I think my cat is in labor....I don't know anything about birthing cats..
 

I have this cat named Heidi. Some of you might remember last summer I found her under my steps when she was just a kitten. Well she comes and goes at my house. I was going to have her spayed but she left and was gone for about a month and then she came back and then left for a couple months...anyway she came back about 6 weeks ago and she was pregnant.

Today she was fine and then this afternoon I noticed she was walking funny. Its like her right hip "gives" when she walks. I made her a very nice bed to have her kittens in. It is a wooden shelf off the ground with a roof and a nice big box full of flannel sheets, and I put a big area rug that I had in my house over the top so wind and rain wouldn't blow in. She hates it, she wouldn't even lay in it. She has been laying in the mulch in my flower bed in a little cubby hole that goes back into my floor all day. I carried her to her bed that I made and she would go back to the mulch again, this happened several times today. It is supposed to rain tonight so I put her in my utility room on my carport and made her a bed there back under the desk and she is content there. I put her a litter box and food and water in there too. She has not eaten all day either.

I guess my question is do you think she is in labor? Do you think her hip is ok? I felt of her leg and her hips and I didn't feel any deformities. My husband and my sister thinks that she has a kitten laying on a nerve and that is what is causing her to walk different. Any one here with experience with cats in labor??

I have no idea, but want to wish you the best of luck. Sending prayers your way. Hugs for being such a caring person.

will she let you near enough to her to wipe her tuti with a tissue. If the discharge is clear to slight pink then she has a few days left, if it is pink to dark pink then she will go in the next 12-24 hours. She will not use that box because she did not pick it out. The only way to get her to use the box )maybe) is to put her in an extra bedroom. She won't eat because the food is in the box. I know when mine was in labor she clung to me. Her eyes would dialate and just stick to me. Any questions just pm me, I've been through many litters of pups and kittens:D

Maybe you should take her to the vet and have her checked out.

Elaine

Thanks so much!

I will try that. Right now she is just resting quietly in her box. She has not moved from the box since I put her in that room, I guess she feels safe there. I can't put her in my house because my daughter is allergic to cats and she will have a asthma attack, but I do have her in a room off our carport and I have the door closed and I have the heat on. Thanks for the advice...:). This is my first and last litter of kittens.

I guess I will if things get worse or no better. There are no emergency vets in my area. I do have a vet and they are on call for emergencies only, not sure if this is an emergency. Thanks.

I just checked on Heidi and she seems to be resting comfortably. I wiped with a tissue and it was clear. I took her out of her box and showed her where her food/water and litter box was. She still didn't eat or drink and she still was having trouble with her hip....I hope her hip or pelvis or back in not injured....:(

I had a stray mommy cat that finally came in my house and had them under my bed. :)

Her hips may just be opening getting ready for the births. My poor cat looked like a cow with her hips splayed out. I swore she was going to pop. If she will let you rub her belly see if you can feel very low down. If she is still soft and squishy low (as close to her tuti as possible) in the pelvic area then the babies have not dropped yet. If she is hard then they are dropping to get ready. Usually (now this is just my experience) but usually when the hardness is about a finger length away from the opening she will be having them within about 48 hours. Just spend as much time with her as you can so she will be used to you close to her and the box so that she won't freak out on you when the babies do come. When my cat was close to birthing she didn't want to eat her hard food but she would eat some canned food and some yogurt. Can you install a baby monitor in the room with her so you can keep a check on her?

This morning Heidi came out of her box and ate some of her cat food. She wanted outside so I let her out. She tried to drink some water out of Jakes bucket but couldn't reach because it was low, I had water in a bowl by her food so I don't know why she didn't drink that water, but she is used to drinking out of Jakes bucket so I guess she wanted that instead. She walked to the neighbors house and got in a drain pipe. I see her in that drain pipe a lot, she is down there everyday. She just likes to hang out down there and she will run in the pipe if these certain two dogs come toward her. Most dogs in our neighborhood are nice, but this pug and jack russell play rough. Heidi and Jake actually sleep together, if he sleeps on the porch on a warm night, she sleeps on him, if he sleeps in his dog house on cold nights, she sleeps in there with him. Anyway, I thought she might try to have her kittens in that pipe so I got her and took her back in her room and shut the door. She was walking a little better today, but still limping. I hope she knows how to use her litter box. I put her in there a few times but she just jumped out.

Thanks. I felt of her belly and she is harder than she used to be. Her belly is more compact than before, before I could feel babies, but now it is tight...maybe she is having contractions? I delivered human babies for 10 years when I worked in labor and delivery you would think that I wouldn't be so nervous about a cat. I even missed church this morning to be with her. I plan on leaving her in that room until she has her kittens. I don't know of any other safe place she could have them if I let her outside. She could have them in my back yard because it is privacy fenced and I know that no other dogs could get to her, but she wont go into that little shelter area I made for her, so I am afraid to put her out there.

