Expert: Ali - 4/20/2009

Question
if my cat didn't pass the after birth after labor, what warning signs should i look for.

Answer
Stacey,

Retained placentas aren't very common in cats, if you didn't see the afterbirth it's very possible that mom ate it - this is perfectly normal and it happens for a couple of reasons. Firstly eating the placentas helps to protect newborn kittens from predators by removing the smell of blood and afterbirth in the air, placentas also contain an abundance of the hormone oxytocin which stimulates the uterus to contract and helps to increase the bond between mom and her offspring. Some signs that things aren't going normally include foul smelling vaginal discharge, lethargy, depression, vomiting (which can be the cause of serious dehydration), lack of appetite, fever, neglect of kittens or listlessness. If your queen exhibits any of these symptoms she should be immediately evaluated by a vet (be sure to pack the kittens up and bring them alone to avoid severing the maternal bond accidentally) and treated for the underlying cause of her health problems. Mom should have access to as much high quality (I recommend foods containing human grade ingredients such as Wellness or Spot's Stew by Halo) food as she wants - this is to prevent problems associated with poor nutrition and help her meet her own nutritional needs as well as those of her rapidly growing family.

Nursing queens don't require any help weaning their kittens, this will happen on it's own usually during the first 12 weeks of life. Kittens should remain with their mother and siblings for the first 12 weeks of life at minimum because they learn important skills from their mother which include the ability to defend themselves, how to understand feline body language and respond appropriately, how to hunt, stalk and kill prey or use the litter box consistently. Bite inhibition is another important skill - kittens learn by biting one another that it hurts to be bitten, once they've learned this they understand when we don't want them to use their sharp teeth on us. Ultimately the first 12 weeks are crucial in the social development of the kitten, and kittens left with their mother for the first 12 weeks will be less likely to develop serious behavioral issues later in life, provided of course that they are spayed/neutered at an early age.

I do think it's important that you realize that female cats can become pregnant within 24-48 hours after giving birth to a litter so keeping mom indoors and away from intact male cats will be important to avoid contributing further litters to an already serious pet overpopulation problem. Given the serious pet overpopulation issue faced by shelters and rescue groups I feel that it's really important to pass along information about the advantages to spaying and neutering our pets. All too often animal lovers working for shelters are forced to euthanize healthy, adoptable animals simply because there isn't enough time, resources, space or money to keep each animal indefinitely until their forever family comes along to adopt them. The euthanasia rates tend to be higher for cats than they are for dogs so spaying and neutering is especially important. There are several medical and behavioral advantages to spaying and neutering pet cats besides the obvious benefit of humane population control. Cats that are spayed and neutered are spared uterine, ovarian and testicular cancers. There is good evidence to show that the earlier in life a cat is spayed or neutered the lower their risk is of developing breast or prostate cancer. Unspayed female cats are also at risk of developing a potentially life threatening uterine infection called pyometra - this infection causes the womb to fill with pus, if the uterus ruptures and spreads pus throughout the abdomen the cat's chances of survival are minimal. The only treatment for pyometra is an emergency spay, these surgeries are more complex, they are often more time consuming and there are more risks related to surgery and anesthesia for the cat because she is already so sick by that point. Some common behavioral problems like urinating/defecating outside of the litter box, wandering over a  large area, fighting with other cats, female cats howling to advertise their availability to mate, male cats fighting and caterwauling to determine who has the right to mate with receptive females and some forms of aggression directed at people are reduced or prevented by spaying and neutering our cats.