Yikes ... Cat sitting and she had kittens!

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Hawkeye- (Rainbow- Bridge)

Yeah,- Whatever....

Purred: Tue Jun 14, '11 3:50pm PST


	I am so freaked out. I am cat sitting for a friend that I cannot reach and the cat had kittens! I check on her ever four days and this morning I was freaked out to find two dead malformed kittens still in their sacks with the afterbirth attached in two different rooms, then I found the momma kitty in her cubby hole spot with two live kittens. I check all over the house for any other kittens and didn't find anything, so I guess she is done. The last time I saw momma kitty was four days ago so I have no idea when she had the kittens. I had no idea she was pregnant and if my friend knew she would have told me. I feel so stupid that neither one of us thought about a vet emergency. So here I am hoping I don't have a vet emergency because I don't have the funds to take care of it. I have taken the momma home with me so I can keep a better eye on her. I stopped in at a vet office in person that I just happen to pass taking momma from her home to mine. The vet was tout of the office for the rest of the day, and the lady there seems very knowledgeable with all many questions I had and advised several things to do to get her to eat and drink. To cap. Momma kitty is not responsive to her babies, and she will not eat or drink. She never cleaned herself up or her two babies up. I cleaned them all the best I could with a damp warm washcloth. Momma kitty will nurse the kittens but I have to roll momma over and put them on a nipple and momma kitty will let them to eat until the fall asleep. Like I mentioned, momma kitty is not at all responsive to them. The vet office lady told me that this stuff is normal for some cats when it's their first litter and they will get better. Some other questions popped into my head and all the vets are closed up for the day. I am hoping to get some answers to get me more easily through the night. How long does momma cat bleed after giving birth? I noticed a bit about the size of a dime twice so far. In my opinion it's about medium in thickness, and I have not seen any puss or tissue. The techniques the vet's office gave to see she eats and drinks isn't working, so I had the idea of using an eye dropper. I eye dropped in water and then later two ounces of kitten formula and try as she can momma kitty couldnot push the liquid out of her mouth and it ended up going in her. Later tonight I am going to try to puree wet kitten food and mix in enough kitten formula to make it work in a eyedropper. Since Momma kitty has went in the litter box and she has not vomited up anyof the food and water. How many ounces of water, kitten formula, and food formula mix does momma kitty need. I need to bath momma kitty. She smells bad. The vet office lady told me it is because she never cleaned herself and it's all dried all over her. Is it safe for the kittens to bath all the nasty off momma?

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Beatrice- (Miss You!- '94-'12)

The very Beast- of all

moderator

Purred: Tue Jun 14, '11 4:09pm PST


	Wow...that's a really scary situation! The fact that the mom isn't eating, drinking, or cleaning herself would seem to imply that something is very, very wrong. There isn't any way at all to reach your friend? No cell phone, no email, and she didn't even tell you where she's staying? There must be some way to get a hold of her in an emergency like this. Can the mom and her babies be boarded at the vet until your friend comes back? I know your friend won't be very happy to come home to a huge vet bill, but this is the sort of thing that a routine spay would have prevented.

Smithwick

Tigger is my- favorite!

Purred: Tue Jun 14, '11 4:19pm PST


	I do not know much about this situation, and not to freak you out, but it makes me wonder if there is still afterbirth or heaven forbid a dead kitten still inside her? That would possibly make her sick too. This is such a stressful situation, I hope that you are able to get hold of her, so that the kitties can get vet care. Good luck & purrs!

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Hawkeye- (Rainbow- Bridge)

Yeah,- Whatever....

Purred: Tue Jun 14, '11 4:46pm PST


	I know. My friend adopted her 6 weeks ago and intended to use the spay certificate when she gets back. Doesn't a cat take 8 weeks? The vet office lady said they are too large to be preemies. I sent out a message to my friend. How long it will take to get to her I don't know. One way or another it will all get figure out. I just need to know what I need to know to keep her comfy until morning.

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BooBoo

headed for the- light.

