# i think my cat is finally in labour!!!! ^_^



## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

Normally she is terrified of my dogs (after being attacked by by two greyhounds at her previous home) and she usually goes schitzo at them, but this morning, she is downstairs in the living room, with the dogs (even rubbing up against them!- while they sit there looking very bemused )
and she wont stop meowing! 
but it's just normal meowing, not the long plaintive meow i remember my old cat doing when she had kittens years ago.
i can see the kittens moving still, but i cant see any visible contractions (not sure if you do or not.....)
what do you think? is she in labour, or is she just having a funny five minutes?
She's now led on the floor next to her bed (which i have moved downstairs for her as she didnt want to stay upstairs)


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

pics of them:
















and fatty dirty stop out of a cat, mum:
(LOL, i luffs her really)


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

she also has some discharge.... not bloody though. can anyone help?
its been a LONG time since i did this!


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## Ragmoth (Oct 4, 2008)

The only way i knew that my cat was in labour was when she jumped on the kids bed and left a big wet patch! She too was meowing alot. 

Sorry i can't be more help but she does look fit to burst!!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Sounds exactly like she's in first stage labour. Walking around 'talking' is very common.

If there are other cats or animals around when queens go into labour they do appear to want them with them. My queens all kittened with one of my male neuters in the kittening box with them.

The first signs you will see of contractions won't look like contractions - what you will see is rippling along the cats spine as if she is ‘tickly’. When you see this the placentas are detaching and the kittens are on their journey down the horns of the uterus and are likely to be born within the next 10-15 hours, but they may come before that if you haven’t noticed these ripples as soon as they start. 

Eventually you will see true contractions and that’s the first kitten on its way, but this kitten may arrive in half an hour or 2 it depends. She may kitten quickly one after the other or she may stop and rest in between for quite a long time (even a day!), there’s no set pattern.


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## Geckogirl_88 (Apr 24, 2009)

She is a BEAUTIFUL cat, im sure you'll get gorgeous kittens. be sure and post pics  xx


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

feorag said:


> Sounds exactly like she's in first stage labour. Walking around 'talking' is very common.
> 
> If there are other cats or animals around when queens go into labour they do appear to want them with them. My queens all kittened with one of my male neuters in the kittening box with them.
> 
> ...


 i read about the ripples in one of your previous posts somewhere on here and have been keeping an eye out for them for a week or so, not seen any yet, she is now upstairs destroying her kittening box lol.
i might see if any of my other cats cat have a mind to keep her company though as she cries everytime i leave her 
thankyou for the help everyone, i will definately post picts when she's had them...
i think i am in for a looooong day rofl


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

My friend has a blue and white queen very similar to this one. She was found as a tiny kitten under a bush in a garden and no-one on the street knew whose it was, so she was taken into our local cat club rescue.

She owned and showed a Turkish Van and a Ragdoll and knew her husband would say no if she asked if she could have her, so she very sneakily told him that she was fostering her until the club could find a home, because she was too young to go into the club's cattery unit.

As she suspected the kitten was irresistable and the husband fell in love with her and she has always been his cat!! He decided that if his wife could have a pedigree show cat, then so could he, so he told everyone she was a "Minnesota blue mitted" and it's surprising how many people believed she was a pedigree cat :lol:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

MissCat said:


> i read about the ripples in one of your previous posts somewhere on here and have been keeping an eye out for them for a week or so, not seen any yet, she is now upstairs destroying her kittening box lol.
> i might see if any of my other cats cat have a mind to keep her company though as she cries everytime i leave her
> thankyou for the help everyone, i will definately post picts when she's had them...
> i think i am in for a looooong day rofl


Having just re-read your post, if she has a discharge then it sounds like she's past first stage labour and if she's "adjusting" her kittening box, then it sounds like she could be imminent.

Quite honestly I wouldn't leave her! All my queens kittened with me on the floor beside them assisting in whatever way I could (some would say interfering, but I'd rather interfere and help than leave the queen to get on with it) and if I left the room, they followed me because they simply *would not *be left.

Looking at the photograph of her with the dog reminded me so much of my first breeding queen who wanted our GSD in the kittening box with her when she had her first litter! :lol: Sadly he couldn't get in, but she lay beside him until she had no choice but to go in the box and dragged my Havana in instead!


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## Ragmoth (Oct 4, 2008)

Any news?


