[mineko012]

My cat is pregnant!! We certainly did not intend to breed our cats but we missed an appointment with the veterinarian to get my 6mo. old male kitten neutered and our 1-2yr. old female cat spayed and did not have a chance to go back and get them fixed.

The last time Aegee was in heat was the week of March. 15 so I'm guessing that she's about 6 weeks into her pregnancy. We noticed her belly getting wider and we thought that she might be pregnant. I searched online for more information and found this forum. Her nipples are larger than before.

I really don't know what to do. I will be taking them both to the veterinarian as soon as possible. Gizmo (the male) will be neutered and Aegee will be checked out.

I don't really know what to do during the pregnancy or even know when the pregnancy will take place. I guessing that she will give birth 3 weeks from now? To my understanding it takes around 62 days ...

While looking online I read about placentas and umbilical cords and possible cutting of the umbilical cord ... I don't know how I'm going to handle all that if I have to perform those things because I know my boyfriend's not up to the task.

I'm kind of panicking but I'm sure that I'll receive lots of helpful advice from all of you to aid me in helping Aegee give birth as comfortably and safely as possible.

 

[AnnaR6]

Hi Mineko!
You should not worry! You are going to have a beautiful experience!
My kittens were born on 1st April, and I was as worried as you are :wink:
Jeanie helped me a lot and gave me lots of precious information! You can give a look here: click

I assisted my dear Bimba all of the time, so if you have questions, please ask, I will be glad to help!

 

[mineko012]

I'm hoping everything goes smoothly ... I'm most afraid that she'll pick a difficult spot to give birth in (like under the bed where she likes to hide) ... I guess I'll just have to be vigilant about noticing when it's her time and move her to where I'm going to prepare her birthing station ...

She's not a "calm" cat. I'd describe her more as an anxious cat who doesn't like to be held and she's not as affectionate as Gizmo. I wonder how everything will turn out.

Another question: when should I separate the cats? I'm thinking that I have to put her in a separate room and keep Gizmo away from her but for how long? How will she react to Gizmo approaching her kittens? Or if I should keep Gizmo away from her and her kittens for a while just how long do I have to wait before I can give Gizmo a peep at his babies?

Thanks for the link. I've checked them out. The kittens are adorable ...

 

[AnnaR6]

I'm most afraid that she'll pick a difficult spot to give birth in

Dear Mineko,
when I noticed Bimba was pregnant, I have thought: which place will she choose? She also loved to stay under the bed, and of course this would not have been a good place. So I bought some wood pieces (the cost is really low) and built a little “hut” in her room, very cute, with roof too, and the door is a big towel, and pillows on the floor. I thought this place will be perfect! And I was lucky, Bimba agreed with me! And the hut became immediately her bedroom .
Anyway, I don’t think you will be able to “move” her to the place you want, SHE will choose… You can only prepare things before, so that she will choose exactly that place!
And when the kittens are born it would be a good idea to put them all in a big basket together with mommy. So you also should prepare a big basket with clean towels. :wink:

I guess I'll just have to be vigilant about noticing when it's her time

I hope you will notice when it is time! Bimba came to call me and brought me to the little hut, she knows how to “speak” to me, but not all cats are the same… It depends on how close you are to her… :shock:


Sorry I don’t have experience about separating the two cats… I’m sure someone else will help you :roll:

Don't be so worried!! (easy to say for me NOW... :wink: )

 

[queen of the nile]

I don't know about seperating the cats because of the birthing, but I just wanted to comment that you should keep them seperate after the birth until you can get the little guy neutered. Cats can get pregnant again within days of the birth, so you must be vigilant!

 

[Jeanie]

You already have some great advice. The gestation period is 63-65 days. My Precious wanted constant attention when the kittens were about to be born. There is also a discharge. I would watch her closely when the time comes, because there seems to be an odor about a female ready to give birth that attracts the attention of the male. You certainly don't want to risk infection. Stay with her as much as possible, and if you have to go out, put her in the room with her birthing bed. Good luck.

Anna, I want to see new pictures! Please.

 

[im_catwoman]

