Expert: Ali - 3/8/2009

Question
my cat is pregnant and she is starting to meow alot. but she look significantly smaller today in the belly. she also has discharge coming out. but i am not sure when she got pregnant. are they coming soon? and when the water breaks, will i know right away. I've never done this....

Answer
Anna,

Have you checked around your house to find out if your mamma cat has had her babies? Since you mention that mom seems substantially smaller than she did yesterday it's possible that she's already given birth. Mom shouldn't have vaginal discharge unless she's in labor or has recently given birth and in many instances mother cats prefer to have their kittens late at night in a quiet, small, dimly lit space where they will be kept warm. You can provide mom with a large cardboard box lined with old towels or light blankets to raise her kittens in, but she may not accept your offer. Normal gestation in cats is roughly 60-68 days or 9 weeks. I am somewhat concerned that mom is meowing a lot and not spending time with the kittens if they've been born. Pacing and meowing excessively can be a sign of anxiety which could potentially point to a couple of serious medical issues. If mom has given birth to her litter it's possible that a baby is stuck in the birth canal which would require immediate veterinary treatment because if a deceased kitten begins to decompose inside of mom's body it could threaten her chances of survival. Anxiety can also be an indicator of a potentially life threatening calcium/magnesium deficiency, if this is the case it's a matter of life and death and requires immediate vet care. If there has been a kitten left behind during the delivery process your vet will likely have to perform a caesarian, I would highly recommend that you have mom spayed at the same time to prevent further unwanted litters if she requires a c-section.

It's very important that the kittens stay with their mother until they are 10-12 weeks of age. This allows them to learn how to be a cat and important life lessons such as bite inhibition which they learn from their mom and siblings. Bite inhibition simply means that the kitten learns that being bitten hurts and it's a great time to teach kittens that it's not okay to bite human fingers. Mother cats do not require any human help to wean their kittens, they will do so naturally on their own most often during the first 12 weeks of the kittens' lives. I would recommend keeping the new mother and her kittens separated from any other household pets, this is partly to protect the kittens from injury, but mostly to prevent viral and bacterial infections. Newborn kittens have little immunity to fight infection so keeping them isolated and ensuring their bedding, food/water dishes, toys and litter pans are kept clean will allow them the opportunity of getting some immunity from their mother's milk. I generally recommend that bedding be changed and washed whenever it's soiled so that the kittens are kept warm, clean and dry. It's also a good idea to wash food/water bowls daily and disinfect them with a weak bleach solution (5 parts water to 1 part bleach), litter boxes should be scooped a minimum of once daily and disinfected with the bleach solution at least once a week. It's important to have kitten sized litter boxes because mom will begin to potty train her babies as they become old enough to eliminate without stimulation from her.

I do think it's very important to consider spaying/neutering any intact pets in your household because there is a very serious pet overpopulation issue. Sadly many adoptable homeless pets are euthanized every year worldwide simply because shelters run out of time and/or space to find them a loving forever family. There are also significant medical and behavioral benefits to spaying/neutering pets. Cats are far less likely to develop undesirable behavioral issues such as fighting, using urine/feces to mark territory, wandering as well as howling to advertise their availability to mate. Having your pet spayed/neutered also provides long term health benefits, for instance spaying a female cat drastically reduces her risk of developing breast cancer and prevents her from developing cancer of the womb or ovaries. Spay surgery also prevents a potentially life threatening infection of the womb called pyometra which causes the uterus to fill with pus, in the event that it ruptures there's very little hope of survival for the cat. Spayed female cats also don't have a high likelihood of developing mastitis which is a painful infection of the mammary glands. All in all making the decision to spay/neuter your pets is responsible, ethical and it saves countless lives every single year around the world.