Are There Any Post
Yes. These include retention of fetal membranes , metritis, mastitis, and eclampsia .
Retention of Fetal Membranes. Occasionally a cat may fail to pass the final set of fetal membranes after birthing is complete, and they will decompose within her uterus. If this occurs, the queen often shows signs of restlessness and abdominal discomfort, and may be unwilling to settle with her kittens. Her appetite may be poor, and a brownish vaginal discharge may be seen. Immediate veterinary care is required, and an examination will show an elevated body temperature, while palpation of her abdomen will reveal an enlarged uterus. Antibiotic treatment is necessary and other medications may be necessary to cause the expulsion of the retained membranes.
Metritis or Endometritis. Metritis and endometritis are different types of inflammation of the uterus that usually occur within three days of parturition. The cat is much more obviously ill than with retention of fetal membranes. She will be dull and lethargic, completely ignore her kittens, and refuse food. She may have an increased thirst and may vomit. There will be a purulent, foul-smelling discharge from her vagina and she will have a fever. On palpation, the abdomen is tender and the uterus is thickened. Immediate veterinary intervention is required.
I Think My Cat Is Pregnant Right Now What Should I Do
If your kittys pregnancy took you by surprise, dont worryyou certainly wouldnt be the first pet parent thats happened to!
The best things you can do now are to confirm the pregnancy and talk to your vet about your kittys care.
Signs your cat might be pregnant, include:
- Enlarged mammary glands or nipples.
- Weight gain and a larger belly.
- Mild vomiting, loss of appetite, or lethargy.
Some of these symptoms may not be obvious. And, they could be symptoms of a health problem that needs to be treated.
So, its best to make an appointment with your vet as soon as possible.
If youd prefer to terminate the pregnancy, your vet can also talk to you about spaying your cat during pregnancy. For this option, the earlier you talk to your vet, the better.
Increased Eating And Sleeping
A pregnant cat is a lot like a human mother in terms of eating habits. Simply put, a pregnant cat needs more calories. She will eat more often as a result. Some pregnant cats have voracious appetites that seem to never be satisfied. The cat may always be looking for more food.
If you decide to feed a stray cat, pay attention to how often she begs for food. If she begs a lot, eats it all, and starts putting on weight in the abdomen, you may have a pregnancy on your hands.
Hand-in-hand with increased eating is more sleep. Cats already sleep excessively compared to other animals, but a pregnant cat will sleep even more. The further along she gets, the more time she will spend sleeping. That leads us to the final sign: nesting.
Create A Nesting Environment
Provide your cat with a safe, comfortable place in which to labor and give birth. As they prepare to deliver, “most mother cats will seek their own nesting area in the last week or so of pregnancy,” explains Veterinary Partner. “If you wish to help her, expect her to require soft bedding, an area with minimal human traffic, and separation from other pets in the home.” Additionally, ensure that everyone in the home respects her privacy and boundaries.
Cat Acts Fidgety And Nervous
Prior the start of labour, many cats will become restless, will look for their birthing spot or go to the litter box repeatedly. They will wander about looking for a place for giving birth, even if this has been chosen already. Some will breathe harder, or their mewing may get loud and piercing. Premature contractions can already announce themselves in this phase the belly contracts now more often.
Should I Leave The Newborn Kittens With The Queen While She Continues To Give Birth
It may be helpful to have a smaller box lined with a warm towel for the newborn kittens. A slightly damp towel can be warmed in a microwave oven. After each kitten is stable and dry, it should be placed in the incubator box while the mother is completing delivery of the other kittens. Warmth is essential, so a heating pad or towel-wrapped hot water bottle may be placed in the box, or a heat lamp may be placed nearby. If a heating pad is used, it should be placed on the lowest setting and covered with a towel to prevent overheating. Likewise, caution should be exercised when using a heat lamp, since newborn kittens may be unable to move away from the heat source.
When Do Cats Come On Heat
Oestrus cycles begin when female cats reach puberty, which can be as early as 4 months right through to 10 months of age.
Exactly when a cat starts coming on heat is determined by a number of factors including: the days becoming longer , the cats weight, age, general health and their breed. Although, it should be noted that cats can come on heat and produce kittens at any time of the year if the situation is right.
