Welcome To This World Kitten
The little rascals will learn how to conquer the world while they are growing up.;
The first weeks are the most important ones when they learn everything a cat needs to know through play and interaction with their mum and siblings and their two-legged friends.;
We wish all the kittens a happy, long life,; filled with everything that cats love and desire!
When Do Cats Mate
As weve already mentioned, cats can begin to mate from their first heat. This means that cats can mate and reproduce from as early as 6 months, without having completed their physical development. Due to the fact that cats can have kittens from their first heat, it is important to establish precautions from when they are young.
Additionally, these such measure should be prolonged, covering the time up to which a cat is fertile. Therefore, it is not only important to avoid unwanted pregnancies, but to choose the best contraceptive method for your cat, adapted to its individual health status. Furthermore, male cats can mate from the moment they mature sexually, even if they still look like kittens.
For more about cat mating, we recommend reading our article about male cat anatomy and a male cat barbed penis.
Signs A Cat Is Pregnant
Heres how to tell if your cat is pregnant the old-fashioned way:
Of course, its a combination of factors. For instance, hunger alone may be a sign of other issues, and weight gain is sometimes normal. Also, it can be hard to tell when an obese cat with dark fur is pregnant. An owner might want to visit the vet to know for sure.
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How Long Does It Take For A Cat To Give Birth
A cat’s labor is not governed by fixed rules and, like we humans, we can only speak in approximate terms. Even so, it is possible to offer some general guidelines to caregivers when determining whether the delivery is proceeding in the usual way or there are delays which may imply problems.
The first phase of the delivery is known as dilation. This is where the uterine contractions act to open the cervix to allow the passage of the young. This leads to a second expulsion where the kittens are actually birthed. To know how long is the labor period of a cat giving birth for the first time, we must bear in mind that the dilation period can be prolonged. It is possible that before the birth begins, the cat loses their mucus plug. This is the substance to uterus uses to prevent infection. The mucus plug can fall between 3 and 7 days before the kittens are born. This is not always the case as the cat may lick at the area. If they don’t give birth more than 7 days after they lose their mucus plug, then we should consult a vet. The same goes if a greenish secretion occurs, but is not followed by the birth of the kittens.
How Many Placentas Do Cats Have
Kittens have one placenta. If youre watching a queen give birth to a litter you should keep an eye on the number of placentas, because if one gets retained inside the mother cat is potentially very dangerous.
There are also instances where two kittens share a placenta, although its rare. The mother cat will often eat placentas, if not during labor then afterward. The best thing you can do is count the number of placentas, then give your pet a call if youre concerned any are missing.
If you want to know more about this topic, please read this post about how many placentas cats have.
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How Many Kittens Make A Litter
The number of kittens per litter;varies.;One two or up to five kittens enter the world at once, sometimes even six! This depends on the breed as well as on the mating ritual:When did the female mate and with how many partners?
If the cat decides to mate again during the first three weeks of the gestation period, further fertilisation is well possible.
For that reason, kittens of the same litter often vary a lot from different fur and eye colour through to individual stages of development at birth.
How To Know If A Cat Has Finished Giving Birth
As stated in the previous sections, there should not be more than an hour between the birth of each kitten. This means, in general, if two or more hours have lapsed since the last kitten was born and the mother doesn’t look like she is waiting for another one, we should be able to deduce that the labor has ended.
If you want to know how a cat behaves when the full litter is born, we need to look at her attitude. After all of the offspring are born, she will usually dedicate herself to them by licking them and checking that they feed correctly. If the cat is lying down or is still agitated, it is possible she is having trouble birthing a kitten. We once again emphasize the importance of calling a veterinarian in these circumstances. If you want some more specific information on what to look for in terms of birthing difficulties, we have this article on the 4 most common complications during a cat birth.
It is also important to note that usually cats will give birth to multiple kittens. However, it is also possible for a cat to only give birth to one, especially if the other fetuses haven’t survived for a particular reason.
If you want to read similar articles to How Long Does it Usually Take for a Cat to Give Birth?, we recommend you visit our Gestation category.
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How Many Kittens Can A Cat Have In One Litter
There are typically between one to 10 kittens in a litter. First-time queens tend to give birth to smaller litters of two or three kittens. Older queens tend to have smaller litters as well. It also may depend on the breed; Siamese cats tend to have big litters while Persian cats tend to have smaller litters. Its a smart idea to talk to your vet to find out how many kittens in the litter to expect, as sometimes a first-time mother will birth some but not all of its kittens, which can cause potentially life-threatening issues. Sometimes, pet owners are surprised by more kittens, as there is typically 10 minutes to an hour between them.