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## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

SHES HUGE!

I reckon you'll have a good few kittens. She is beautiful and hope all goes well and you get some like mum :flrt:


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## Esarosa (Jul 13, 2007)

Aw bless her she looks like you could roll her around the room! Best of luck with the labor. She's a very bonny girl :flrt:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

How are things going? I've just got home and was hoping for some news by now!

She looks quite plump, but not particularly huge to me - maybe 3 or 4 or if she's even on both sides maximum 6 to me.


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## Esarosa (Jul 13, 2007)

feorag said:


> How are things going? I've just got home and was hoping for some news by now!
> 
> She looks quite plump, but not particularly huge to me - maybe 3 or 4 or if she's even on both sides maximum 6 to me.



Never seen a pregnant queen in person or even in pictures in truth. So comparing her to Libby and she looks like a ball :lol2: a very lovely one at that :flrt: Hoping no news is good news.


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

She is gorgeous  Can't wait to see kitty pics


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## butterfingersbimbo (Jan 26, 2008)

any babies yet?


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

she had her first at 9.50 pm, 2nd at 10.10 pm, 3rd at 10.35 and still going as far as i can tell, i just popped downstairs for a quick smoke (i cant smoke around her, i just cant do it, but was gagging for one after having been upstairs ALL day with her LOL)
will keep u all posted, i have a couple of pics, not very good ones but didnt want to disturb them.


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Wooooot - congrats  Can't wait for pics - are any of them grey like mum? I love greys x


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

cant really tell, they are stll pretty wet, the look quite black so possibly greys


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

she was damned intent on having them in the ruddy litter tray, but settled for having them on my bed. that's right, she was lying right next to the kittening box which was also on my bed, but decided that placenta really doesnt go with box as well as it does with satin sheets LOL


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

That's great news - I've been checking this thread ever since I got home at tea time waiting for news.

Hard to tell colour with the flash bouncing off the wet fur, but I'm thinking probably black.

I presume that placenta is no longer still attached to the middle kitten in the first 2 photographs?


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

feorag said:


> I presume that placenta is no longer still attached to the middle kitten in the first 2 photographs?


 no it wasn't- i think she was getting bored of the taste to be honest :lol2:
all in all she had 5 kittens  finally finished at 1.30 am 
this morning they are doing well, and in the light of day- now we are all dry- we have 3 grey, 1 black and 1 black and white.
i will take some more piccies later when i wont need the flash (sorry i only have my phone camera so  )


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## butterfingersbimbo (Jan 26, 2008)

aw congratulations! :2thumb:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

That's great news and glad they are all OK - she did great !! :2thumb:

As far as afterbirths go if my queens had more than 3 kittens I took away the afterbirths after 3 and didn't let her eat any more. They are so rich they can often give them diarrhoea. In the wild they would need that nutrition, but domestic cats are (or should be) fed optimum diet throughout the pregnancy and afterwards so don't need it as much. Also nature tells them to 'clean up' everything that isn't alive as rotting flesh gives out a smell that could lead predators to the nest and that isn't necessary for domesticated cats.

Looking forward to lots of photographs of growing kittens! I see threads like this and I miss not having any more myself. :sad:


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

feorag said:


> That's great news and glad they are all OK - she did great !! :2thumb:
> 
> As far as afterbirths go if my queens had more than 3 kittens I took away the afterbirths after 3 and didn't let her eat any more. They are so rich they can often give them diarrhoea. In the wild they would need that nutrition, but domestic cats are (or should be) fed optimum diet throughout the pregnancy and afterwards so don't need it as much. Also nature tells them to 'clean up' everything that isn't alive as rotting flesh gives out a smell that could lead predators to the nest and that isn't necessary for domesticated cats.
> 
> Looking forward to lots of photographs of growing kittens! I see threads like this and I miss not having any more myself. :sad:


funny you should say that but she ate the first 3, but not the last two so i took them away, i was going to let her eat 4 (im sure i read somewhere that 4 was enough, but i am sure it was in one of your posts elsewhere, so must have remembered it wrong lol) anywho she just wasn't bothered after the 3rd one. she looks lots slimmer now, she was hugely underweight when i first got her, so i was worried it would take too much out of her. she's been eating kitten food (meat) and the go-cat indoor cat biscuit (more meat than biscuit) since i realised she was pregnant so hopefully she is okay, is there any suplements or anything i can get her to give her a bit of a post natal boost? (not saying i think she needs it, i just worry about her and the kittens were not intended, not to mention that she was in very poor condition when we got her- already pregnant)