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 Many Kittens And Litters Can A Cat Have
Knowing just how many kittens to expect can be helpful for preparation. According to the ASPCA, a cat can have an average of four to six kittens per litter, and a fertile cat can produce one to two litters a year on average. Of course, the actual number of kittens and litters will vary from cat to cat. Your vet will be able to determine the exact number using ultrasounds and x-rays.
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.
What Does A Cat In Heat Act Like
If your cat is in heat, youll know it. They experience some big behavioral changes, such as:
- Vocalization. Your cat will make very loud meowing and yowling noises, in the hopes of attracting a mate.
- Affectionate or clingy behavior.
- Elevating their backside in the air.
- Increased urination and urine odor, and possibly urine marking outside their litter box.
- Attempts to escape home to find a mate.
Heat symptoms can last from a few days to two weeks.
Vaginal discharge or bleeding can also occur, but its unusual to see, especially since kitties are so good at keeping themselves clean.
Pregnant Or Worms Belly
Is your cat pregnant or does it have a worm belly?
An increased appetite and a thicker belly do not necessarily indicate offspring.
There can also be a worm infestation, a deficiency, an allergy or a disease. If the condition persists and seems suspicious to you, check whether worms are at work. If a worm infestation occurs, cats also get a big, swollen belly.
If you are unsure, introduce your cat to a vet who will check your cat, find out the exact type of worm and give you the right remedy.
Keep in mind: A visit to the vets is never a piece of cake and should only be undertaken in case of real need but better to be safe than sorry!
How To Take Care Of Nursing Cats
This article was co-authored by Pippa Elliott, MRCVS. Dr. Elliott, BVMS, MRCVS is a veterinarian with over 30 years of experience in veterinary surgery and companion animal practice. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary medicine and surgery. She has worked at the same animal clinic in her hometown for over 20 years.There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 89% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 85,073 times.
Nursing cats arent that different from any other cat, but they do have a few special needs. Ensuring that yours has adequate food and a safe place to nest are primary concerns. In addition, you should closely monitor the health of a nursing cat and her kittens to ensure that everyone is progressing well.
Cat Labor Emergency Kit
If your cat is pregnant, its always a good idea to prepare an emergency kit ahead of time with items you may need. In many cases you dont have to do a thing, nature takes care of it. But its good to have one on hand, just in case. Note that you should never try to help your cat unless you know there is a real problem. Cats are quite good at having babies without any human intervention.
In your kit, make sure you have plenty of clean sheets and towels. Flannel is great, especially for after the kittens are born because they are less likely to get their little claws tangled up in this material.
Make sure you have a clean pair of scissors on hand or a suture kit to cut any of the cords if necessary, and stock iodine to swab the kittens little bellybuttons and prevent infection. You should stock your emergency kit with disposable gloves too, in case you have to handle the kittens at all, as well as sterilized gauze pads and non-waxed dental floss. The dental floss will be used to tie off the cords if your mother cat doesnt do it on her own.
Another good idea to keep in your emergency kit is a notebook and pen so you can take notes on the birthing process and note any other important information like the time and date. You can also make sure your vet information is written in there in case you need to call them for help.
Cat Breeding at This Time of Year Vet Westm Accessed May. 2019.
Syufy, Franny. Heat Cycles in Cats The Spruce Pets, Accessed May. 2019.
Limit Handling Them During The First Weeks
Although you may want to pet and hold the kittens constantly, do not intervene too much in the first week or two of their lives. During this time, kittens are very susceptible to disease, and it can be stressful to the mom and babies.
During the first few weeks after birth, the mother cat will stimulate her kittens to eliminate by cleaning their genital areas. She will also clean up after them, so there is no need to add a litter box specifically for the kittens during their early days.
How To Tell If A Stray Cat Is Pregnant: 7 Signs To Look For
Figuring out what to do with a stray cat is tough enough under normal circumstances. Pregnancy just adds another layer of challenges to work through. Do you try to help a pregnant cat, or do you leave her to fend for herself? Do you attempt to get her to the vet for a physical? Well, none of these questions can be answered until you first establish that the cat is indeed pregnant.
The good news is that a stray cat will exhibit the same signs of pregnancy as a house pet or feral cat. If you know how to spot pregnancy in one kind of cat, you can spot it in all of them. I will discuss in more depth further on in the content, but
You can tell that a stray cat is pregnant by: the slightly enlarged, darkened nipples, a swollen belly, more prominent hips, eating and sleeping more than usual, and, perhaps more tellingly, the nesting instinct becomes more apparent toward the end of pregnancy.