Hi there, Mineko! (This may be kind of Long, sorry.) One of our garage kitties, BabyGirl, had 3 lovely babies this past Saturday (the 17th). She's a very friendly Kitty and so often she would sit with one of us on our back porch for hours, sometimes spending the evening out there, so she was very accustomed to being near us. Well Saturday, my human daughter said that the kitty was really anxious to get on the porch and spend time with her, a few mintues later I get a call and my daughter says something's wrong, I go to take a peek and there was a head! She had chosen to have her kitties on my daughter's lap! We knew not to move her, so we called the hospital and they said given where she chose, it would be best to wait till the first baby was born and then move her. She had already had one baby on my daughter's coat, so my daughter volunteered to use the coat as a warm/clean place for all the births. I made her a nice little nursery from a cardboard box, we took old, clean towels and stuffed them in there. I took another box and attached it to the bottom portion and another cloth to cover the front for privacy. Basically she did all the work giving birth, and disposing of the placenta ( she ate them), she left a tiny piece of cord and they have already fallen off the babies. Keep your vet's number very handy, in case there are difficulties.
About your Gizmo, I would separate them until they are both fixed. My Mom's cat had babies and Mama cat went to use the restroom, ( a few days after the birth) the male cat killed the babies! I read that male cats will get so jealous of the babies because they think that with the babies there, that means the female will not want to have anymore sex , a popular British author wrote that male cats are sex-fiends and see the babies as a block to their source. We decided to move Mama and babies to our upstairs bathroom ( it got cold here in Wisconsin) for the protection and well-being of the babies and so BabyGirl doesn't wander off with one of the boy garage kitties. One of the boy garage kitties has been calling for her, she shows signs that she wants to go back out, but we don't want her to get hurt or pregnant again. We already made an appointment in a few months to have her spayed.
I hope everything goes well for your kitty and congratulations on soon becoming a 'Grandma'! <<))

 

[mineko012]

Wow thanks for letting me know! I'll be sure to keep Gizmo away from Aegee. I guess Aegee will have to be confined in a bedroom for a while while and after she has her kittens ...

 

[Jeanie]

If I were you, I would have Gizmo neutered now. He could impregnate your female within days after the birth.

It is rare that a housecat will kill the kittens, but I know of ONE incident in my life, and I have been a breeder of Siamese. It is more common and often quite usual in feral and large cats (lions, tigers, etc.), however.

After a couple of days, mother will be willing to leave the babies for a little while. It would be a shame if she couldn't do that on occasion. The simplest thing to do is to have Gizmo neutered. Mother cat will be coming in heat while still nursing this litter, and to be honest, there are so many unwanted kittens in the shelters that they are being put down almost as fast as they come in. The no-kill shelters are usually overcrowded already, and you will have the responsibility of placing this litter in good homes. You can't advertise them "free to a good home" because many people take those cats for medical research or snake food. They come with their children and act as if they love kittens, but that's often a con job.

What you have to do is get the kittens their shots, keep them to the age of 12 weeks and sell them. If you don't charge you're taking a huge chance. It's so exciting to have kittens, and they are little miracles, but come with huge responsibilities.

 

[mineko012]

I would never ever give my (future) kittens to someone I don't know. Gizmo will be neutered within the week and I'm pretty sure that Aegee won't have her kittens for another 2-3 weeks.

I already have one person who wants a kitten and my cousin wants one too but she's not sure if her family would accept another pet in the house (they have 2 cats, 2 indoor dogs, and one outdoor dog).

No kitten of mine will be dropped off at an animal shelter. Or a bad home.

And I think my bf is going to let me keep one so that's 2 kittens with good homes and maybe three if my cousin takes one too.

I wonder how many kittens Aegee will have?

 

[Jeanie]

That sounds great. What I meant was, every kitten born means one more at the shelter will be put down. What a sad situation. Accidents happen though, usually when people think their cats are too young. It happened to me when I was younger. A tom cat got in the house somehow! There were three kittens. (only one breeding)

I'm glad Gizmo is going to get his surgery soon. It's a relatively simple procedure, evidently, because none of my animals had a problem.

I have seen litters from 2 to 7. It's hard to tell until she's near her due date. (unless you get an x-ray)

 

[mineko012]

Here is a link to pictures of Gizmo ... http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5153

Can someone tell me what kind of cat he is? I'm assuming he's a domestic ...

I'll post up pictures of Aegee soon.

update: Aegee pictures are up: same link ...

 

[mineko012]

Gizmo was neutered the last Thursday of April (I think that was the date). I definitely DID NOT like the vet I went to and I will never take him there again. I don't know why I even left him there to get neutered. I guess I kinda left in a shock after the vet literally stabbed Gizmo with the anesthesia (sp?) needle. My dog's vet up in North Jersey never did that. I gotta find a better vet in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area.

But Gizmo is fine (thankfully). I think the whole ordeal was harder on me than on him (I cried when I got back after dropping him off at the vet). And he still loves his mommy even though I "abandoned" him for a night in a strange place!

...

Update on Aegee: This is now her 8th-9th week of her pregnancy (since we believe she was impregnated on the week of March 15th). I'll be monitoring her closely from now until she has her kitties. I hope everything runs smoothly!

So far we have 4 potential kitty parents (including us). I wonder how many she'll have. How many kittens do cats have anyway? 6 max?

 

[Jeanie]

No, six is not the maximum. One of my cats had seven, and I doubt that's a record!

I found this at kittencare.com:

According to Cat Scans, a South African cat named Bluebell, who was a Ragdoll, gave birth to 14 surviving kittens in one litter. So you're only a few off the record. Congratulations. Now go ahead and have your mom cat spayed before she gets into any more trouble! Simba



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[ForJazz]

Gizmo is a domestic shorthair mitted classic tabby. Good luck with the kittens.