How To Help A Cat Give Birth
Generally cats will intuitively know how to give birth and do not need much in the form of intervention. However, there are some tips which might make the process a little easier:
- Prepare a comfortable nesting area which is safe and quiet.
- Do not disturb or manipulate the cat during labor.
- Observe them discreetly to ensure a smooth delivery and not to crowd them during a sensitive time.
- When the kitten is born, the mother releases it from their amniotic sac by biting it open before licking it clean and chewing off the umbilical cord. If we observe that the cat does not do any of these things, we must break the sac ourselves and bring them to the mother. We must ensure to do this with clean hands to prevent any possible infection. If the mother still does not lick the newborn kitten, we will need to clean their nose and mouth for a clean airway and gently rub their back with our finger to stimulate breathing.
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Where Should I Put The Newborn Kittens
Warmth is essential for the newborn. Kittens cannot control their own body temperature for the first couple of weeks of life. In nature, kittens stay warm by direct body contact with their mother and littermates in the enclosed nest bed. A wet newborn kitten loses heat very rapidly, so it is very important to make sure it is dried off quickly. If the queen is ill or uncooperative, gently lay the kitten on a warm, towel-wrapped hot water bottle and conserve its body heat by covering it with a blanket. Great care must be taken not to inflict contact burns by having the bottle too hot.
Ideally the temperature in the box should be maintained at 85-90°F during the first four days of life. The temperature can be gradually reduced to 80°F by seven to ten days and to 72°F by the end of the first month. If you cannot maintain the room temperature this high, an acceptable alternative is a heat lamp suspended over the nest box. Disadvantages to a heat lamp are that many cats dislike the open bed required for its use, which may make both mother and kittens too hot, and lessen their normal close contact. The box should be large enough for the kittens to move away from the heat if they become too hot.
Weeks Three And Four : Days 15
During week three, the implanted embryos will begin to develop their organs, which causes a massive hormone surge within the pregnant cat. You may begin to notice that your female cats nipples have become darker and possibly more swollen in a process known as pinking.
Around week three or four, your cat may begin to suffer from morning sickness, which may make her less interested in food than normal and can also cause vomiting; not necessarily just in the morning! This is perfectly normal, but if the vomiting is prolonged or particularly severe, you should consult your vet. Your vet should be able to confirm pregnancy by means of an ultrasound scan from around 18 days after conception. At the end of week four, your vet should be able to feel the abdomen and definitively confirm the pregnancy manually, if you have not already had an ultrasound scan performed.
You should not pick your cat up after week four of her pregnancy, in order to avoid inadvertently hurting her kittens.
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What Problems Can Arise During Birth
Dystocia or difficult birth can occur. You should be concerned and immediately seek veterinary attention if:
- Twenty minutes of intense labor does not produce a kitten.
- Ten minutes of intense labor does not expel a kitten that can be seen at the queen’s vulva.
- Gentle pulling on a trapped fetus causes the queen pain.
- The queen is depressed, lethargic, or has a fever .
- The queen loses fresh blood from her vulva for more than ten minutes.
Here Are The Most Important Factors To Consider
Is your cat expecting? these are exciting times for you both!
But not to worry Cats intuitively know how to manage and are pretty self-sufficient for the most part.;However, you can help the future mum to be as comfortable as possible and help her with the task of delivering healthy kittens into this world.;What is the duration of a cats pregnancy? What is a perfect birthing box and what will the event itself look like?Many questions will come to mind when you have not experienced this before.;
This is why we have collected all the necessary information here for you on what a pregnant cat needs and what important factors should be considered a digital birth preparation so to speak!
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What Changes Should You Make To Your Cats Diet During Pregnancy
During her pregnancy, your cat needs food thats formulated to support growthor, in other words, kitten food. Queens should be fed kitten food during the entire pregnancy and while she is nursing her kittens, says Dr. Christman.
But the biggest change in your cats diet during pregnancy will have less to do with what she eats and more to do with how much she eats. During pregnancy the female cats food consumption increases and will reach approximately 1.5 times her level before she was pregnant, says Dr. Christman. At the end of the nursing period, her food consumption may exceed twice her pre-pregnancy amount.
