk has still not had had babies, but she seems to be starting to try. She has chosen a pillow right next to where I have been laying down in the office and has been adjusting it to her liking, Mama and I have been napping on and off most of the day so far. She wakes me up about once an hour or so with more kneading and she has started a low almost growl noise. Kinda similar to one that I have heard really upset kitties make, but she is doing it while rubbing her head on me for love, so I am thinking it is discomfort.

Lilith- Hello! My girlfriend has been tasked with bringing home a litter box today so she should have one in a few hours, I am totally going to steal your newspaper idea... I'm not sure she's ever used a box before. She does dig a hole when she goes outside to go, so a little extra protection for the wood floors sounds like good idea.

Uh oh.. now you started it. I can talk about the pups for days, but I will keep it short. (Sorry, I really tried to keep it short!) Our older girl is Zoe, she is a Weimaraner with a bit of anxiety. She moved in with me 3.5 years ago with my girlfriend, and she is getting close to 7 years old. GF has had her since she was a puppy, and she is from a breeder (GF wanted a full breed dog for some reason, I prefer rescues, but she is a lovely sweet girl and I wouldn't trade her for the world)

Loki is a mixed breed Heinz 57 baby. We think he has some German Sheppard in him because he has the saddle markings, and is about the same size..maybe a bit larger, and possibly some Lab too. He is the cuddlebug, at a year and a half old (a little less actually he was born on Father's day 2016) he always wants to be touching one of us. Funny story actually, I found last night that he had taken advantage of this situation and crawled in bed to cuddle with mama while I was on kitten watch. He is spoiled beyond repair and loves every second of life. He is truly a happy dog. I'll switch devices and post pics of my other fur babies. They are both so very cool in their own ways, and I feel very lucky to have them and our new little girl in our lives. Sometimes the universe is good to us :D Back to kitty watch as she has just woken up as I type this
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by MarySkater »

If she keeps you waiting, you might find this an interesting read:
https://www.catchat.org/felineforum/vie ... =19&t=4010
Joe bred a litter of kittens from his pedigree Persian, Milla, and wrote detailed reports about being a "cat dad."
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Mayday21 »

Hi Ceedge I see where our experienced catchatters have provided advice. Joe's posts when Kayla was expecting her kittens were treasures to read on the kittens' birth & progress. He did post a couple of weeks ago so hopefully he'll visit again soon & post. Vivian
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

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The girlfriend and I have enjoyed spending the last hour reading about Joe's adventure. It's a good read for sure! I wish I had the connection with PK that Joe and his baby had. She has been sleeping hard the past few hours and when she gets up she is drinking water like it is going out of style. I think she is starting to have contractions, but they are a few minutes apart. She is laying on her side and it looks like her whole body seizes up for just a second and then she relaxes again. She is looking so pitiful it breaks my heart. I am glad that she will never be doing this again, it seems so unpleasant.

Edit: Question, would it harm her at all to put a little ice in her water? It is a hot hot day here and that room gets a little stuffy. I freeze the dogs water bowl in the summer and load it up with ice when they are outside, but I didn't know if there was something about ice and cats. I freely admit that I am overthinking EVERYTHING at this point, I just don't know a lot about cats (Like they can't eat dog food!) and want to make sure I am doing everything to make this as successful as possible.
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by bobbys girl »

Do you have an electric fan? My darling husband got me one when I was getting hot flushes - it was a God-send!

Well it's after midnight here and I'm off to bed. Hoping everything goes well for you all 'tonight' and that I'll tune in tomorrow to find your family has grown by several kittens! :D Goodnight, God bless.
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ceedge »

There is a ceiling fan and a box fan going in that room right now. It's an older house with only window units and that room is so small that it didn't get one. Although, we are thinking that might be something to look into adding as I have been working from home almost exclusively. We are getting some rain tomorrow which should cool us down, but today was around 100..which feels a little higher from the humidity. We have also narrowed it down to just a couple names. What do y'all think of Danielle? The other suggestion was Kiki, and I personally am fond of calling her PK. I have initials, so she can too!
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ceedge »

We are still waiting on babies. I took a few hour nap while my GF entertained kitty when she would wake up so she didn't start crying. The pups went to bed with her, so kitty and I have the door open to get some of the cool air from the house. We are cuddling on the little bed in here and watching Youtube videos :)
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

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One thing I would say is are you going to be OK with the expense of raising mum and kittens? I've also fed feeding mums 4 pouches a day plus uniimited biscuits, obviously they go through a lot of litter. Then you will need to flea and worm mum and kittens, but you can only use certain products. If not, you need together a rescue involved
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

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I would love to have a rescue involved, but everyone that we reached out to before deciding to take care of her ourselves had no room for a pregnant mama and an unspecified number of kittens.
Also, please reference a direct quote from just yesterday in this very thread " I have reached out to a friend that runs an animal foundation and I am hoping that they can get me connected with someone local that can fix them for a reasonable fee. We can afford to take care of PK (Pretty Kitty, we are still deciding on a name), but if there are more than a couple kittens that will add up fast! "

I apologize if I sound prickly about this but the alternative is dropping her at a shelter which I am simply not willing to do or put her back outside and let her fend for herself. Would this be a better option than taking her in and doing the best we can?

