Expert: Ali - 3/10/2009

Question
Our 1 1/2 year old cat was due any day.  Earlier tonight we discovered that she had an embilical cord sticking out of her genitile area.  The cord has been severed and we're thinking she had a still born.  The vets expected her to have 4-5 kittens and the others are kicking still.  PLEASE HELP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE THANKS!

Answer
Angela,

I'm quite concerned that you found the umbilical cord sticking out of your queen's vagina, this may be the result of serious complications with the labor and delivery process which would require immediate vet care. Since you describe seeing the cord protruding from your queen's vagina it may indicate that the cord came down first which will result in the kitten being stillborn, however if the kitten is larger than the others or in the wrong position to be born vaginally there is a possibility that mom and her whole litter could die without medical intervention. Usually during a normal delivery when kittens are born they come out with the sac largely intact, mom rips open the amniotic sac, severs the umbilical cord and licks her kitten to stimulate breathing and clear airways. I would recommend that you keep an eye on mom once she's started pushing, if she hasn't produced a kitten within an hour from the time that you saw the umbilical cord protruding from the vagina then there's a reasonable likelihood of complications with the delivery. If the kittens aren't positioned in a way that facilitates vaginal delivery it becomes a medical emergency and a race against time to help everyone have the best possible outcome and a qualified vet must intervene. Newborn kittens can quite commonly be born breach without health consequences so that isn't a concern. I think it might be wise to stay up and watch this young mom really closely - if she hasn't produced kittens by now (11pm EST) then she should really be seen to have the vet find out whether there is a large baby stuck in the birth canal. To be completely honest since there's already been an abnormal incident with this labor I'd recommend taking turns to stay up and watch her in shifts to ensure that everyone is born safely if she has delivered one or more kittens by this point. If there is a kitten stuck in the passage your vet will likely recommend a caesarian section to ensure the safe delivery of the rest of the litter and save mom's life. The natural birth process is meant to squeeze fluid out of the kitten's lungs, however that's what happens ideally in an uncomplicated birth. General anesthesia can affect the kittens so it may take significant amounts of time to get each kitten up and breathing and it's possible that you may lose one or more kittens in the days after the delivery due to excess fluid in the lungs, a feline caesarian is kind of similar to newborn human babies born via caesarian having a higher incidence of breathing difficulties, so it's something to watch for in the kittens following a surgical delivery.

I would recommend that you have mom spayed if she requires a caesarian delivery to prevent further complications and unplanned litters. Spaying mom during a caesarian shouldn't cause any complications with her ability to nurse her babies and care for them and it has numerous health and behavioral benefits. If mom doesn't require a caesarian I would strongly urge you to consider having her spayed once she weans her kittens because there are millions of homeless cats and kittens that just don't get the chance to be adopted into loving forever homes because shelters run out of time or space. Spaying a cat will not change her general temperament, it will prevent pregnancy and help with common behavioral problems which can sometimes lead to the euthanasia of healthy animals. Countless cats and kittens are destroyed each year in shelters worldwide, spaying and neutering saves lives and is an ethical, responsible choice for pet parents. Female cats (referred to as queens) benefit from being spayed in terms of a substantially reduced risk of breast cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer as well as preventing a potentially fatal infection of the womb called pyometra which causes the uterus to fill with pus - if the uterus ruptures there's very little hope that your queen will survive, partially due to the significant contamination of her abdomen and partially due to severe bleeding that would accompany such a health crisis. Cats that are sterilized are far less likely to develop serious behavioral problems such as fighting, house soiling, wandering and howling to advertise their availability to mate. House soiling is one of the most common causes of euthanasia by pet parents because most people run out of patience when it comes to trying to solve such issues. Fighting with other cats to defend territory can result in the need for extensive medical care ranging from surgical evacuation of abscesses, stitching fresh wounds, needing antibiotics to treat infections and the possibility that your cat could become infected with serious viral infections like feline leukemia or FIV, neither of these viruses have a cure and they are both similar to HIV/AIDS in people, don't worry though they can't be transmitted to humans. Wandering cats can be hit by cars, accidentally/intentionally poisoned, or have acts of cruelty committed against them by people who don't like cats and I've even heard of cruelty to animals being a rite of passage to get into some street gangs which is absolutely appalling. As for howling and caterwauling during estrus cycles to advertise their availability to mate we all know that noise like this is obnoxious to say the least.