Caring for a Pregnant Cat

First things first, the best thing would be to try and prevent such a situation by spaying your cat once she is six months old. However, if you have a stray cat trying to nest in your home, or you rescued an already pregnant cat, here is what to expect.

A cat's gestation period is around 65-67 days, so she will give birth a little more than two months after she conceives. Try and estimate this date, so you can be prepared for the birth. Interestingly, cats can give birth to a litter which has kittens fathered by different males!

Once she is pregnant, you will notice your cat putting on weight, and wanting to eat more and rest more. Her nipples will become more prominent and pink. A few weeks into the pregnancy, your cat may experience nausea and throw up. Unless the vomiting is excessive, it is not to be worried about.

It is recommended that you give your cat some kitten food as well during this time, as it has more calories, and she is eating for more than one now! It is normal to have some discharge from her vulva (which you may rarely see because cats are super clean creatures), but if you see any kind of vaginal bleeding, please consult your vet immediately.

You should not pick your cat up after week four of her pregnancy, in order to avoid inadvertently hurting her kittens. Her nipples will be very visible as the pregnancy progresses, and you may even see milk drops on them.

Your cat will begin nesting or looking for a suitable place to give birth. You could provide her with a couple of cardboard boxes lined with soft warm clothes, or clear some space in a cupboard. You may be able to see and feel the kittens moving in the stomach at this point too!

If she doesn't go into labour by the end of the tenth week, you should get her checked out by your vet, to make sure there are no complications. Some cats prefer to give birth in complete privacy, without any type of aid or help. There are others who will seek reassurance from you and will prefer to have you close by as she goes through the labour. Let the cat decide, and play along.

Cats instinctively know what to do during the delivery, so you do not have to do anything unless you feel something is wrong and she is in distress. The process can go on for 3 to 6 hours. Just keep her warm, provide a hot water bottle next to her if you feel she is getting cold.

Watch for any of these signs:

(Source: https://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyvet/lhuston/2012/july/caring_for_pregnant_cat-26529)

• If your cat is having active contractions and has not passed a kitten within 15-20 minutes, seek veterinary care.
• If you see part of the fetus or placenta protruding from your cat’s vulva and she does not pass the kitten very quickly (within a minute or two), get your cat to her veterinarian.
• It’s not abnormal for a cat to rest between having kittens. However, if more than two hours pass between kittens, consult with your cat’s veterinarian.
• Although some bleeding after giving birth is normal, excessive haemorrhaging is an emergency and calls for veterinary intervention.

Once all the kittens are born, your cat will normally be cleaning them and feeding them. Make sure she has ample quantities of food and water now, though she may not eat anything for a while. The mother cat will lick the privates of the kittens to stimulate urine and consume it, this is normal. 

The kittens will open their eyes between 7-10 days of age. Week 3-4 is when they start wobbling and walking, peeing and pooping, and teething. The mother cat may change their nest once or twice as cats are prone to do. You may introduce the kitten to KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) or Lactogen 1 (diluted) by week 4 or 5. They may even start eating a mashed gravy of wet kitten food (Me-O or Whiskas). 6-8 weeks is the ideal age to get them adopted out, once they are able to eat, pee and poop on their own. Socialising the kittens to humans is an important aspect, which I will do a separate post on. 

Spaying a cat while she is lactating is not advised. Wait till the kittens are weaned and adopted, and then consult the vet to make sure she is healthy enough for the surgery.

Sonu, whom this blog is named after, has been my practical experience in terms of caring for pregnant cats. Long before my family and I understood the importance of spaying and neutering, we had our indoor-outdoor cat Sonu deliver two litters back-back, within three months. Till date, I regret not having spayed her way earlier, for she went through a very rough phase with a total of 8 kittens to care for in a matter of months. By the time her first batch of kittens were weaned, she was already pregnant with her second litter, giving us no time to spay her. This happens in a LOT of indoor-outdoor cats, especially during breeding season. She lost a lot of blood during her second delivery and took a long time to regain her health. She was super stressed, to the point that she started attacking her first litter as she neared her second delivery.

So please spay your female cat before her first heat cycle, it's is the sensible and humane thing to do.

Sonu with her second litter