Before I get to the signs of pregnancy, you should know that the gestation period for domesticated cats is about nine weeks. Thats it. So unlike humans, the signs of pregnancy begin manifesting themselves almost immediately after impregnation. Your powers of observation will determine how well you spot the signs in the early days of pregnancy.
Does Birth Control For Cats Exist
There are products out there that interfere with a cats hormonal cycle, but because of the associated health risks, most vets dont recommend them unless absolutely necessary.
A far better option is to spay your kitty.
Spaying alleviates discomfort and stress from frequent estrus, minimizes hormonally-induced behaviors such as urine marking, and helps to prevent some serious health problems like certain cancers and potentially fatal infections of the uterus.
Of course, every pet is an individual. So, when you make an appointment, your veterinarian can answer all of your questions and help you make a kind, informed decision for your furry BFF.
At What Age Are Cats Sexually Mature
When do cats reach sexual maturity?Cats can according to breed be receptive as of the fourth or fifth month: Abyssinian, Sacred Birman and Siam cats can get pregnant at this age, while Persians need to reach seven to eight months to be able to become mother cats.
The weight also plays a significant role.
A randy behaviour of the cat indicates that it is ready to mate. This can occur several times a year and the phase can take between 7 and 10 days, only to start again within 2 or three weeks time.
Return Mother Cat To Her Kittens Asap After Spay
When you return the mother cat to the exact location where you trapped her, she will go back to her kittens and continue nursing and caring for them. Remember, the best practice for kittens born outdoors is to Leave Them Be with their mother. Allow the mother cat, the kittens best possible caregiver, to care for her kittens in her outdoor home, which is familiar and comfortable to her. Learn more about how to help mother cats and kittens at .
Start Socialization When The Kittens Eyes Begin To Open
Kittens eyes generally open around 7 to 10 days of age. At this point, if the queen will allow it, its a good idea to get the kittens used to your presence. Socializing them at an early age can help ensure that they fit well into a household.
Kittens should NOT be taken away from their mother and go to their new homes too quickly, as they learn very important social rules and behavior from their mother and siblings. They should never be separated from their mother if they are younger than 8 weeks old.
Waiting until they are closer to 10 weeks old to adopt out or place the kittens in homes will have an even greater behavioral benefit.
The Best Way To Tell If A Stray Cat Is Pregnant Or Just Fat Is By Observing It From Above
If she is pregnant and feral, the vet will not be able to tell until she is sedated. Cats become parts of families in many different ways. Lets couple that with maybe there are more female cats, and the male cat impregnates all of those female cats in heat. The stanford university cat network urges citizens to spay cats even if they are pregnant; In the third week, lumps are felt when touching your cats. The female cat will be impregnated and will have babies;
A feral cat also looks for food while still nursing, although it usually does so only at night. In the third week, lumps are felt when touching your cats. Youre now the proud caretaker of not just a female feral cat and her buddies, but also the male feral cat, and the kittens that were made. It knows nothing about human companionship; Typically, a cat will not show any signs of pregnancy until they have been pregnant for two to three weeks.
If a cat has been going through heat cycles every 10 days to two weeks, and suddenly stops, it is likely she is pregnant. How to tell if your cat is pregnant. A feral cat also looks for food while still nursing, although it usually does so only at night. A telltale sign in behavior is that pregnant cats start nesting towards the end of their pregnancies in an effort to find a safe, quiet place to give birth. Put that date into the cat pregnancy calculator.
Can A Cat Get Pregnant While Nursing
As cat owners, we always want what is best for our cats. One of the questions that arise is can a cat get pregnant while nursing?
Once cats have had a litter of kittens, it is not a surprise that we want to take care of them too.
The issue is that kittens can be a lot of work and finding them good homes can be even harder.
So, of course, the last thing we would want would be for our cat to have more litters of kittens than we can handle as owners.
Most of the time, cats will not be able to get pregnant again until their kittens are weaned off of their milk.
However, this is not always the case. Can a cat get pregnant while she is nursing her current litter of kittens?
The short answer is yes. Cats absolutely can get pregnant again while they are nursing their kittens.
Now, do not panic. This is rare, but just in case, here are the answers to some questions you may have concerning the topic at hand.