Ive had a few litters, all from strays that adopted us within a couple weeks of delivery. I guess they all talk and said, oh yea go to that lady, shes the new cat midwife! Anyway, my last lil girl, echo, was very independent but when she got close, she got very clingy to me. I made her a box and she loved it and labored in it but had her first baby on my rug! i think she was just freaked that something that big was trying to get out! I just sat with her, and put her and the baby back in the box and after that she was fine. Had 4 babies but we lost one :( and she was a good mommy.
When I noticed she was close, she was staying v close to her comfort zone, that was clue #1, then, she started going into her box ALOT, that was clue #2. When she stopped eating & drinking, I sat with her for a bit and noticed her grunting, that was the 2x4 over my head! And I was a labor & delivery nurse for years, go figure. She will tell you when its time, but to prevent harm to her or the babies, Id keep her in her safe house as she sounds like shes getting close. try some wet food and as far as the litter box goes, I never had one coz they all went outside, but, you can rub her front feet in it so she knows thats her "go" spot.
Sorry so long, hope it helps. PM me if you need extra support.
PS All my stray mamas were spayed after they weaned!

OMG I just read ur reply! Thats too funny we were both in the same field!! Funny how they find us huh? Its like they know.
Anyway, Good Luck and btw, u sound like a nervous father in the waiting room! LOL

Thanks for the advice. She will definetly be spayed asap. She would have already been spayed if she would have coroporated with ehr appointment date....:). This is my 4th cat since I have lived here for 6 years, unless you count all the neighbors cats that hang out here. The other 3 that I had were spayed before they got pregnant but they have all ran away, the last one Sunhine left shortly after Heidi arrived....:(. It gets expensive spaying the strays doesn't it....and then they leave you...:rolleyes:, its worth the money though so you don't end up the crazy cat lady with 50 cats at her house.

LOL aint that the truth! I had one that left when echo got to us, tessa moved to the next door neighbors and still comes over for a snack now & then!

Are there any kittens yet?
My childhood cat was very clingy when she was in labor. All she wanted was for me to sit by her box the whole time she was in labor until after they were all born. She purred between contractions.

No kittens yet....:rolleyes:

I keep checking for kittens. I know NOTHING whatsoever about birthing cats...so this is all very interesting to me...lol

Good Luck! We had several litters of kittens born growing up (never had any spayed or neutered :( ) and they always did fine on their own, but you should watch in case she becomes distressed and does need a c-section...it does happen. Also, cats usually go back into heat 3 weeks after having kittens and can get pregnant again so be sure to keep males away if you can until you can get her spayed...cats can reproduce like crazy LOL

I just wanted to pop in and say good luck:) The only experience I've had with kittens is when my farm cats would hide under the wood pile or in the barn. I would walk in the barn and hear little meows. ;)

Still no kittens....but she is walking better now. It is so nice out so I let her outside today and she seems to be doing good. Her belly is not as big as it was before....does that happen before they have them???? I kind of worried she might have had them and ate them.....stranger things have happened. I have an appointment at the vet today at 3:00. I hate to go and spend a lot of money if nothing is wrong, and she seems fine, but I am just worried. SHe is still having a small amount of browninsh mucousy discharge. She is eating and drinking and seems very happy. I am worried though that whatever happened to her to cause her to hurt her back/hips/legs might have hurt her kittens too, and maybe they are not even alive anymore, I don't feel them moving. I will find out today. If she has to have a c-section today, then she will get spayed too.

I took these pics today. First one is Heidi laying in the sun and the second is Heidi and Gracie.

Good luck with your kittens!!!

I've went through SEVERAL (MANY!) kitty births growing up, and you know, they really handled it all themselves. Everything. Never lost one either.

I would lay with them the whole time until they were done. Just being there, I think made them happy.

Good luck and I'll be watching for updates!!!

Can't they start producing when they're only like 6 months old or something too? :eek: I can't remember...

Back from the vet and they said to give her a few more days. She was not dilated yet. They said as far as the limping she might have some kittens pressing on a nerve. She still has the mucousy stuff but now there is more than before. When we got home she ran into the room that we are keeping her in as soon as I opened the door and ran to her bed (she usually runs the opposite direction when I open the door). They said the when they checked her it could cause her to go into labor, so maybe it is time now. I will keep you updated. I don't know how breeders do it, I am exhausted worrying over her and I get up through the night to go outside in the storage room to check on her....I don't want to go through this again.

Fore-warning :D Those little kittens are going to melt your heart and will be VERY easy to fall in love with :p:p:p

We have 3 kittens so far....I think I feel one more in her belly. I am worried though...she did not deliver the last babies placenta yet and that was 1 1/2 hours ago. I will keep you updated.....:)

Babies all around tonight! How is she doing now? Keep us updated!

Still just 3 kittens. I am almost sure I feel another kitten, maybe it is just that last placenta she didn't deliver....:confused:. She seems fine. She is resting and nursing her babies...she is such a good mommy...:).

I had to come in and take a benadryl....my daughter and I are sneezing our heads off...I wish we weren't allergic to cats. The kittens are soooo cute though....