Week Ten: Day 64 Onwards
If your cats pregnancy makes it as far as ten weeks without delivery, you may simply find yourself playing a waiting game! Some cat breeds, particularly oriental cats such as the Siamese, generally make it a few days into their tenth week of pregnancy before delivering. If there is still no sign of the kittens by the end of the tenth week, however, you should consult your vet for advice and to check that nothing is wrong.
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When To Wait And When To Worry
While many authors believe that problems in parturition are rare in the cat, others feel that with the progression of selective breeding these problems are becoming more common.
The effect of this has been shown in a survey of over 700 breeding cats, which found that cats with extremes of conformation, such as Siamese and Persians, experienced much higher levels of dystocia , 10 per cent and 7.1 per cent of births being affected respectively, compared to only 2.3 per cent of births being affected in cats with normal conformation. It is therefore very important that breeders are aware of the details of normal parturition so that they can recognise a problem when it arises.
In pregnancy, the foetuses are spaced along each horn of the uterus. Each foetus is contained within its own membranes and has its own placenta through which it derives nourishment. The uterus may be considered as a muscular, sausage-shaped bag, capable of contracting both around its diameter and along its length. To help in its passage, each foetus is contained within a fairly tough double-layered bag of foetal membranes, which are filled with slippery fluid in which the foetus floats. This serves as both protection and lubrication and provides a distending, stretching and dilating force when the uterus relaxes in front of it and contracts behind it during the course of parturition.
Taking Care Of Your Pregnant Cat
During her pregnancy, you will want to keep your cat relatively active in order to ensure she is fit for giving birth. Avoid any excessively rowdy activity towards the end of your cats pregnancy, however. You will need to help her stay calm as she nears her due date, as anything too active could cause her stress. Throughout the pregnancy be sure to pay attention to her appetite and her comfort level. If your cat loses interest in her food or is visibly distressed or agitated, it could signal a problem with her pregnancy.
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How Do I Know If My Cat Is Pregnant
20th August, 2019
Whether youre a new parent to your fur baby or youve had your kitty cat for a few years, youll know just how precious they are. One thing is for sure though, if you have a female cat and shes yet to be spayed its important to be able to tell if she has become pregnant or not. You may be purposely breeding her or it might be a total accident but, either way, there are a few tell-tale signs to look out for.
If you do find that your little tabby is indeed expecting, then its handy to know just how to take care of a pregnant cat. Just be aware that very few cat insurance providers do not cover a pregnancy related illnesses, and may even cancel a cover if a cat has 2 or more pregnancies.
Did you know…
Did you know that a pregnant cat is called a queen? Its a moniker youll probably come to agree with once you experience her demands throughout pregnancy. Your little queen is likely to become more vocal or ask for affection to seek comfort or due to discomfort from her growing belly and potential false labour contractions.
What Happens During A Normal Labor And Delivery
The signs of impending labor generally include nervousness, overgrooming, and panting; sometimes the queen will stop eating during the final day of pregnancy. In most cases, a drop in rectal temperature, to less than 100°F , occurs in the last 24 hours and signals impending labor. Milk will often appear in the mammary glands 24-48 hours before labor begins. Many cats will prefer to be secluded during the birthing process.
Once labor starts, most cats experience delivery without complications; however, if this is your cat’s first litter, you should closely monitor her until at least one or two kittens are born. If these first kittens are born quickly and without complication, further attendance may not be necessary, although it is ideal to be available if an emergency should arise. However, if you leave the room, it is possible that she will try to follow you, leaving her kittens and potentially interrupting the labor.
“If the delivery proceeds normally, the kitten will emerge after a few contractions.”
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Abnormalities Of The First Stage
Abnormalities of the first stage can include all forms of primary inertia, and occasional rare disorders, such as torsion or rupture of the uterus. These latter two conditions can result in major emergencies in late pregnancy or first stage labour. Torsion implies a twisting of the uterus, cutting off its blood supply, and making delivery of the contained foetus or foetuses impossible. It also causes what is quite obviously an acute emergency with a very ill and shocked cat. Torsion is usually presumed to have occurred during jumping or some violent movement which imparts a swinging motion to the heavily gravid uterus. Rupture is more usually the result of an accidental blow from a vehicle or other violent trauma, or can occur from violent straining upon a complete obstruction. A rupture occurring at the time of parturition will give rise to the same signs of acute emergency as a torsion. It has been known for rupture to occur early in pregnancy and for the foetus to continue to develop outside the uterus in the maternal abdominal cavity. In these cases, the placenta becomes attached to one of the abdominal organs but it is unusual for such foetuses to develop to full term and, of course, impossible for them to be born without an abdominal operation.