Contents
Cat Pregnancy Stages: A Week
- October 25, 2018
- Fact Checked
It seems as though cats get pregnant easily and often. Neutering and spaying your pets are very important in keeping the population under control and reducing how many kitties end up in shelters, on the streets, or euthanized.
Plus, cats that have been neutered or spayed are often healthier. However, things happen, and cats do have kittens, whether you plan for it or it just happens.
When your pet is conceiving, you may be wondering how long your cat will be pregnant, and what the cat pregnancy stages are from week to week. Hopefully, this brief guide will help give you some ideas on what to expect when your feline is pregnant.
Can A Female Cat Be Spayed While Lactating
Yes. Mother cats continue to produce milk even after being spayed. The typical recovery time for spay surgery is between 12 and 24 hours. The mother cat should be returned to her nursing kittens as soon as possible, which your veterinarian can help you determine. Lactating mother cats can be given warmed subcutaneous fluids post-operatively to help aid recovery.
What are flank spays?
Traditional spay techniques work fine for lactating mother cats, but your veterinarian may be familiar with a procedure referred to as a flank or side spay. In this procedure, the incision for the spay is done on a cats side instead of her belly. This may help avoid irritation to the incision, since it will be away from kneading kitten paws.
Will My Cat’s Behavior Change During Pregnancy
During pregnancy, the cat’s behavior alters very little, although some cats become more loving, and a few become aggressive. During the final week, the queen may search for a suitable kittening bed or nest. The pregnant cat should be confined indoors at this time. It is important that you are able to monitor your cat closely to witness any complications.
How Often Do Cats Come On Heat
Cats are known as a polyoestrus species. This means they can come on heat multiple times in a calendar year .
Female cats will generally continue to come on heat until they are mated and become pregnant. Oestrus lasts for 7 to 10 days and there are 3 possible outcomes:
Is Premature Birth Common In Cats
Occasionally, a mother will deliver a litter prematurely. The kittens may be small, thin, and have little or no hair. Although it is possible for them to survive with an enormous amount of care, most premature kittens die regardless of your best efforts. If you wish to try and save premature kittens, your veterinarian can provide you with specific and detailed instructions, including how to feed kittens that are too weak to nurse.
Movements In The Abdomen
From about 5 to 6 weeks it is possible to see movement in the cats belly. You know what this is: its those kittens moving around inside. You can confirm pregnancy if the cat is willing to let you get close enough to put your hand on her belly. Otherwise, you should be able to visually observe the movement as the day of delivery gets closer.
Cleanliness And Litter Box
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The nesting box will most likely need to be changed at least once a day since the mom is stimulating the kittens to urinate and defecate for the first several weeks of life. Youll want to use bedding material that is soft yet washable; towel and fleece blankets work great.
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The mom should always have access to a clean litter box. At around four weeks of age, the kittens will begin sand-scratching behavior. Initially, they will follow the mom to the litter box and play in it. By about 4-5 weeks of age, they learn to eliminate in the litter box.
Keep The Nest Area Warm
Kittens are unable to regulate their own body temperature until they are 3 to 4 weeks old. So for the first four weeks of their lives, you should provide a warm, clean box or bedding for the mother and kittens to share.
Use a heating pad below the nesting box or a heating lamp above it to keep the kittens warm. But make sure there are accessible unheated areas, as kittens will need to be able to move away from the heat source if they become too warm.
The warm area should be about 97°F.
Can Cats Mate When Pregnant
Not only can cats mate while they are nursing, but they may in some cases also mate while they are already pregnant. Pregnancy doesnt necessarily stop a cat from going being in heat. The initial mating induces ovulation and the female cat can mate multiple times during her heat period, which usually lasts about 7 days. If this is the case, she may conceive multiple times. This fascinating event is called superfetation. It means that there can be kittens of different ages in the same litter!
Since cats can mate while they are pregnant, its also possible for them to mate with different male cats during one heat cycle. If this is the case, it would mean that they can carry kittens from different sires in the same litter. This even more amazing phenomenon is called superfecundation. It is even technically possible for each kitten in a litter to have a different father!
However, cats will not go into heat during the remaining bulk of their pregnancy which lasts about 60 days. Superfetation and superfecundation can only happen in their initial heat period during which the first pregnancy took place. This is because their heat period hasnt yet ceased and they can be open to mating for about a week more. After their heat is over, they will not go into estrus until after theyve given birth.