oh and another few quick questions (so i dont need to bug the vets all day lol)
when is it possible for her to get pregnant again? i dont want her to, i am just curious.
when can i get her in to be spayed?
is the worming liquid you can buy from pet shops (suitable for nursing queens) actually worth it or am i better off getting vet stuff?
oh and another (LOL- i am so sorry, i have completely forgotten everything, i never thought to ask all this before as i thought i would remember :s)- what age do the kittens get weaned at? also there is conflicting advice on when they can be rehomed, some people say 7 weeks, others say 12, personally i am inclined to go for 8-9 weeks (dependant on how healthy they are, and litter trained/weaned/wormed/ de-flead etc) 
and what age do they need their first lot of jabs?
oh dear i keep thinking of questions.
never mind, from what i can gather feorag you are one of the better people to ask


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## wolfspirit (Dec 4, 2008)

aww Cat, congrats on being a new mummy...



they are gorgeous little darlings and mum is well pretty...:flrt::flrt:



lots of pics please? 

How many are you keeping...:lol2:


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

wolfspirit said:


> aww Cat, congrats on being a new mummy...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


hehe as much as i would dearly love to, i am not keeping any :gasp:
i already have 5 cats, and it's going to be a tough job to convince the OH to keep the mum!
i was never going to keep her anyway, she's a rescue i'm fostering, couldn't rehome her while pregnant though (the woman who was going to have her said she couldn't while she was pregnant, but that she would have her after she had had the kittens, anyway, turns out she got bored of waiting and got a kitten instead :whip:
i would love to keep her, she's so friendly and cuddly and very very human orientated, the kids and i are attatched to her now, but she is terrified of the dogs. she's been living upstairs but i dont think that's particularly fair on her (plus i loathe the litter tray smell upstairs. nothing worse than waking up to the smell of a fresh cat poo LOL)
What she really really needs is a nice family home, no dogs. she's fine with other cats once she gets to know them. 
when the kittens are old enough to go to their new homes i am getting her spayed then try to rehome her somewhere else, trouble is everyone wants cute likkle kittens, not a 3 yr old cat! 
if i could just get her to relax with the dogs it would be fine, but i really dont think it will happen at all.
oh and i will go get more pics asap


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

MissCat said:


> oh and another few quick questions (so i dont need to bug the vets all day lol)
> when is it possible for her to get pregnant again? i dont want her to, i am just curious.
> Not very likely she will get pregnant before the kittens are weaned but not impossible
> when can i get her in to be spayed?
> ...


 
As Eileen is away (childminding I think) I will answer on her behalf. I hope the answers help you:2thumb:

Gorgeous kittens:flrt: Im glad everything went well for you both


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

Shell195 said:


> As Eileen is away (childminding I think) I will answer on her behalf. I hope the answers help you:2thumb:
> 
> Gorgeous kittens:flrt: Im glad everything went well for you both


thanks for all that 
10 weeks it is then  i want to give them the best start in life as possible :flrt:


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

a video of the kittens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrz9MN9fgXM


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Doesnt she look like the proud Mum. She looks really settled with her new family. That was a lovely video:flrt::flrt:


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

Shell195 said:


> Doesnt she look like the proud Mum. She looks really settled with her new family. That was a lovely video:flrt::flrt:


she really is a good mum, this is her fourth litter of kittens apparently so hope she knows what she's doing lol.
just wish i had a decent camera to take some nice pics.
I am looking forward to them opening their eyes though


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Shell195 said:


> As Eileen is away (childminding I think) I will answer on her behalf. I hope the answers help you:2thumb:
> 
> Gorgeous kittens:flrt: Im glad everything went well for you both


You are right - I was! Just got home and all the answers are exactly what I would have said. :2thumb:

Thanks Shell!

Edit: Oops, forgot! Lovely photographs and delightful little video! :2thumb:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

feorag said:


> You are right - I was! Just got home and all the answers are exactly what I would have said. :2thumb:
> 
> Thanks Shell!
> 
> Edit: Oops, forgot! Lovely photographs and delightful little video! :2thumb:


 

Glad we agree:lol2:


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