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Expert: - 8/30/2009


Question
Hello i am a first time owner of a cat thats expecting, it wasn't planed it kinda just happened. Shes almost a year old, but i know she's been expecting since July, i noticed her pink nipples which i think they are three weeks by that time, any ways its not Aug 30th....i can clearly see the kittens move around in her tummy its like little roller costers lol, but these past few days she's been laying around not really playing with my kitten. And this morning when i woke up she was calling me to like crazy i went to her and once i started petting her she stopped, but now i noticed this booger looking thing coming out her. i was wondering if it was her mucus plug and if she would be having them soon...like tonight?

Answer
Jessica,

Yes, that is the mucous plug.  I have seen it come out  and still have a week left.  However, she could have kittens any time. Also, milk can be coming in now or maybe not until just before birth.

Do you have a birthing box for her? We like cardboard "jumbo" storage boxes (11" X 16" X 26") in a nice warm area free of drafts and where other pets and small children do not have access. Just put some old sheeting or toweling in the bottom.  Some cats like it better if you half cover the box with a towel, so it is more den like.

Some things to have on hand are paper towels, a scissors (for cutting umbilicals (if necessary),  a dry facecloth for massaging and cleaning the newborn's faces, if mama does not get to it right away, and isopropyl alcohol.

One more tip, this is a messy process, but let mama clean the kittens as it helps them all bond better.

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards... Norm  

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Norman Auspitz

Expertise

I can answer most non-veterinary questions about cats. My particular expertise is pedigree cats, breeding and showing. However, I am versed in feline behavior, cat breeds and their characteristics, general feline husbandry, and the like.

Experience

I judged for the Canadian Cat Association from 1975 until 1982. I am currently an approved allbreed judge for the Cat Fanciers'' Association (the world''s largets cat registry), and have been judging for them since 1991. I have been breeding pedigreed cats since 1971 and have been exhibiting pedigreed cats in shows since 1970. I obtained my first pedigreed cat in 1970 and have never looked back. In 1971, I obtained my first Abyssinian which has become my primary breed. In addition, I have bred Manx and Persians. Currently, besides the Abyssinians, I am also breeding Maine Coons.


Organizations
Cat Fanciers'' Association, inc. (CFA) and the Manx, Maine Coon, and Abyssinian breed councils. I am currently Abyssinian breed council secretary.

Publications
Cat Fancy Magazine, The Abyssinian Chapter in The Cat Fanciers'' Association Complete Cat Book, and Articles for various editions of The Cat Fanciers'' Association Yearbook

Education/Credentials
I received a B.S. from Drexel University in 1968, a M.Math from University of Waterloo, in 1970, a Ph.D. from University of Waterloo in 1975, and a MBA from McMaster University in 1980. I received my approved allbreed judging status in the Cat Fanciers'' Association in 1999.

Awards and Honors
We have produced a number of Cat Fanciers'' Association (CFA) National winning Abyssinian and Maine Coons. We have produced a number of Abyssinian and Maine Coon Distinguished Merit females (an award for a top producing cat), including the first Distinguished Merit Abyssinian in the red (sorrel) color. I am the CFA Abyssinian breed council secretary and belong and/or hold office in a number of cat clubs. I am also a member of the CFA Judges Association.

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