Monday, October 13, 2008

Kittens...anyone?



The wait wasn't long, probably because as I said in my previous post, I noticed my cat is pregnant only after she is already halfway through her pregnancy. Me and the kids had been waiting for her litters with bated breath.

Stray is a pampered cat and she liked the attention, so naturally, she doesnt want to be on her own during the delivery stage. Being a first time cat mom, maybe she need our presence and encouragement.

She didn't want to stay in the kittening box I had set up for her days before. She would enter my room and cries as if telling me she wanted to be there when she give birth. So I brought the box upstairs and lay it beside my bed. She eagerly gets in and lay there, finding a comfortable position. She is clearly in labor, and i keep stroking her head and body, soothing her... encouraging her. I know it calmed her coz she lay their quitely although I can see her body quivering at times.

We dont know yet when the first litter will come out, so we decided to watch a film while keeping our cat company. I positioned myself at the edge of the bed so I can watch the movie and the same time keep an eye on my cat in labor. My hand continously stroking her gently.

Thirty five minutes into the movie, I saw a bubble of red sac appears which she licked. She continue to licked her private part probably to stimulate birth. Not long after, she is in distress, her body coiled, she cries, she stiffen. Her purring rhythmic, her breathing, heavy. She tried to get up, and fall back down, she would cling to the side of the box, and fall again. She is obviously in pain. I continue to stroke her, calm her.

Evetually, the first kitten was delivered. It is enclosed in a bag filled with fluid. The next kittens come out in rapid succession. Each kitten was born head first. All came out in a membrane sac, and Stray would rupture the sac with her tongue. She then clean each kitten by licking away the fluid from their faces and stimulating the kitten to breathe. When the kitten cries and flexes its little body, then we know that all is well. After licking the kitten dry, she bite the umbilical cord. Oh she eats the umbilical cord along with the placenta and the remains of the birth sac. Its kind of freakish, but that is normal cat behavior.

Instinctively, the kitten would crawl towards its mother's warm body and look for a nipple to suck. Me and the boys become busy removing the now active litters away from their mother's feet or body for fear that she may crushed it.
Stray has a total of six kittens. Each one different colored from the other. All very cute.

Next task, finding each one a new home.

3 comments:

Amazon Buyer said...

hhhmmm..so what have u become..a nanny/aunt/granny...;)..?
have never seen a delivery..u have explained in detail..

Sid Brechin said...

Normal behavior for a cat the eat the sac and cord. Dogs do the same.

Took me a few times to enter this net seems to be cutting in and out.

Sid

Manturnae said...

I also have had a litter, well not ME lol. This was the second litter this year for my momma cat. It was a hard delivery this time and I had to help out some. The first came out tail first, after some fancy manuvering we managaed to get the little guy out. All 5 kittens are helthy and happy. $ have since found new homes and the last is here helping me type, :)

I have an assortment of animals, I have cats (5) Dogs (3) doves (6) chickens (14) a rabbit and a very noisy conure by the name of B2. This year I was blessed with 9 puppies, 8 kittens, 6 chicks and 4 doves. Very busy place here lol.

Thank you for the link to your blog! I will check back often.
(Manturnae, IMVU)

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