h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For the last six months or so I've been feeding a stray female cat. Yesterday I noticed that her nipples are very swollen, so I took her inside so she won't have her babies under a fence somewhere, and so I can have her desexed after she's weaned her kittens. My question is: how can I tell when she'll give birth? Also, should I do anything in particular? I'm already feeding her kitten food, I've given her a worming tablet and flea treatment (that was fun) and put blankets in a nice warm and dark hot-water cupboard.

hi Kyra,

Cats will tend to have their kittens where *they* feel safest, so don't feel badly if she eschews the nice blankies in the cupboard.

Kitten food?

The gestation period for cats is about 9 weeks. If you are at home when it comes time for her to give birth you'll probably notice her acting very restless just before, but since the whole thing will only take about an hour it's likely you'll miss it. Just be careful about trying to touch the kittens until you are sure she feels safe with that.

az

I remember when our current cat had her kittens, they really are best left to it, and she made that quite apparent as the family tried to get in to have a look and she made it quite clear she was doing something private and that we weren't welcome

When my Lua was about to have her kittens she followed me around all morning looking quite restless and upset. Once I saw her starting to pant I placed her on the 'birthing bed' I'd previously made up for her - an old duvet with an old pillow on top of it. I sat with her for awhile, stroking her, and then decided to leave her to it ... the four kittens popped out at about 15 minute intervals but I felt it best not to interfere.

Once she'd got them all cleaned up I then went over and asked her if I could pick up one of the newborns (well, you know, just talking to her in a gentle voice) - she didn't seem to mind - so after that I pulled the bloody pillow out from under them and left them on the clean duvet. You can see some photos of them here...
http://public.fotki.com/azahar/gatitos/

But I think a street cat might feel a bit more protective, especially if you haven't had her in the house for very long, Kyra.

I once had a cat who totally ignored the 'birthing bed' I'd set up for her and instead tore a hole in the fabric underneath the sofa - it was only once I started hearing some tiny mewing that I looked under the sofa and saw the sagging fabric where the new family was. I eventually moved them all to a different place, but a few hours later Ebony had moved all the kittens back to 'her place' under the sofa. So I left them there until Ebony felt safe enough to bring them out on her own.

Do let us know what happens!

az

Paces up and down outside the delivery room , fag in hand looking tired and hagared!
.....strewth, and I'm not a cat nor their catty dad and I getting stressed over it. Still I don't care what sex they are, as long as they are fit and healthy.

Turns out my question was a little late I let the stray go after a few hours, when I got close enough to see that her belly wasn't as big as I had thought - it was her enlarged nipples and her fluff that had me fooled. Anyway, I couldn't risk leaving kittens unprotected if she had already given birth. When I let her go she let me follow her, and she led me to her litter - she has 5 little kittens; they're so cute, and fiercely wild.

It took me three hours, but I finally caught them all. They're big enough to eat solid food, but I still want to lure their mum back so she can continue to nurse them for a little while, and then get desexed.

I took care of her last litter as well and tamed them with the intention of giving them away - unfortunately I accidently named them, then I had to keep them Luckily there were only two that time. Now I have seven cats in a one bedroom apartment that isn't allowed pets

I managed to catch the kittens' mum again, but she escaped - she literally unlatched a window to get out Fortunately the kittens are big enough to eat solid food and I'm feeding them cat milk from a bottle.

>>I managed to catch the kittens' mum again, but she escaped - she literally unlatched a window to get out Fortunately the kittens are big enough to eat solid food and I'm feeding them cat milk from a bottle.>>



That is a cat. We had one way back when that decided to try and drive a car. The day we were moving, we had to catch the cat so she could go with us to our new home. She didn't like it however, and when inside the car she tried to escape, grabbing onto the steering wheel. She then successfully turned it the whole way around and then honk the horn. (Thing was, she loved our new home - more space to explore. )

Glad that the kittens are big enough that you can help them out some, and I hope they get good homes.

That's a clever cat.

Mine is a fair bit dumber - I've recaught her for the third or fourth time (seeing as how I keep letting her escape, I might be a little bit dumber).

I have her booked in for a desexing in a week. The challenge is to keep her in for the week. I got a voucher for a cheap desexing from a really cool woman who runs a cat shelter out in the country. She must have a hundred cats, plus a papillion (sp?), a galah, a heap of peacocks and a rather disturbing giant rabbit, plus heaps and heaps I didn't see. She even has a fenced-in area marked a 'zoo' I could have spent hours and hours there. The cats and kittens were all over the place

Right now I have one of the kittens inside my dressing gown, and one of my teenage cats on my lap investigating. The kitten is gorgeous - she's the smallest(smaller than a fully grown rat), and she looks just like her mum. All the others look like their respective fathers. My girl sure does get around

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Hmmm... I don't know about your set up or if you can do this, but you might have it where she stays in the bathroom for the week-with the window sealed and possibly a flat board that covers about 3/4 of the window to discourage unlatching.

Some of this is based on our current cats at home (the mouser and the indoor cat), so results may vary. On both the first day the cat's were groggy from the anesthesia, and will probably prefer to be inside because they know they're not well. They won't want to put themselves in danger, as I saw with our current mouser - who gripes if you put her inside for 10 minutes, let alone the recovery time . One cat I think also spent overnight at the vet's to make sure there were no problems.

The second day, when they were inside for their healing time, they meowed profusely to get out of the bathroom, but we didn't let them out for their own safety. The youngest one still has a tendency to run around the living room like Speed Racer, and given where the stitches were, that wasn't a good idea. Once both were healed, they were either released out into the house (although her case she was promptly put back in because she wreaked havoc), and the outdoors one was put back outside.

Our first cat - the one who decided to be the truck driver, was actually put in a cage for her recovery time. It was one of those ones for a medium sized dog and was hard for the cat to try and open. It was airy and large, however, so she didn't feel penned in and didn't try to escape. That might also work.

I've got her in my bathroom, with the latches on the windows taped down. I'm not too worried about her though. For a stray alley cat she seems quite happy to stay inside and get fed whenever she wants ... she did get out once and came straight back in again.