24-­‐hour Emergency Service 01635 47170 Guide To Having Kittens
Pregnancy normally lasts 63-65 days although it may vary between 58 and 70 days.
Diagnosis
Pregnancy can be detected by abdominal palpation or ultrasound examination from 3-4
weeks after mating. It is not possible to accurately determine the number of kittens.
Physical changes
Weight gain and abdominal enlargement become noticeable after about 5 weeks of
pregnancy. The mammary glands may start to enlarge from week 5 but often no changes
are seen until week 7. Milk production usually starts 1-2 days before kittening.
Behavioural changes
In the last weeks of pregnancy the queen may find it difficult to settle and get comfortable.
She may seek privacy. Occasionally the cat will toilet in the house due to the enlarged
womb pressing on the bladder and colon.
Exercise
No exercise restriction is necessary in the first 6-7 weeks. Your cat should be kept in the
house during the last 2 weeks as she may try to have her kittens in an unsuitable place.
Nutrition
Good nutrition is essential to the health of both the mother and kittens. It is virtually
impossible to overfeed a pregnant cat. In the last 4 weeks of pregnancy she should be
weaned gradually onto a kitten food.
Worming
The queen should be wormed with a suitable product (e.g. fenbendazole “Panacur”) during
pregnancy.
Preparations for kittening
Preparations should start in the 2 weeks before the queen is due to give birth. A box
should be provided for her to sleep in so that she will become used to it and kitten there.
This can be a cardboard box large enough for the queen to stand up and stretch in, with
an entrance cut 5 inches from the bottom to allow her (but not kittens) to get in and out.
The mother may prefer a lid to keep the box dark and private. The kittening box should be
placed in a quiet, familiar area of the house, out of drafts but with food and drink nearby.
Newspaper makes good bedding as it is absorbent, cheap and easily disposed of. If
towels or blankets are used they should be washed frequently.
Normal Birth In Cats
Labour and Delivery
This can be divided into 3 stages. Stages 2 and 3 occur at the birth of each kitten.
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Stage 1: The mother is restless and uneasy. She may refuse food and water, seek
dark quiet places and be more vocal. This may last for 12-24 hours.
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Stage 2: Contractions and expulsions of the kittens begin. A small greenish fluid sac
is produced, followed by a kitten and then its placenta. Most kittens are born head
first but some may come bottom first. The queen should remove the sac
surrounding the kitten and clean it, breaking the umbilical cord in the process.
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Stage 3: Resting stage. This usually follows each delivery and may last up to an
hour.
Disturbing the queen may interrupt labour.
If a kitten seems to be stuck in the birth canal you should assist. Hold the kitten firmly
behind the head and apply gentle, firm traction – do not pull roughly. If the shoulders are
stuck, gently rotating the kitten will help realign it. Warm water and KY Jelly aid lubrication.
After each kitten is delivered you should check that all the membranes covering the kitten
have been removed and that its mouth and nose are clear of mucus. If necessary rub the
kitten with a clean towel to dry it and stimulate respiration and circulation. After a few
minutes it should start to cry and squirm.
Contact you veterinary surgeon if:
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You cannot remove a kitten lodged in the birth canal.
•
There is strong persistent labour for more than 30 minutes with a birth.
•
There is weak intermittent labour for 5 hours without a birth.
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There is a dark discharge and no labour or births have occurred within 4 hours.
•
The pregnancy lasts more than 67 days.
Care Of The Queen Following Birth
The new mother should be kept indoors for the first 2-3 weeks following the kittening to
prevent her from abandoning her litter. They should be provided with a kittening box in a
warm quiet area, with food, water and the litter tray within easy reach.
The queen may be aggressive towards other animals and people that are perceived as a
threat. This is a normal protective response and should decline with time. Visitors should
be discouraged and handling kept to a minimum in the first 2-3 weeks. If a queen feels
threatened she may kill the kittens.
The queen’s dietary requirements are increased whilst she is nursing. Ad lib feeding of a
god quality kitten food should fulfil her requirements. Provide fresh clean water at all times.
Her increased food and water intake will cause her to toilet more frequently. Her motions
may be soft for the first few days but if diarrhoea develops, contact your vet.
Check her nipples daily to ensure they are clean and there is no swelling, heat or
discolouration.
A red-brown vaginal discharge with some blood clots is normal for the first few days and
may occur intermittently for several weeks. This should be relatively odourless. If she
passes a yellow-green or smelly discharge contact your vet.
A queen can be mated and become pregnant during lactation. She can be spayed as soon
as the kittens have been weaned and so should be kept away from male cats until this
stage if you do not want her to become pregnant again.
Care Of Kittens
Generally the queen should fulfil all her kitten’s needs, but not all queens are good
mothers and very young first-time mothers may be overwhelmed by the experience.
The queen may be overaggressive when grooming young and so cause damage, she may
accidentally smother a kitten and if threatened may kill her litter. Sickly or runt kittens may
be deliberately abandoned and may require hand-rearing or euthanasia in severe cases. A
mother will carry her kitten by the scruff of the neck or the head and this should not be
mistaken for aggression.
Male cats do not recognize their offspring and commonly kill young kittens.
The queen and kittens should be kept in a kittening box in a warm quiet area of the house.
Young kittens may need assistance in finding a latching onto the nipples.
If the queen is not able to feed the kittens adequately they will be restless and cry. You will
need to supplement her milk production by bottle-feeding. Ask your vet for further
information regarding suitable milk replacement products and feeding regimes.
The queen licks the anogenital region of each kitten to stimulate urination and defecation.
This must be simulated by the carer of orphaned or abandoned kittens using damp cotton
wool.
The litter should be wormed from 2 weeks of age. Ask you vet about suitable products,
how much to use and when. Where necessary certain flea products can be used fro 2
days of age. Again ask you vet for further information.
Feeding Weanling Kittens
Weaning is the process of changing a kitten’s diet from its mother’s milk to solid food. This
usually lasts from 3-4 weeks until 6-8 weeks of age. Weanlings should be weighed
frequently and their weights recorded to ensure progressive weight gain.
Begin weaning around 3-4 weeks of age by dish feeding with milk substitute (this can be
obtained from your vet and large pet stores. Blend it with a good quality kitten food to
produce a thin gruel and feed this either at least four times daily. Once they are eating the
gruel, the amount of milk substitute should gradually be reduced and the gruel thickened.
By 6-7 weeks the kittens should be eating the food, with just a little water added to soften it
if a dry food is used. Dry food can be fed dry once the teeth have erupted.
The queen’s food intake can be restricted during the weaning period in order to reduce
milk production, but in most cases this in not necessary.