Purred: Tue Jun 14, '11 5:11pm PST


	The gestation period for cats is 63-65 days. Yopu may see other figures giving a bigger range like 59-67, but those are in general based on cats that breed in uncontrolled situations so the person is guessing. Breeders I know breed on only 2 days, so they know when the babies should be born--who wants to have to wake up every 2 hours for 2 weeks when you can do it for 4-5 and be sure? I think I would clean Momcat, myself, she won't melt. Probably other than making sure the babies get to eat, the next most important thing is making sure they stay warm, 80 degrees or even 85 is best for at least a couple of weeks. I hope momcat snaps-to and starts volunteering to let those babies nurse soon...good luck! And bless you for helping.

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Beatrice- (Miss You!- '94-'12)

The very Beast- of all

moderator

Purred: Tue Jun 14, '11 5:16pm PST


	Whoa...so you think she might have already been pregnant when she was adopted? Do you know which shelter/rescue she was adopted from? Maybe you can contact them for some assistance, since they'd have been responsible for adopting out a pregnant cat. I agree with Smithwick--it's possible that there could still be an unborn kitten or afterbirth inside the mom that is causing her problems. If she were your cat, I'd insist that you take her to the emergency vet. Since she's not yours, though, I know it's not that simple. As far as keeping her comfortable, I wish I knew what to tell you. I guess you can keep trying to feed her with the eyedropper. You could try some kitty bath wipes (or unscented baby wipes) to clean her and the babies up. Other than that, I don't have any ideas. Sending purrs! Edited by author Tue Jun 14, '11 5:17pm PST

Hawkeye- (Rainbow- Bridge)

Yeah,- Whatever....

Purred: Tue Jun 14, '11 6:09pm PST


	Thanks guys. I called family and I managed to scrape together $100.00. The vet office lady told me that if they have to do an emergency c-section because she didn't pass a kitty it would be an average of $300.00. The average litter is 4 kittens so I'm purring hard that if it is anything is stuck afterbirth. That isn't as major a surgery is it? I know my friend has a spay certificate somewhere. Would a spay, which is really a total hysterectomy, be a logical solution if there is a problem? Would it cause her milk to dry up or will nursing kittens delay the spay healing? Okay. I'm asking really silly questions. I want to be armed with as much info as possible so I can make the best possible decision for momma kitty when I make my vet calls in the morning. Oh yes. The vet office lady did tell me that on average of 3 to 4 times a year people bring in cats adopted with paperwork that say they are spayed and at the check up the vet finds that the cat is pregnant .

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Hawkeye- (Rainbow- Bridge)

Yeah,- Whatever....

Purred: Wed Jun 15, '11 7:07am PST


	Morning momma kitty update. I found a vet willing to work with me on the money thing. It's a bummer when your own vet is out on vacation, isn't it? But they have the right to a break like the rest of us. The vet looked momma kitty over, she is way dehydrated, and he felt at least one kitty still in her. He will not know for sure until he spays her, which he says is best under the circumstances since she isn't a breeding cat. It's either two kittens or one way large one and it's unsure at this point if the kitten(s) is alive or weak or what. It has been at least 24 hours since she had her last kitten. I am happy I came here last night. I almost didn't for thinking someone would think me stupid. I know that vet office lady was telling me the best she knew but something was poking at my brain that something wasn't right. Thank you all much for all your support and knowing the right things. I will be picking up momma kitty sometime after 4pm.

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Olivia,- Tanner, &- Finn

The Dyna Cats!

Purred: Wed Jun 15, '11 8:00am PST


	Wow, what a scary situation! Glad everything seems like it will turn out ok!

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Rusty

let no food bowl- be empty

Purred: Wed Jun 15, '11 12:02pm PST


	Wow. You are the catsitter goddess to have done what you are doing for your friends cats. The world needs more people like you!! So, are the kittens with the Mom at the vets? Did they go over bottle feeding etc with you? Please let us know how things turn out.

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