Edit: I know that sounds short, I am tired and seeing PK in such distress is clearly stressing me out. Please accept some pup pictures in recompense. I included one about a year old from the day we got Loki. He sure grew up fast!
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by booktigger »

Sorry, I missed the post about help with neutering costs. I was just making sure you were aware of the costs of caring for kittens
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

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I apologize. I think this is getting to me a little bit. My animals have always been fixed.. it was a big thing for my folks too. I've never really been around a pregnant animal and seeing her in such clear distress is not the easiest thing I've done. We have chosen not to have children for a variety of reasons so all of our love gets poured into our fur babies. We can't always get them the nicest of things, but they are always well taken care of. Zoe broke a tooth a few years back as we were moving and we cleared out what we had left in savings to get it fixed because we couldn't stand the thought of baby girl hurting.

We discussed taking this cat into our home before we did it and didn't take the decision lightly. We think that we will be able to provide her with a loving home and are committed to doing the best we can. That is a huge part of the reason that I am here. I have educated myself as much as possible, but there is no article that will tell you all of the random little things that you will need to know, so I wanted to resource that could answer questions if they come up.
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ruth B »

I think you are doing the right thing and have thought it through enough. I have seen through watching various kitten cams that cats can go through a period of 'prelabour', anything from a few hours to a few days, during with time they sort out what they feel is a safe place for the kittens and seem to have a few minor contractions, I think it is all part of getting all the kittens lined up into place for the actual birth, so I wonder if this is what PK is going through at the moment.

As far as I know kitten litters can vary, anything from 1 to 9 or 10, although the more kittens there are the more likely that some will be stillborn or die after birth, the normal litter ends up at 3 or 4 kittens. Hopefully PK will have only two or three healthy kittens and it won't be too much for you to worry about.

I don't know about putting ice in the water, I doubt it would do any harm, but plenty of water even at room temperature is more important than cold water. One of the reasons that cat groom/wash themselves is to put a layer of moisture on the fur, as it evaporates it helps keep the cat cool, however it does mean they need to drink more than normal. If she seems hot you might want to see if she likes being stroked with a slightly damp cloth as this mimics the natural behaviour. The other alternative is the cool pads you can get for animals. I don't understand how they work, but I have heard people speak highly of them. They don't require electricity to work, I think they must just be filled with something that stays cool and draws the heat out of what ever is on top of it. If they do them big enough your dogs might find them a relief as well.

I also don't know whether heat is a danger to kittens, though I know cold can be. Again the mother normally does her best to keep the kittens at the right temperature either by cuddling them to keep them warm or by plenty of washing to help cool them down.
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by bobbys girl »

Morning! You can get gel filled bottle coolers that you put in the freezer then pop bottles into them to chill the contents - for picnics etc. One of those under a blanket might cool her without chilling. She must be uncomfortable in 100 degrees AND carrying kittens.

I like the name PK. Willow sometimes goes by the name BP for Bag Puss (she has a baggy belly) or Black Puss.

I once knew a girl called Paula who shared a horse with her brother, Karl. They named her PK. She was a beautiful animal but had mean stable manners - she liked to corner people and kick them! It would be nice to know a much sweeter PK. :lol:
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Lilith
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Lilith »

Hi again, how's it going?

You mention she's in distress - could this be the extreme heat rather than labour? They CAN 'go off the boil' - one of my Siamese woke me early in the morning, in bed with me, bottom in the air, back legs kicking, purring loudly, with bloody discharge dripping on to the bedding. Then she played around all morning, demanded a big lunch, but in the afternoon she got into her kittening box by herself and got down to it. 5 healthy kitties.

But if you see PK having occasional contractions and nothing happening for 24 hours, along with a discharge, best to get her checked out by the vet in case there are difficulties - but that's worst case scenario.

All paws crossed here for a healthy and happy delivery - it IS stressful though, even if you've seen it before. I used to feel such panic about those new lives I'd caused to be brought into the world - and you haven't even arranged this, it's all been thrust on you.

All the best :)
Ceedge
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by Ceedge »

Thanks guys, I apologize again for getting cranky. My lovely girlfriend let me sleep for about 6 hours and I am feeling MUCH better. It rained last night and cooled everything down significantly so we put the pups outside and brought kitty into the much cooler living room with us. We have a gel cooling pad that we can wrap up and put on the pillow she has taken to. I called the vet that takes care of the pups and they told me to relax and just make sure that she isn't in full labor for more than 48 hours. She said that it is common to see contractions a few days prior and she compared it to the pre labor contractions that humans have.. there was a specific term but it honestly went in one ear and out the other.

Pk ate well just now when we put down some new wet food and another ice water bowl. She loved the coolness of the water. She was sticking her head right above it and just hanging out so I do think that she was a little warmer than she would have liked. I have a heating pad in there because everything I have read said to have one, but should I maybe get an extra cooling pad too? I don't think I would want to put the babies on there.. but maybe have it for her to lay on if she needs it. If I have two I can switch them out.

GF and I annoyed her with the flash taking pictures, but we want to be able to look back on this so she will have to deal. :-) We got some good ones! Here is one of her getting into position for belly rubs.
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IMG_3006.JPG (29.68 KiB) Viewed 7648 times
She really loves having her belly stroked.
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bobbys girl
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Re: Stray pregnant cat adopted us!

Post by bobbys girl »

Have you any idea how rare it is to have a kitty who likes having her tummy tickled? :shock: My boy Bob loves it but he is the only one. If I tried that with Gracie, I'd be wearing her!

It's lovely to see how settled she looks.
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