Expert: Marcia Owen - 10/11/2009

Question
my tortoise shell cat gave birth to 4 bengal kittens about 3 hours ago, 1 had died, now the last time she was in heat was the 4th aughst, she got out for litteraly 5 minutes 2 weeks after giving birth to her first litter. are bengal kittens naturally small when they are born? because mine are very small and have no fur around there legs and on there chest. they seem to be having a bit of trouble breathing aswell although they are trieng to feed off mum. ive been watching them stick there legs out and moving inside mum for a week now so im unsure as to why they have come out like this. queen seems content with them. they arent disfigured or anything like that they are just so small but it doesnt add up because of the last time she was in heat and the fact that i could see them moving a week before she gave birth. any ideas?
thanks

Answer
All the things you mention point to this litter being premature.  The difficulty in breathing, lack of fur, and small size all point to being at least a week premature.  The fact they are trying to suckle from Mum is good, though I think you may have problems rearing them as their breathing problems point to immature lungs.  Human babies are usually put into an incubator on oxygen, so that may give you an idea as to the problems you may experience.

I do agree that from the date you mention of her getting out, doesn't add upto immature kittens but movement is usually seen for 2 weeks before birth, not one week.  Although the normal gestation period is around 65 days, it can be normal for some breeds to be as long as 71 days or more.  Hybrid matings are very difficult to judge so it may be that the Bengal influence may have made the need for a longer gestation which your female cannot sustain.

I wish you well with the litter.

Marcia.